As the tenure of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, draws to a close, pro-democracy organisations have called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to allow an independent panel to select his successor.
The groups — Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA) and the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD) — made the call during the public presentation of outputs from their Civic Space, Poverty and Elections (CISPEN) project in Abuja.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Hussaini Abdu described the current process, which gives the president the sole power to appoint the INEC chairman, as “fundamentally flawed.”
WRAPA Secretary-General, Hajiya Saudatu Mahdi, emphasised the urgent need to safeguard Nigeria’s shrinking civic space and its effect on democratic participation. Similarly, the Executive Director of Centre LSD, Dr. Monday Osasah, explained that the CISPEN project was designed to promote citizen engagement, transparency, and accountability in governance.
Meanwhile, a coalition of civil society election observers who monitored last weekend’s by-elections in Kano State has urged political parties dissatisfied with the process to seek redress in court rather than resort to violence.
The groups — including Women Fest for Better Life Living Initiatives, Centre for Grassroots Development, and Crime Prevention, among others — commended INEC for conducting credible elections in Bagwai/Shanono and Ghari/Tsanyawa constituencies. Convener of Society Rights Project, Zubaur Ladan, noted that the polls were held in a peaceful atmosphere.
In a related development, INEC has announced that Certificates of Return will be presented to winners of the recently concluded by-elections on Thursday, August 21, 2025.
National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, disclosed in a statement that senators-elect and House of Representatives members-elect will receive their certificates at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja at 3:00 p.m.
He added that members-elect of state Houses of Assembly will be issued their certificates by the respective Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) on Friday, August 22, 2025, at 11:00 a.m.
Olumekun further explained that re-run elections ordered by tribunals were successfully conducted in Enugu and Kano states, after earlier disruptions caused by violence. While results have been declared in most constituencies, he noted that the election in Kaura Namoda South Constituency of Zamfara State was declared inconclusive due to violence in five polling units
