Nigeria’s foremost rights advocacy group, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has warned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that any attempt to handpick a partisan loyalist as the next chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would amount to sabotaging democracy and laying the groundwork for a disputed 2027 general election.
In a statement signed on Wednesday by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA hailed Professor Mahmood Yakubu, whose decade-long stewardship of INEC ended this week, describing his reforms as “a turning point in Nigeria’s electoral history.”
The group credited Yakubu with institutional innovations such as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), which it said shifted elections “from backroom deals to verifiable data.”
“Yakubu took over an electoral body riddled with mistrust and turned it into one where technology, not thuggery, became the decider,” HURIWA said. “The introduction of BVAS and IReV meant Nigerians could finally verify results themselves, not just take politicians at their word.”
HURIWA pointed to the 2023 elections as proof that votes counted under Yakubu, citing shock results like the Labour Party’s victory in Lagos and the fall of long-entrenched political heavyweights.
“These upsets weren’t accidents — they were evidence that INEC had grown a spine,” the group insisted.
But the group warned that the same progress could be rolled back overnight if Tinubu replaces Yakubu with a political crony.
“A captured INEC is a loaded gun aimed at Nigeria’s democracy. If the next chairman is a stooge, the 2027 elections will not just be compromised — they will be a national disaster,” HURIWA declared.
The group urged civil society, the media, professional bodies, and international partners to raise the alarm early and resist any attempt to turn INEC into a political department of the ruling party. It also called on the National Assembly to strip the presidency of the power to unilaterally impose INEC leadership, demanding a more transparent, merit-based process.
HURIWA further recommended regular public audits of election technology, tougher scrutiny of ad hoc staff, and the end of the “bow and go” culture in legislative screening.
“Yakubu’s reforms are fragile gains — not permanent guarantees. Nigeria cannot afford to stumble backwards into a dark age of manipulated elections,” the statement concluded.
The rights group reaffirmed its commitment to defend electoral independence and warned that Nigerians must resist any plan to turn INEC into a “rubber stamp machine for political cabals.”