Former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Chidi Odinkalu, has strongly criticised the conduct of the recent Federal Capital Territory (FCT) elections, describing the performance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as a failure.
Odinkalu made the remarks on Monday while speaking on Politics Today on Channels Television. He said INEC, under the leadership of its Chairman, Joash Amupitan, failed to deliver a credible electoral exercise in the Federal Capital Territory.
According to Odinkalu, the problems recorded during the elections were not due to legal limitations but rather a failure of will and poor electoral administration. He expressed concern that such shortcomings occurred in what he described as a relatively small election, warning that it raised serious questions about INEC’s readiness to conduct larger polls in the future.
“INEC failed. Amupitan’s INEC failed woefully,” Odinkalu said. “On this evidence, nobody can trust him to organise credible elections in 2027. It’s not about the law; it’s about failure of will and failure of electoral administration.”
He listed several areas where the commission allegedly fell short, including poor electoral logistics and weak management of electoral rules. Odinkalu criticised INEC for reassigning voters to different polling units just hours before the election without adequate voter education or information management.
He also condemned the level of violence recorded during the polls, describing it as unacceptable, and alleged that election results were altered in multiple locations. According to him, the collation process also experienced glitches on election day.
“This happened in a small election in the Federal Capital Territory,” he said. “It is disgraceful. Joash failed.”
Odinkalu concluded that election administrators must improve their preparedness and commitment, warning that failure to do so would further erode public confidence in Nigeria’s electoral process.
