Samson Itodo of YIAGA Africa
Executive Director, Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo, has warned that early campaigns by politicians will divert attention from critical governance issues.
In a statement made available to The Guardian yesterday, he warned that unless political actors recommit to democratic norms and responsible leadership, the mounting tensions could further erode public trust in the electoral process.
He, therefore, called for stronger institutional safeguards and greater political restraint to ensure that Nigeria’s democracy withstands the pressures of an increasingly competitive and high-stakes political contest.
He noted that even though the ban on political campaigns had not been lifted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), overt campaign activities began immediately after the 2023 elections.
Itodo, who serves as the Principal Partner of the Election Law Centre and Chairperson of the African Union Advisory Group on AI in Peace, Security and Governance, expressed concern that the evolving political landscape had been characterised by heightened elite bargaining, strategic realignments across party lines, and the emergence of premature campaign activities, with more than a year to the general elections.
He said: “The political temperature is heating up at a scale that puts the country’s democracy under intense pressure. Democratic institutions are struggling to respond to pressures emanating from the actions of political actors. The political landscape has been marked by heightened elite bargaining, strategic political realignments, and premature campaigns.
”These developments reflect a troubling pathology of Nigeria’s electoral politics, which relegates governance for the advancement of electoral ambition.”
The direction of the country’s democracy, he said, would depend on whether institutions, citizens and security agencies can collectively resist authoritarian drift and safeguard the credibility of the electoral process.
He called on the Interagency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) to adopt a framework of patriotic non-alignment, anchored on professionalism, constitutional fidelity and respect for the rule of law, even as he warned that partisan conduct by security personnel could fatally undermine electoral integrity.
The Guardian reports that INEC is scheduled to conduct three off-cycle elections in 2026, including the Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections and the governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states.
