Former vice-president Atiku Abubakar challenged the Independent National Electoral Commission in Abuja on Sunday, 11 October, to publish the identities of private firms printing ballot papers for the 2027 general election. The opposition standard-bearer raised alarms over whispers that the electoral umpire awarded major printing deals to Hitech Construction or its affiliate entities, pointing to long-standing commercial links between the Chagoury family and President Bola Tinubu. Suspicions wreck trust in elections early. Mr Abubakar warned that hiding procurement files behind official secrecy will destroy public confidence in the ballot long before voters arrive at polling stations.
The former vice-president questioned why the state-owned Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc received orders to print ballots for only fifteen to seventeen states, leaving the remaining bulk to private outfits. He also pointed to persistent reports that an unnamed French company secured contracts to print presidential election materials without open public tenders. State presses should handle state secrets. Mr Abubakar insisted that an electoral agency seeking genuine trust must publish its contractor lists, contract values, procurement criteria, and logistical security measures rather than asking citizens to rely on leaked memos and anonymous press leaks.
Administrative redeployments deep inside the commission’s operational engine have provoked equal suspicion across opposition party secretariats. The electoral body carried out sweeping personnel changes within its critical electoral operations and logistics divisions, moving senior directors without offering public explanations or clear merit guidelines. Bureaucratic shuffles often mask partisan calculations. Mr Abubakar argued that arbitrary staff movements inside departments that print, move, and count votes fuel legitimate fears that ruling party sympathisers are securing strategic posts ahead of the campaign period.
The opposition warning touches an open nerve for millions of voters who still remember the digital upload failures and logistical breakdowns of the 2023 presidential election. Nigerian voters will not tolerate another disputed vote count managed by opaque administrative fiat and disputed technical portals. Anger boils over at unkept official promises. Mr Abubakar cautioned that citizens impoverished by record fuel prices, stubborn inflation, and currency collapses will defend their ballots through lawful civic action if the electoral body attempts to rig the 2027 contest.
The electoral commission cannot conduct a credible election while behaving like a clandestine security agency. Electoral legitimacy rests entirely on radical openness, clear procurement guidelines, and complete bureaucratic neutrality. Sunshine remains the best disinfectant. If the commission wants Nigerians to believe in its institutional independence, it must open its printing registers, name its commercial contractors, and show the public that no presidential crony holds the keys to the ballot boxes.