By Timileyin Okunlola 

Many Nigerians are familiar with the Independent National Electoral Commission, however, only a few are aware of the quiet irony staring everyone in the eyes. The word “Independent” is clearly stated from the onset, but naming something independent and actually designing it to be independent are two very different exercises, and the gap between them is where the real story of Nigeria’s electoral administration lies.  

Electoral administration refers to the management of elections logistics. It often involves preparing for and then implementing an election. It determines the legitimacy of the election and shapes voters’ confidence in the results. For many, it revolves around just the logistics, but proper electoral administration goes beyond that.

For an electoral process to be credible, it has to be independent and independence is not a one-way street. It’s made up of several distinct components, and an institution can be strong in one area and weak in another. For INEC, its independence can be tied to four aspects: who appoints its leadership and how insulated that process is from the ruling party, whether it controls its own funding, or has to ask permission for it, whether it can issue rules and guidelines without needing approval from another arm of government, and whether it can operate without last-minute political or judicial interference once an election is already underway.

Nigeria’s Electoral Act 2026 was, in large part, an attempt to strengthen several of these components at once. It establishes a dedicated funding framework for INEC, with all election funds required to reach the Commission no later than six months before a general election, so logistics can no longer be held hostage to political timing. It makes electronic voter accreditation and result transmission mandatory rather than optional, introducing tougher penalties for electoral misconduct, and expands INEC’s authority to review questionable result declarations made under duress. Going further, it also limits the power of courts to interrupt an election already in progress — a direct response to operational chaos in previous cycles, including unclear procedures, late delivery of materials, and conflicting judicial interpretations over the use of the result viewing portal.

Read also:  Understanding INEC’s Legal Mandate: Powers, Limits and Accountability

Why This Matters for the Rule of Law 

It’s tempting to file all of these reforms under mere logistics. However, institutional independence for an electoral body sits much closer to the heart of the rule of law than that framing suggests. Basically, the rule of law operates on the principle  that no single actor — including whoever currently holds power — gets to control the rules of the contest they’re also competing in. Therefore, an electoral commission that can be quietly pressured, defunded, or reshaped by the party in government isn’t really refereeing an election; it’s rather a participant.

This circles back to the argument scholars and commentators have been making about Nigeria’s reforms since 1999. That is, administrative improvements will only remain a band aid if the Commission’s political independence remains shaky underneath. As a publication by the Contemporary Journal of Politics and Administration put it, the credibility of any electoral process is tied directly to the independence and capacity of the body running it, and while the Electoral Act 2026’s dedicated funding framework is a genuinely important step, funding is only one piece of the puzzle.

The Elephant in the Room

One critical aspect of INEC’s independence that remains largely untouched by recent reform is exactly the one wielding the largest impact: how its leadership gets to power. As at today, the INEC Chairman and National Commissioners are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate — a process that puts the selection of the referee squarely in the hands of the very political system being refereed.

This has prompted a growing, increasingly public argument that Nigeria needs to ask a bigger question than whether any individual chairman is trustworthy. As one recent commentary framed it, that’s too small a question for a democracy to rest on. The real question we should rather ask is whether Nigeria has designed an electoral commission strong enough to inspire confidence no matter who occupies the presidency at any given time. 

Interestingly, this isn’t a new concern. As far back as 2008, Nigeria’s Electoral Reform Committee proposed transferring the power of appointing INEC’s leadership away from the President entirely — suggesting the National Judicial Council instead, alongside a genuinely open recruitment process. Nearly two decades later, that proposal still hasn’t been adopted, and the appointment process remains fundamentally unchanged.

A Transition Nigeria Cannot Afford to Get Wrong

Once again, these very concerns are playing out right now, ahead of the 2027 general elections. Last year, Professor Mahmood Yakubu completed his two-term, ten-year tenure as INEC Chairman. Five National Commissioners also due to exit the Commission in 2026, with another five set to leave on the very eve of the 2027 elections. Depending on how many of the outgoing commissioners are reappointed, the 2027 elections could be managed by a largely new leadership team, assembled in the shadow of the most politically consequential vote in a decade.

Transitions like this are exactly the moments observers warn about, a leadership handover at an electoral commission can become an opportunity for institutional capture by whichever political actors are positioned to influence it, particularly incumbents seeking to consolidate control ahead of a vote. How transparently this transition is handled will say a great deal about whether Nigeria’s electoral administration is strengthening its independence in practice, or only on paper.

Read also: Pre-election Disputes and Legal Preparedness: Lessons from past elections in Nigeria

Bringing this Home 

None of this is only a concern for political scientists or civil society analysts. The independence of the body running your election determines something very concrete: whether the outcome you see reflects what actually happened at the polls, or reflects who had the most influence over the referee beforehand.

A well-funded, technologically capable electoral commission still isn’t a fully independent one if its leadership can be shaped by the party or individual currently in power. Real institutional independence means the answer to “who’s in charge of this election?” doesn’t change depending on who’s asking, or who’s currently occupying the presidency. 

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