To protect our democracy, INEC, Judiciary must be free

Nigeria’s democracy is not dying loudly. There are no soldiers on the streets, no formal suspension of the constitution. The damage is quieter and, for that reason, far more dangerous. It happens through manipulation of processes, selective application of rules and the steady capture of institutions that were created to keep power in check.

At the centre of this decline are two bodies whose independence democracy cannot survive without: The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Judiciary. INEC’s conduct has given Nigerians good reason for concern. The 2023 general elections were meant to mark a turning point, with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing platform (IReV) promising greater transparency. Instead, result uploads were delayed, figures were inconsistent across polling units, and public trust collapsed visibly. These were failures serious enough to change political outcomes and reinforce the widespread belief that elections in Nigeria are manipulated by those who control the process. The courts, which should have stepped in as neutral referees, have worsened matters. Judicial involvement in party primaries and election disputes has too often rewarded legal manoeuvring over the honest expression of voters’ will. When tribunals resolve governorship disputes on narrow procedural grounds rather than addressing the real substance of electoral complaints, the message to ordinary Nigerians is that power is won in courtrooms, not at the polling booth.

The root cause of much of this failure is financial dependence on the executive. INEC’s budget passes through the presidency. The judiciary’s funding, at federal and state levels, flows through the same elected officials who regularly appear before state courts as parties in electoral disputes. No institution can be genuinely independent while relying on the very authority it is meant to check for its daily survival. This arrangement does not produce neutrality. It produces caution, deference and, ultimately, compromise. The solution is straightforward and must be pursued without further delay. Nigerians have clamoured that INEC’s funding must become a first-line charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund, released directly and free from executive control. The judiciary, at both federal and state levels, must enjoy the same protection. These are not new ideas. They are constitutional obligations that governments have long acknowledged in words while quietly undermining in practice through underfunding and bureaucratic interference.

Nigeria’s democracy has outlasted military rule and survived repeated political turbulence. Its greater threat today is not a coup. It is the slow emptying of the institutions that give democracy its meaning. A commission that depends on those it is meant to oversee, and a court that cannot function without the approval of those appearing before it, cannot be trusted to protect the people’s mandate – and our democracy. Financial independence is not a luxury. It is the only way forward.

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