INEC’s August 16 by-elections and ongoing CVR

 

Last Saturday, August 16, 2025, the Independent National Electoral Commission conducted the backlog of by-elections across 12 states. According to INEC, by-elections were held in 16 constituencies of the Federation, involving two Senatorial Districts in Anambra and Edo States; five Federal Constituencies in Edo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Ogun and Oyo States; and nine State Constituencies in Adamawa, Anambra, Kaduna (2), Kano, Kogi, Niger, Taraba and Zamfara States. These by-elections were caused by the resignation or death of serving members of national and State Houses of Assembly. Similarly, the court-ordered re-run election in Enugu South 1 State Constituency of Enugu State and the Ghari/Tsanyawa State Constituency of Kano State were held simultaneously with the by-elections.

I have had the privilege of reviewing the polls on at least three media platforms since Saturday. They are News Central TV, Radio Now 95.3 FM, Lagos and Silverbird TV. Though I was not an accredited observer at the election, I monitored proceedings on both conventional and social media. I am of the considered view that until Nigeria’s political class is ready for free, fair and credible election, whatever the electoral management bodies like INEC and State Independent Electoral Commissions do will continue to be like mere hollow ritual.

Let me start from the judiciary, if INEC had not taken precautionary move, last Saturday’s election would have had to be postponed. Why? INEC had rejected the nominations of the Social Democratic Party for noncompliance with a section of the electoral law but just on the eve of the poll, a court of competent jurisdiction asked INEC to enlist the nominees of the SDP for an election taking place in less than 24 hours. Thankfully, INEC had printed the ballot paper with the logo of SDP and had to issue statement last Friday that SDP candidates had been accepted to participate. I am of the considered view that there should be a timeline for court judgement for any scheduled election. It is this kind of late court decisions that has robbed Nigeria of having pictures of candidates on the ballot papers alongside with that of their political parties. Recall that INEC under Prof. Maurice Iwu had tried this during the 2007 General Elections but late court judgement led to some of the elections being postponed even on election day!

Last Saturday’s election also saw politicians manifesting their desperation by engaging in election violence and vote buying. News report has it that last Monday, the police in Kano State charged 333 suspected thugs to court for various electoral offences. The suspects were arrested for disrupting the electoral process in Ghari, Bagwai and Shanono local government areas during the rerun and by-election on Saturday. Exhibits recovered by the police included two ballot boxes, 163 thumb-printed ballot papers, 14 vehicles and over N4 million cash. Dangerous weapons recovered from the suspects included a pump action rifle, five locally made guns, 16 swords and 18 cutlasses.

Another news report has it that Security Operatives in Kaduna State arrested a suspected agent, with about ₦25.9 million allegedly earmarked for vote-buying during the by-elections. In a statement, the spokesman of the Kaduna State Police Command, DSP Mansir Hassan said the suspect, Shehu Patangi was arrested in the early hours of last Saturday at a popular hotel located along Turunku Road in Kaduna metropolis, where he was said to be coordinating the distribution of funds for vote buying to influence voters in the Chikun/Kajuru Federal Constituency by-election. In a similar vein, new report has it that Security officers in Ogun State arrested some people suspected to be INEC staff with a huge amount of money ahead of the state by-election. They were picked up alongside a politician who was allegedly planning to buy votes. The suspects were arrested at a hotel in Iperu-Remo, Ikenne Local Government Area on Saturday.

These are just some of the reported cases in the media. It is hoped that there will be thorough investigation of those arrested and if prima facie case of misconduct or crime is established against any of them, there should be diligent prosecution of the suspects in a lawcourt. One noticeable thing during last Saturday’s poll was the low voter turnout. This has been a recurring decimal at our elections. I have said, time and again that INEC and National Assembly has to work to cure this malaise. Solutions include the following: Stop the lockdown on election days. As can be seen, restriction of movement has been counterproductive as many of the voters whose Polling Units are far from where they live are not able to go and exercise their franchise.

There is need for stronger voter education by the political parties, INEC, National Orientation Agency, media and the Civil Society to mobilise voters to participate in the electoral process. There should be provision for early voting for those who will be on essential duties during the elections. These include, security agents, accredited observers, journalists, INEC Poll Workers and even Polling Agents of political parties. If these category of people have opportunity to exercise their franchise a week ahead of others at designated Polling Units, this will shore up the numbers of voters.

Nigeria is mature enough for Out-of-Country and Diaspora Voting. This will give our compatriots outside of the shores of Nigeria opportunity to cast their ballot without having to travel down from wherever they are. We should also allow prisoners who are not on death row to register and vote as is done in other clime. People should be posted to Polling Units closer to their residences rather than where they work since elections mostly take place on Saturday. INEC should also consider increasing voting hours from 6 to 10 hours to give more latitude to people to cast their ballot.

I congratulate all those who won their elections last Saturday. However, they should ensure that they deliver on their campaign promises. Part of the reason for voter apathy is the fact that the electorate haven’t seen improvement in their standard of living as cost of living continue to soar. Though they are all lawmakers, they should do their level best in times of their constitutional responsibility of lawmaking, oversight and representation. I wish them well.

Did you know that INEC has commenced the Continuous Voters Registration on August 18, 2025? According to the Commission’s press statement released last Monday, the registration portal went live at 8.30am and by 3.30pm, just seven hours later, as many as 69,376 Nigerians pre-registered online. The portal is available 24 hours every day of the week at https://cvr.inecnigeria.org The Commission is set to commence the in-person registration option on Monday,  August 25,  2025 at its  811 State and Local Government offices nationwide from 9.00am - 3.00pm during weekdays (Monday to Friday) only. This will enable those who prefer the in-person option to register and for the online pre-registrants to complete their registration. The two options will proceed simultaneously throughout the duration of the CVR which is till August 30, 2026. For emphasis, the public should note that voter registration is only open to Nigerian citizens who are at least 18 years old and who are not registered voters. Double or multiple registration is a violation of the law. However, inter-State/FCT and intra-State/FCT transfer of voters as well as the replacement of lost or damaged voters cards are allowed during the CVR.

X: @jideojong