ABUJA, Nigeria — The head of Nigeria’s umbrella body for registered political parties has passed a vote of confidence in the integrity of the nation’s electoral chief but warned that restrictive administrative reforms are actively undermining democratic participation.
Yusuf Dantalle, National Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), stated that while the current leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is deeply well-intentioned, the system around them is under immense strain.
Speaking in a comprehensive interview in Abuja, Mr. Dantalle took particular aim at the controversial introduction of the National Identification Number (NIN) as a mandatory requirement for political party registration and membership validation, labeling it an impractical administrative bottleneck.
System Enables Failure Despite Capable Leadership
Offering an assessment of the current INEC leadership, Mr. Dantalle described the chairman as a “very calm and well-intentioned individual” who is genuinely committed to delivering credible elections. However, he warned that good intentions alone cannot override a flawed institutional framework.
“He appears committed to doing the right thing, and I believe he genuinely wants to succeed,” Mr. Dantalle said. “However, leadership alone is not enough. The system must enable him to succeed. If the legal and institutional framework remains restrictive, even the best leadership will struggle.”
To insulate the commission from political pressures, the IPAC chairman renewed calls for deep structural overhauls, arguing that the appointment of key electoral officials must be completely independent of the executive arm of government and that party funding structures must be insulated from external political influence.
The NIN Requirement: ‘An Impractical Diversion’
Mr. Dantalle expressed serious concern over the newly enforced timeline requiring political parties to validate their entire membership registers using the national identity database. He argued that the policy risks massive disenfranchisement across the country.
The IPAC boss, who said the policy was a diversionary tactic due to its strict timing, said the short window given to political parties to produce updated registers has left many at risk of technical non-compliance.
“Asking political parties to complete fresh membership registration within a short window is impractical,” he said. “The implication is that it risks disenfranchising party members and weakening participation. If citizens are excluded through administrative bottlenecks, then democracy itself is weakened.”
Operational Strains on INEC
Beyond membership registration, the IPAC chairman stated that INEC’s compressed electoral timetables and overlapping reforms are creating dangerous operational pressures ahead of future general elections.
He noted that while the electoral umpire may not publicly admit to the internal friction, the system is visibly overstretched by unresolved logistical and legal issues.
“We must be careful not to design a process that sets the electoral body up for failure,” Mr Dantalle warned, urging wide consultation, realistic timelines, and adequate resource allocation before sweeping operational shifts are codified into law.
Addressing Youth Apathy and ‘Industrial-Scale’ Corruption
When questioned about the deep-seated disenchantment among Nigeria’s massive youth demographic, Mr Dantalle refused to sugarcoat the reality, admitting that trust in the democratic process has been severely eroded by systemic corruption.
He noted that political office in Nigeria is widely perceived as a commercial enterprise rather than public service. This systemic flaw, he argued, begins at the very root of the democratic tree: party primaries, which he described as frequently compromised and undemocratic.
The IPAC chairman highlighted several core issues driving voter apathy:
- Predetermined Outcomes: When local government and state elections feel pre-arranged by ruling parties, it erodes the value of the vote and directly creates space for vote-buying.
- Judicial Overreach: The growing trend of resolving election disputes in the courts by technicalities rather than substantive justice further erodes public confidence.
- Loss of Grassroots Ownership: Centralising local government electoral functions away from community control has weakened local democratic participation.
“Democracy is a process, not an event. If the foundation is flawed, the outcome will always be questioned,” Mr. Dantalle asserted.
Despite his grim diagnosis, the opposition politician—who also leads the Allied People’s Movement (APM)—urged young Nigerians not to abandon the ballot box. He appealed to citizens to completely reject vote-buying, which he termed “destructive to democracy,” and called on patriotic actors within the judiciary and civil society to remain firm in sanitising the nation’s political landscape.
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