The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, has called on former Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mike Igini, to apologise to Nigerians over what he described as misleading claims about the Electoral Act 2026.
Ajayi made the demand in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, following comments made by Igini during an interview on ARISE News last Wednesday.
In the interview, Igini had alleged that the Electoral Act 2026 introduced a “dangerous” provision under Section 63, which he said gives presiding officers discretion to accept or reject ballot papers that do not bear official marks prescribed by the electoral body.
He argued that the provision “reintroduces” a clause allowing ballot papers without official security features to be counted if the presiding officer is “satisfied” with their origin, warning that such discretion could open the door to electoral manipulation.
“The use of the word ‘satisfied’ gives presiding officers excessive discretion, allowing them to accept ballot papers without official security features. This could encourage politicians to print fake ballot papers for elections,” Igini had said.
However, a fact-check report by TheCable indicated that the provision cited by Igini was not new, stating that it had been carried over from previous electoral legislation and was not removed in the Electoral Act 2022 as claimed.
“There is no evidence that the clause was removed in 2022 or newly introduced in a later amendment,” the report stated.
Reacting, Ajayi criticised Igini for what he termed “unfounded claims,” urging him to retract his statements and issue a public apology.
“I find it really awkward and difficult to understand how a man who spent 10 years or so as a Resident Electoral Commissioner in INEC would join opposition elements on a campaign of calumny against the same institution he served,” Ajayi said.
He added that even if Igini had legitimate concerns about the electoral system, he should express them responsibly without undermining public confidence in INEC.
“Decency demands that he should exercise better judgment and discretion in the way he goes about putting his views across without delegitimising INEC and eroding public confidence in the institution as an umpire,” Ajayi concluded.