Igini says 2027 will test INEC, courts and politicians, warns on NYSC rigging
- Former INEC resident electoral commissioner Mike Igini says the 2027 elections will test INEC, the courts and politicians.
- He alleged that politicians have planted fake corps members on NYSC lists to work as ad hoc staff.
- Igini said Nigeria cannot fix its economy without first fixing its politics.
A former Resident Electoral Commissioner at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said the 2027 general elections will do more than test Nigeria's democracy, arguing that the electoral commission, the courts and the politicians themselves will all be weighed by the outcome.
Mike Igini spoke on Channels Television's Sunday Politics programme.
He said the 2027 vote would put INEC, its officials and the judiciary on trial, and that the politicians seeking office would face judgement too.
Igini went further, saying that many of the people holding public office today belong in prison rather than in government. He did not name anyone, and no one has been charged or convicted on the basis of his remarks.
Warning over NYSC lists
Igini alleged that politicians have found a way into National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) lists, planting fake corps members who would then serve as ad hoc staff during elections.
He also raised concern about Section 97 of the Electoral Act, which states that a candidate cannot be forced to support any political party. According to him, that provision is being broken routinely.
His wider charge was that Nigeria now runs on the will of powerful individuals rather than on the rule of law, with laws on the books going unenforced.
They want to end Nigeria. They are putting out light on democracy,
he said, asking where those now in power were during the years of struggle for civilian rule.
Igini tied the country's economic troubles to its politics. In his view, development is rooted in political processes, so no economic recovery is possible until the political system is fixed.
Why it matters
For ordinary Nigerians, the stakes are practical. Elections that are seen as credible give citizens a way to change the people who set fuel prices, school funding, security spending and job policy. When trust in the process drops, so does pressure on those in office to deliver.
Igini's claims about NYSC lists and the Electoral Act are allegations, not findings by a court or an election tribunal.
INEC has not responded publicly to the interview, and the NYSC has not commented on the specific claim about its lists.
What happens next: The 2027 general elections are the next national test. Watch whether INEC and the courts act on complaints about ad hoc staff and candidate conduct before and during the vote.
