New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) stalwart Buba Galadima has alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is compromised in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), cautioning that plans to appoint a contentious retired judge as the next INEC chairman could push Nigeria into turmoil.
During an interview on ARISE News, Galadima claimed the government was considering nominating a recently retired Court of Appeal judge “known for notoriety” to lead the electoral body.
“Come November, there are rumours all over the place that this government is nominating a just-retired Court of Appeal judge who is known for notoriety to be the chairman of INEC.
“I wish it were not true. Because if that man becomes the chairman of INEC, be assured that this government is inviting a civil war in this country,” he cautioned.
The opposition figure accused the current administration of disregarding the rule of law, insisting the electoral umpire had already been compromised.
“So you can see that this government has no respect for the rule of law. And we cannot be in a country where the government does not respect the law. The INEC chairman has already rigged the election for the APC.
“They brought somebody who is the secretary of the party that went to court for APC as acting national chairman, and he was rewarded as chairman of INEC,” he alleged.
Galadima also condemned INEC’s failure to enforce its own guidelines on premature campaigns, stressing the body had shown no will to hold political players accountable.
“In the last six months, I complained severally about INEC’s inability to call political players to order. And I came to realise, painfully too, that they are not in a position to do that because those who pay the piper dictate the tune,” he said.
He attributed the trend of early campaigns to the APC, claiming it was a deliberate ploy to weaken opposition parties ahead of the 2027 polls.
“This issue of campaigning before being allowed by INEC was started by the government of the day. And this suggests that INEC cannot be an umpire in a political environment as we have today.
“If they don’t have the liver to even say, ‘Please don’t; we have not yet allowed politicians to start,’ then the process is already compromised,” Galadima stated.
According to him, APC’s early start was a tactic to scatter its rivals:
“The wisdom of the APC to start the campaign early is because they wanted to see their opponents so that they would, through time, cut them into pieces. And I saw some of my friends in the opposition just fall into the trap because they are not seasoned politicians. They are opportunists in politics.”
He said many opposition figures had already suffered from this misstep, recalling their desperate switches between parties.
“If they had known, or if they were politicians, they wouldn’t have danced to the drum being beaten by the APC. Now you can see some of them started with SDP.
“I was here on this platform to warn them that no opposition politician in his right senses will start a marathon race against a sitting government. Because by the time it is time for you to say go, you are already tired and exhausted.
“And this is exactly the trap they fell into. So they were decimated in the SDP. They moved to the ADC. They are still shouting, shouting, shouting, shouting. It’s not time yet. And they will get exhausted. They will be dismembered,” he said.
Galadima emphasised that placing a tainted figure at the helm of INEC would erase faith in Nigeria’s democracy.
“If this man is appointed INEC chairman, then forget about elections in Nigeria. Because there would be no elections in this country, and it would create chaos,” he declared.
Urging Nigerians to remain vigilant, he said, “We cannot allow somebody that has a record of notoriety to be imposed on us as INEC chairman.”
