Several international development partners supporting Nigeria’s electoral process have reportedly urged the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, to strictly comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act in handling candidate substitutions ahead of the forthcoming general elections.
Sources familiar with the discussions said the partners, who have worked closely with INEC on electoral reforms, capacity building and transparency initiatives, stressed during high-level engagements that the Commission must remain guided by the law and resist all forms of political or external pressure.
INEC development partners include the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Bank, European Union (EU), Commonwealth Secretariat, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), African Union Commission, Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA), European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES), International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), International IDEA, Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Westminster Foundation for Democracy, International Republican Institute (IRI) and DAI Global, among others.
