2027: Atiku Questions Redeployments In INEC

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has demanded immediate and full transparency from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over reported redeployments in key departments and the production, printing and custody of sensitive materials for the 2027 general elections.

In a statement issued by his Director of Strategic Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the reported changes in the Electoral Operations Department raise serious questions that INEC must answer without delay.

Reports indicate that Director Isa Magaji Gum was moved from Electoral Operations to the Voter Registry Department, while Mrs Oluyemi Titilayo Adeyemi-Showunmi was appointed to head Electoral Operations. Dr Lawrence Bayode has also been identified as the head of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

“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,” he said.

Atiku said no official should be presumed compromised because of ethnicity, background or associations, but when reported political connections raise public concern, INEC must provide verifiable assurances.

He said any award of sensitive election-material contracts to Hitech or a company associated with Hitech would constitute a betrayal of neutrality, given the reported business ties between the Chagoury family, which owns Hitech, and the Tinubu family.

“If Hitech or any company associated with it has been selected, INEC must immediately disclose the contract, its value, scope of work and procurement method.”