How INEC, Courts Fuel Nigeria’s Party Crisis — Amadi

Legal scholar and political analyst Sam Amadi has blamed Nigeria’s electoral and judicial institutions for deepening instability within political parties, citing inconsistent rulings, weak regulatory clarity, and conflicting administrative decisions as key drivers of internal crises.

Speaking on ARISE NEWS on Friday, Amadi said disputes within parties such as the ADC and others are increasingly escalating due to what he described as a lack of clear authority in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the courts.

According to him, this institutional weakness is encouraging factions within parties to take disagreements beyond internal mechanisms rather than resolving them amicably.

“INEC staffers provide conflicting decisions. Some lawyers will say it is right. So, basically, the lack of authoritativeness and due process and clear-minded clarity in INEC management of the parties incentivised disputants… to externalise and accelerate and deepen those divisions,” he said.

Amadi noted that issues that should ordinarily be handled within party structures have now evolved into prolonged legal and administrative battles, with political actors moving between INEC and the courts in search of favourable interpretations.

He also criticised the judiciary for what he described as vague and inconsistent rulings, arguing that such decisions fail to provide finality in disputes.

“I think that the courts, through their weak interpretation, through their lack of clarity—look at the Supreme Court decision—‘oh, it’s an internal affair’—it was not authoritative,” he said.

The analyst maintained that instead of stabilising the political system, the combined effect of INEC’s administrative inconsistencies and judicial ambiguity has created opportunities for factions to exploit the system.

“Everybody thinks, ‘OK, we can get a better option from INEC,’” he added, stressing that this mindset has emboldened political actors to prolong conflicts and hold party structures to ransom.

Amadi further observed that the current situation reflects a broader pattern of disorder in Nigeria’s political space.

“Clearly, there’s something different from the past… this time it’s different—total incoherence everywhere. So, the court, INEC, and the politicians will be held responsible,” he said.

He added that the lack of institutional clarity continues to incentivise litigants to prolong disputes, warning that unless both INEC and the judiciary provide more decisive and consistent leadership, internal party crises will persist.