POLITICS
Off-cycle Guber Polls: INEC’s New Dilemma in Election Management
By Jude Opara
The much talked about off-cycle governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states have come and gone with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declaring the winners in the polls.
In Bayelsa state, it was a two horse race between the incumbent, Governor Douye Diri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who emerged winner over his closest rival, Chief Timipre Sylva of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Diri polled 175,196 votes to defeat Timipre Sylva who scored 110,108 votes.In Imo state, before the election, it was expected to be a fierce battle among the three top contenders; the incumbent Governor Hope Uzodinma of the APC, Sen.
Athan Achonu of the Labour Party (LP) and Sen. Samuel Anyanwu of the PDP.However, the result in Imo was more of an anti-climax for the PDP and the LP as Governor Uzodinma emerged victorious with a whopping 540,308 votes ahead of his distant rivals, Sen. Samuel Anyanwu of the PDP who polled 71,503 and Sen. Athan Achonu of the LP with 61,081 votes respectively. In fact, the winning was so resounding that Uzodinma defeated his rivals in all the 27 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state.
Also in Kogi state, there were three leading candidates, Usman Ododo of the APC, Muritala Ajaka of the Social Democratic party (SDP) as well as Sen. Dino Melaye of the PDP. While Ododo enjoyed the support of the outgoing Governor Yahaya Bello, Dino and Ajaka relied on the strength and acceptability of their supporters. Ododo has been declared as the winner with 446, 237; Murtala Ajaka of the SDP placed second with 259, 052 while Dino Melaye of the PDP scored 26,362 to come third.
Typical of the average Nigerian politician, in all the three states, those who lost have all cried blue murder; alleging high levels of irregularities and that the elections were conducted without recourse to the Electoral Guidelines. Like in Imo, Ajaka and Melaye who lost have rejected the result and called for the outright cancellation of the exercise.
In Bayelsa, despite having only eight Local Government Areas (LGAs) it took two days before the final result could be collated and announced. The result had to be completed on Monday following some re-run which was carried out by INEC in some wards in the Southern Ijaw area. Getting results from the parts of Southern Ijaw and Brass LGAs were indeed very difficult due to the difficult terrain of the place as well as fear of insecurity. Indeed, an INEC staff member was abducted while waiting to board a boat to Sagbama before she was kidnapped with all the materials with her.
Also in Bayelsa where the PDP won, the APC has rejected the result claiming widespread irregularities as well as over 80,000 votes deducted from the party. Chief Denis Ochocho who also served as the agent of the party at the State Collation Centre said taking the results from Brass and Sagbama LGAs to Yanegoa was aimed at ensuring results were doctored in favour of the PDP.
Indeed, due to the desperation of politicians, there were reported cases of violence in some places across the three states. The unfortunate thing is that in most cases these acts of violence happened in the full gear of security operatives.
In Imo, there were several allegations of electoral manipulation. Many analysts, especially those who were on ground, had said they were surprised how Hope Uzodinma managed to poll such a high number of votes, including from places where hitherto the people had deserted their homes due to the prevalent insecurity in parts of the states.
For instance, the Director General of the PDP Governorship Campaign Council in a press briefing on Monday alleged that in places like Orsu LGA, where there was very low turnout of voters, the APC recorded high results. He said in Omuma, the home town of Uzodinma in the Orlu LGA, where there were less than five accredited voters in some wards, the APC recorded over 400 votes.
In Kogi, the SDP candidate, Dino Melaye of the PDP as well as the Action Alliance (AA) candidate, Olayinka Braimoh has threatened court action following what he described as a sham of an election in the state. Apart from being arrested and prevented from voting on Election Day, Braimoh said the result announced by INEC was largely written even before the commencement of voting.
The Situation Room of the various Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) has come out in the preliminary reports to carpet some INEC officials as well as the security operatives for their complicit in the massive electoral fraud witnessed on Saturday.
In fact, what we have seen in this election really negates what INEC promised after the controversial 2023 general elections where the commission could not upload the results of the presidential election due to what it described as ‘glitches’.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu did not mince words when before the election he vowed that his organization will ensure that election results were uploaded real time as they are released right from the wards. This actually ought to have taken some pressure off the electoral umpire and also restored some level of confidence that going forward, votes may begin to count in the country.
There is no gainsaying that INEC actually made adequate preparations to ensure that the off-cycle elections were conducted in a free, fair and credible atmosphere. To kick start the exercise, on October 14, INEC organized the mock accreditation exercise in the three affected states. That was part of the arrangements to fine-tune its equipment especially the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and to ensure that the ad-hoc staff were adequately abreast with the functioning of the device.
Similarly, INEC also organized its quarterly stakeholders’ meetings with the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs), the Political Parties, the Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) as well as the Media. At all these meetings, INEC reiterated its resolve to conduct an election that would be largely judged to be free, fair and credible.
Also, INEC and the National Peace Committee organized the ritual of signing the Peace Accords by the main political actors, but unfortunately, in most cases either some of the expected candidates will shun the exercise or only send their surrogates. In fact, there was the case in Bayelsa state where some politicians openly quarreled right at the venue of the Peace Accord.
It must be reiterated that the politicians are responsible for almost all the electoral heists we have witnessed in the country. The average Nigerian politician has become very desperate for power and it also means that power is not really sought for service but as a means of presiding over the economic and political affairs of the country.
There have been several instances where politicians have even gone to the extent of borrowing money from banks with huge interests just to contest an election. There is no way such a person who has now turned politics like a business will not want to play outside the rules because he wants to win in order to be able to repay his loans.
The use of thugs to win elections unfortunately seems to have come to stay in the country. For instance, on Election Day in Ikenegbu Ward 1 in Owerri, Imo state, it was reported that thugs numbering about 20 stormed the polling centre at about 8 am and warned any voter who was not going to vote for the APC to stay clear of the area.
Certainly, in a situation like that there is little or nothing INEC could do because the Commission does not have the power to enforce any law. It also calls to question the sincerity of the security operatives who will always read the riot acts before every election, yet the thugs will continue to have their way. The question is how do the thugs manage to pass the various security roadblocks to be able to go from one polling centre to another?
The truth remains that the day the security agencies decide to be neutral in the electoral affairs of politicians, some of these ugly stories will disappear. It does not make sense to come out before an election to threaten fire and brimstone but yet the real criminals usually find a way to manipulate them. It means that somebody somewhere gives them the instruction to turn a blind eye to the miscreants.
Unfortunately, before every election security operatives will be seen giving all manners of assurances and confidence to the fact that they want to be neutral, but the reverse has been the case as the issue of thuggery and open manipulation of the process in their presence abound.
However, there are some areas INEC must pay great attention to in order to continue to gain on the successes of the reformations so far introduced. We saw in Imo and Kogi states where some pre-filled result sheets were already in circulation even before the commencement of voting.
INEC must begin to wield the big stick; because if the Commission had cancelled the election in any state where even if it was only one result sheet was pre-filled, it would have sent the right signal to the politicians that it is no longer business as usual. While this may pass as a first occurrence, INEC must ensure that the culprits were apprehended to answer to their actions.
Unless INEC begins to bark and also bite, politicians will continue to mess them up and the people will continue to see them as willing accomplices in the embarrassing electoral fraud that has become the order of the day.
By David Torough, Abuja
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, has commended the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) for its strides in innovation and technological development, assuring the agency of the Federal Government’s continued support.
Akume gave the commendation on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, in Abuja when he received NASENI’s Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Khalil Suleiman Halilu, members of his management team and winners of the agency’s Innovation Assessment and Award Competition.
The SGF described NASENI’s inter-agency and intra-agency innovation competition for federal civil and public servants and Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as a significant milestone in efforts to develop home-grown solutions to Nigeria’s challenges.
He said the innovative products emerging from the competition could have significant implications for national security, food sovereignty and healthcare, adding that the achievements demonstrated the depth of talent and ingenuity among young Nigerians.
“Nigeria has talents. I don’t doubt about that. Wherever you go in the world, Nigerians are recognized as people with lot of talents and people with a great future,” Akume said.
He also praised NASENI for adopting what he described as a transparent and non-partisan process in selecting and assessing the innovations, saying the credibility of the competition would encourage more Nigerians to come forward with innovative ideas.
Akume expressed optimism that sustained government support could enable Nigeria to attain greater technological heights, including developing advanced aerospace capabilities.
“Tomorrow, who knows, Nigeria can manufacture rockets that can send people to the moon. And this can be the courtesy of NASENI,” he said.
Earlier, Halilu said the award programme was designed to identify and recognise outstanding contributions by civil and public servants through both inter-agency and intra-agency competitions.
He said NASENI’s innovation strategy goes beyond developing technological products to equipping innovators with skills needed to commercialise their ideas successfully.
According to him, technical and engineering expertise must be complemented by competencies in accounting, marketing and business development for innovations to achieve their full potential.
Halilu disclosed that NASENI had, in about two years, facilitated the establishment of 20 factories across the country and developed more than 40 products as part of efforts to transform research and innovation into commercially viable solutions.
He added that the agency had also introduced programmes aimed at identifying and nurturing innovators from an early age. One of the initiatives, the Future Makers Programme, targets children between five and 15 years to stimulate interest in science, technology, engineering and innovation.
The meeting also featured demonstrations by representatives of two of the six winners of the innovation competition.
A team from the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) showcased a security jacket equipped with technology designed to facilitate real-time communication with the command-and-control centres of security agencies, potentially improving coordination and response.
The winning team from NASENI, meanwhile, presented a commercial electronic platform designed to serve as a digital marketplace through which MDAs can promote and market their goods and services.
Akume congratulated NASENI and the winners of the competition, reaffirming the Federal Government’s commitment to creating an enabling environment for research, innovation and technological development in Nigeria.
From Ayinde Akintade, Osogbo
The All Progressives Congress has taken Osun state Governor Ademola Adeleke’s re-election to court as the petition is now on the notice board of the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Osogbo.
The papers went up on Monday, 7 September.
Tribunal secretary Pefe Belemore had said the notices would be displayed before noon. Secretariat staff were already in the courtroom as preparations for sitting continued.Two petitions challenge the 15 August result that returned Adeleke for another term.
The APC case, marked EPT/OS/GOV/01/2026, was filed by its candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, against Adeleke, the Accord Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The Peoples Democratic Party case, marked EPT/OS/GOV/02/2026, was filed by Adebayo Olugbenga Adedamola against Adeleke, INEC and Accord.
Display of the petitions is a procedural step. The parties must still be served before full hearing begins. Adeleke remains the declared winner. The detailed grounds of each petition have not been published. The tribunal has not issued a ruling.
Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has urged Administrative Secretaries to reject shortcuts and political interference in the discharge of their duties ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Amupitan gave the charge on Monday in Lagos at a Strategic Operational Workshop for INEC Administrative Secretaries from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
He said the professionalism of state offices depended largely on the institutional culture created by Administrative Secretaries and their commitment to discipline, neutrality, punctuality and compliance.
The INEC chairman also urged the Administrative Secretaries to remain professionally competent and sufficiently knowledgeable to prevent anyone from taking advantage of them in the discharge of their responsibilities.
Amupitan said the Administrative Secretary remained a critical bridge between INEC policy and its implementation at the state level.
He said their responsibilities included ensuring institutional discipline, operational readiness, administrative continuity, proper documentation and early escalation of emerging challenges.
According to him, Administrative Secretaries must also support Electoral Officers, promote neutrality and protect the institutional independence of the Commission.
The chairman said lessons from recent off-cycle elections, particularly the Osun Governorship Election, had demonstrated that effective logistics, functional technology and administrative discipline were critical to credible elections.
Amupitan, however, said the success recorded in single-state elections must now be translated into a uniform national operational standard ahead of the general election.
He said the Commission was entering a critical six-month preparation window and could no longer afford fragmented interpretations of administrative responsibilities or divergent operational practices across states.
The chairman said the two-day workshop was designed to eliminate guesswork, harmonise operational strategies and ensure that Administrative Secretaries understood standardised national protocols.
He said the workshop would focus on Continuous Voter Registration and Permanent Voter Card distribution, logistics and election materials management, electoral technologies, human resources and ad-hoc staff optimisation and others.
Amupitan said particular attention would be given to institutional mastery of technologies including the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), IReV, eEC8A, Election Monitoring and Support Centre (EMSC), CROMS, IOMIS and PFRAS.
He said the Commission would also develop a standardised Excel-based Administrative Secretary Master Operational Tracker to provide a real-time picture of state-level election readiness.
According to him, the tracker will link with the EMSC dashboard and Election Project Plan, enabling relevant officers at the state and headquarters levels to monitor material distribution, ad-hoc staff training and other readiness indicators.
The chairman said the template would also provide a permanent onboarding framework for future Administrative Secretaries beyond the 2027 election.
He urged the participants to engage actively with facilitators and development partners, identify state-specific operational bottlenecks and leave the workshop with a clear understanding of their mandates.
Amupitan said the synergy between Administrative Secretaries and Resident Electoral Commissioners would be crucial to the smooth conduct of the 2027 General Election.
He commended the Office of the Secretary to the Commission and development partners for organising the workshop, describing it as timely and necessary for national electoral preparedness.
In his address, Prof. Ayobami Salami, Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Lagos State, urged INEC Administrative Secretaries to strengthen coordination, accountability and operational readiness ahead of the 2027 General Election.
Salami stressed the need for strategic, systematic and collective preparation for the election.
He said Administrative Secretaries occupied a critical position in election administration, with their effectiveness having direct implications for the success of electoral operations.
Salami urged participants to share field experiences, identify operational gaps and develop practical solutions that could be applied in their respective states.
He said the ultimate value of the workshop would be measured by how effectively participants translated lessons from the sessions into improved operations, stronger accountability and resilient systems for the 2027 election.
Speaking, Rose Oriaran-Anthony, INEC Secretary, urged Administrative Secretaries to ensure greater synergy with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) to enhance preparations for the 2027 General Election.
Oriaran-Anthony said the Commission had convened the workshop to ensure that its headquarters and state offices operated within the same framework and implemented the Election Project Plan in line with its expectations.
She said the workshop would provide a safe space for Administrative Secretaries to openly identify operational bottlenecks, particularly those affecting their working relationships with RECs, and collectively develop solutions.
According to her, logistics, recruitment and training of ad-hoc personnel, financial and asset management, staff discipline and mastery of electoral technologies would be central to the workshop.
She said getting these areas right would make the 2027 election easier to administer. (NAN)
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