INEC Can Simply Write Results, No Need For 2027 Elections — Odinkalu Warns Polls May Be Reduced To 'Charade' - Politics - Naijatalks

According to him, election rigging has long been a feature of Nigeria's political system, and there was little indication that the trend would change before the next presidential poll.

Human rights lawyer and former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof Chidi Odinkalu, has raised fresh concerns over Nigeria's electoral process ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He warned that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under its current leadership has not demonstrated a commitment to conducting credible elections.

Speaking during an interview on Mic On with journalist Seun Okinbaloye, Odinkalu noted that the trajectory towards the next general election was already becoming apparent, warning that electoral outcomes could be predetermined rather than decided by voters.

According to him, election rigging has long been a feature of Nigeria's political system, and there was little indication that the trend would change before the next presidential poll.

"People will tell you election rigging did not start now, and it will not end in 2027," Odinkalu said.

"But the trajectory of what could happen in 2027 is fairly predictable. INEC does not have to go through the charade of an election. They can write results."

When asked whether his assessment amounted to a warning that the 2027 election could be rigged, Odinkalu maintained that the signs were already evident.

"I just told you what it's looking like from where I'm sitting," he said, further maintaining that the electoral umpire has failed to inspire public confidence.

"INEC, under current leadership, has not shown that it is interested in elections that are credible," he said, pointing to recent elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as an example.

"You live in the FCT, don't you? At least at the moment. Let me ask you, then, as a voter in the FCT, you enjoyed the FCT elections, didn't you?"

Odinkalu insisted that the conduct of the FCT polls raised questions about the commission's commitment to credible elections.

The senior lawyer also expressed fears that the ongoing push for state police could be manipulated by politicians for electoral purposes rather than genuine security reforms.

According to him, the proposal risks creating state-backed armed structures that could be deployed by governors to influence elections.

"So, simply, you are going to have official criminals mounting policing structures around favoured people, their own persons, for the purpose of the election, for their own purpose, to achieve their own purpose," he said.


Odinkalu said such fears were not speculative but rooted in Nigeria's history, arguing that official reports had documented similar concerns.

"I'm not saying this because I have a fertile imagination," he said. "I'm saying that this has precedent in Nigeria, and it is fairly well documented in official records of the Nigerian state."

He cited the M.D. Yusuf Presidential Commission on Police Reform and the Parry Osayande Committee Report as examples of official documents that examined the dangers associated with policing reforms.

"The problem we've got is fairly fundamental. Anybody who is trying to deny it is either being dishonest or wants to mislead the country," he added.

The former NHRC chairman also questioned the constitutional basis for state police, arguing that internal security responsibilities currently rest with the Department of the State Service (DSS) under the National Security Agencies Act, while operational realities have increasingly placed internal security under the control of the military, both institutions ultimately answerable to the President.

He argued that governors' demands for state police were largely driven by a desire to gain political leverage within their states rather than to improve public safety.

To support his position, Odinkalu recalled the creation of the Bakassi Boys vigilante outfit in Anambra State in 2001 under then-Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju.

Odinkalu warned that similar structures, if institutionalised through state police, could produce comparable consequences.

"Bakassi then went on to wreak the most spectacularly extraordinary reign of violent vengeance in Anambra State that the state is still struggling to recover from 25 years later," he said.

"The only difference now is that all these state governor-controlled militias will be in uniform, and they will be properly armed."