Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has demanded that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, disclose details of contracts for printing sensitive election materials ahead of the 2027 general elections and explain reported changes in key departments.
Mr Atiku also asked the commission to confirm or deny reports that Hitech or companies associated with it had been awarded contracts to print sensitive election materials, warning that secrecy surrounding the process could undermine public confidence in the polls.
In a statement issued on Sunday by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Presidential Campaign Council, Mr Atiku called for the publication of the names of companies engaged by INEC, the procurement methods used and the security arrangements governing the production, storage and delivery of election materials.
The former vice-president said reported changes in the commission’s Electoral Operations Department and other key units required urgent clarification.
Reports indicate that Isa Magaji Gum, formerly director of Electoral Operations, had been redeployed to the Voter Registry Department, while Oluyemi Titilayo Adeyemi-Showunmi was appointed to head Electoral Operations.
Dr Lawrence Bayode was also identified as the head of the Information and Communication Technology department.
Mr Atiku said the departments were central to election administration and urged INEC to explain the criteria for the appointments and redeployments.
“These departments are at the heart of election administration. INEC must explain these decisions, publish the criteria applied and show that every appointment and redeployment followed due process, was based on merit and was free from political interference. Nigerians will not accept vague assurances on matters this serious,” he said.
He, however, cautioned against presuming that any official was compromised because of their ethnicity, background or associations.
Mr Atiku said reported political connections or concerns about the concentration of appointments required the commission to provide verifiable assurances that its impartiality would be protected.
He also linked the concerns to the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, arguing that public dissatisfaction with the government should not be allowed to influence the conduct of the 2027 elections.
The former vice-president said the combination of reported changes in sensitive departments and unanswered questions over major contracts could fuel suspicions that the government was seeking an electoral advantage.
He urged INEC to dispel such concerns through full and verifiable disclosure.
Mr Atiku also demanded clarification over reports that more than half of INEC’s sensitive election materials, including materials relating to the presidential ballot, might have been allocated to a company whose identity and credentials had not been publicly disclosed and which was believed to be based in France.
He further expressed concern over reports that the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc (NSPMC) might be responsible for printing election materials for only 15 to 17 states, with private companies handling the remaining assignments.
The former vice-president said INEC should publish the names of all companies engaged for the exercise, the materials and states assigned to each, the procurement methods adopted and the security clearances obtained.
He also called for details of the safeguards governing the production, storage and delivery of the materials.
“These reports demand urgent and unequivocal answers. INEC must confirm or deny them and publish the names of every company engaged, the materials and states assigned to each, the procurement method, the security clearances obtained and the safeguards governing production, storage and delivery,” he said.
“Nigerians should not have to depend on unnamed sources to discover who is producing their ballots.”
Mr Atiku specifically questioned the possibility of Hitech or a company associated with it handling the printing of sensitive election materials, citing publicly reported business ties between the Chagoury family, which owns Hitech, and the Tinubu family.
