Malam Shehu Gabam, National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, has advocated for full independence for the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in order to bring legitimacy to Nigeria’s elections.
Gabam made this call while interacting with journalists in Abuja on Sunday.
He urged the executive, judiciary, and legislature to follow the law in order to improve the country’s voting processes.
According to him, the commission did its best in organising the 2023 general election and the off-cycle election, especially in terms of logistical delivery during the election.
Gabam, on the other hand, stated that the executive’s enormous influence continues to have an impact on INEC’s performance.
Let me tell you the honest truth. INEC is not independent. A lot of people do not understand it when I raise these issues.
“There is nothing INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu can do. He is completely handicapped in conducting elections.
“What he can do is to produce election materials, deliver them to every state and polling unit, deploy INEC or ad hoc staff to supervise the election’’ Gabam said.
He said that by law, the executive, under Mr President, was responsible for appointing INEC chairman, national commissioners and Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs
