INEC Chairman Calls for Changes in Electoral Act to Solve Party Disputes

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joash Amupitan, on Thursday asked for more changes to the Electoral Act. He wants to fix the problems in the law.

Mr Amupitan spoke during the launch of a book called “Shadows.” The book is written by Eniola Bello, the Managing Director of THISDAY newspaper, in Abuja.

The Electoral Act has about 154 clauses. But Clause 60, which allows electronic transmission of results to be optional, caused a lot of arguments.

Mr Amupitan believes the law should change. He wants any internal disputes in political parties to be settled at least one year before a general election. He said, “We desire that the Electoral Act further be amended so that every matter relating to the internal dispute of the parties must be resolved at least one year before the election. And that will help us to prevent some of the shenanigans that we notice in relation to the activities of the parties.”

He also pointed out that even though the Electoral Act has been changed, there should be rules for uploading candidates from political parties. There should also be a timeline for getting sensitive and non-sensitive materials ready. Testing electoral equipment is important to make sure they work well during elections.

Mr Amupitan said these details are missing from the current laws. Since taking charge of INEC last year, he has overseen a few elections. He promised that despite the challenges, INEC will ensure that the 2027 general elections are fair and inclusive.

He stated, “There is no perfect democracy, but I want to assure you that despite our challenges, INEC has made sure that the 2027 election is fair, is free, is credible, and is inclusive.”

He also mentioned that all issues with vote counting should be handled at polling units. He said, “If there are inconsistencies, if there are irreconcilable figures at the polling unit, that does not even go to INEC.”

The electoral process in Nigeria has faced many problems, like vote buying and suppression. The National Assembly passed the 2026 Electoral Act to make things better, but worries about the fairness and openness of elections still remain.