Politics
Group Seeks Constitutional Reforms
A Non Governmental group, Social Action has advocated for constitutional reforms that will cover restructuring and resource control.
In a statement made available to The Tide by its Communications and Advocacy Manager, Lilian Akhigbe, it condemned the use of force against protesters and other forms of repressions against the populace.
The body also condemned the deliberate use of the term “subversive” by the federal government in relation to young Nigerians whose #EndSARS street marches and sit-ins had been widely acclaimed to be peaceful and well-organised across the country, until it was hijacked by sponsored hoodlums.
It said, “We deem it highly condemnable for the government to regard peaceful protesters as subversives, as such a perception is capable of re-inforcing the mistrust between the government and the citizens.
In a democratic system of government where citizens have a constitutionally-guaranteed right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, such citizens and their supporters must never be treated as subversive elements when there is no evidence suggesting that the genuine, peaceful protesters had any intention to subvert or undermine the government in power. “
It decried any action that would threaten the freedom of the citizens and make legitimate demands to hold the government accountable.
“Government ought to encourage these young, patriotic Nigerians to engage in socio-political dialogues that could effectuate more citizens’ participation in governance.
“We strongly condemn the use of excessive force by some security operatives on peaceful protesters, in an attempt to quell the peaceful protests in several states across the country.
“This has led to the death of several persons, with some sustaining gunshot wounds; a situation that could have been averted with more proactive and suitable measures”, it added.
Insisting that adherence to democratic norms is a responsibility of both the government and the governed, the body stressed that the rule of law allows all citizens of Nigeria to engage in political dialogue in order to demand for broader reforms in the governance of the country through extensive civic engagements.
The body urged that members of the society must be allowed the freedom to communicate their grievances to the government and influence public policies and programmes without delay, in order to prevent an escalation into violence.
It declared that, “The peaceful clamour for police reforms, as well as electoral , constitutional review, restructuring, resource control, the passage of the PIB into law, and other legitimate of the people, must never be misconstrued by the government or any segment of the society as an attempt to subvert the government or truncate the present political system”.
By: Kevin Nengia
Prof. Amupitan gave the warning on Saturday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the South-South Zonal Readiness Assessment and Interactive Staff Engagement organised ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said insecurity remained a potential challenge to the electoral process but stressed that the Commission would not allow threats against its personnel to undermine its constitutional responsibilities.
“Insecurity may pose a challenge, but our collective constitutional resolve is far stronger. Let me again send a clear message from Port Harcourt: anyone who attempts to threaten, intimidate, or harm our ad-hoc staff, NYSC members, or permanent personnel will be brought to justice under the full weight of the law,” he said.
The INEC Chairman, who was accompanied by National Commissioners, directors and technical aides, disclosed that the South-South engagement was the fifth in a series of zonal assessments, following similar exercises in the South-West, North-West, South-East and North-East.
He explained that his physical presence across the geopolitical zones reflected the Commission’s field-first approach, emphasising that electoral integrity must be established through effective operations at the grassroots.
According to him, the assessment would cover operational preparedness across the 123 Local Government Areas in the six South-South states.
On election security, Prof. Amupitan said INEC had moved away from reactive security arrangements traditionally activated around election day to a proactive, intelligence-driven framework known as the “ICCES Tentacle”.
He explained that the framework was designed to extend inter-agency security coordination from national and state headquarters to local government areas and Registration Area Centres, including remote communities.
He identified three critical pillars of the framework as mapping and mitigating security threats, protecting electoral personnel and infrastructure, and guaranteeing safe access to polling units.
The INEC boss said the security arrangement would provide comprehensive protection for electoral personnel, technological infrastructure, including Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and server infrastructure, as well as voters.
He added that the framework was intended to ensure that every polling unit, irrespective of its geographical location or history of security challenges, remained safe and accessible for the exercise of democratic rights.
Prof. Amupitan disclosed that the South-South security architecture comprised approximately 60 major operational formations, headquarters and state commands operating under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
The network, he said, brings together military, naval, air, police and other security and intelligence agencies across the six states.
“Together, this integrated multi-agency network represents the operational backbone that guarantees intelligence-led protection across every riverine creek, coastal axis, and land-based polling unit in the Niger Delta,” he stated.
Providing an overview of the region’s electoral significance, the INEC Chairman said the South-South had the fourth-largest voting bloc in the country, with 15,823,550 registered voters, representing 15.30 per cent of the national register.
Rivers State alone, he said, accounts for 3,736,434 registered voters spread across the 23 local government areas.
Alhaji Abubakar made the demand following revelations that some INEC registration officers allegedly abused their access to the voter registration system to introduce irregular records into the database.
In a statement issued by his Director of Strategic Communications, Mr Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president described the development as a serious breach of the Commission’s internal safeguards and raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
He urged INEC to identify the officials implicated in the alleged misconduct and explain what disciplinary or legal measures had been taken against them.
Alhaji Abubakar also called for an independent forensic audit of the preliminary voters’ register to establish the scale of the alleged manipulation, identify affected records and determine how the questionable entries were introduced into the system.
He further insisted that INEC preserve all relevant voter records, image files, system access logs and electronic audit trails to prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence before an independent examination could be conducted.
The former vice-president also demanded that the Commission disclose the identities of companies contracted to produce sensitive election materials ahead of the 2027 polls, arguing that transparency was essential to building public confidence in the electoral process.
INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, had earlier disclosed during a television interview that some registration officers across the country allegedly used their official login credentials to introduce irregularities into the voters’ database.
Dr Bayode explained that the Commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System helped identify questionable records and establish how some irregularities entered the system.
He, however, clarified that not all suspicious photographs were AI-generated, as some resulted from poor registration procedures.
The development followed public concerns over suspected AI-generated photographs, alleged duplicate entries and other inconsistencies discovered in the preliminary voters’ register published online on October 26, 2026.
INEC has maintained that the published document is a preliminary register and that it is reviewing questionable records ahead of the certification of the final Register of Voters.
The controversy has intensified calls for greater transparency and accountability in the management of the voters’ register as preparations gather momentum for the 2027 general elections.
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