Atiku Abubakar, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections, has demanded that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) publicly account for recent personnel changes in critical departments and disclose all contracts for the production of sensitive election materials. The former vice president said reported redeployments within INEC raise urgent questions about the integrity of the electoral process.
Demands for Transparency on Staff Redeployments
According to a statement released by the Director of Strategic Communication, Phrank Shaibu, and made available to Legit.ng on Sunday, October 11, 2026, Atiku specifically highlighted three key appointments. Director Isa Magaji Gum was moved from Electoral Operations to the Voter Registry Department, Mrs Oluyemi Titilayo Adeyemi-Showunmi was appointed to lead Electoral Operations, and Dr Lawrence Bayode was identified as head of the Information and Communication Technology Department.
"These departments are at the heart of election administration. INEC must explain these decisions, publish the criteria applied and show that every appointment and redeployment followed due process, was based on merit and was free from political interference," Atiku said.
Ballot Printing Contracts Under Scrutiny
The former vice-president also demanded that INEC confirm or deny whether Hitech, or any company linked to it, has been awarded a contract to print sensitive materials for the 2027 election. He said information available to him suggests that more than half of INEC's sensitive election materials, including presidential ballot assets, may have been assigned to an unnamed company believed to be based in France.
He further raised concern that the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc may only be handling printing for between 15 and 17 states, with the remainder divided among private firms.
"INEC must confirm or deny them and publish the names of every company engaged, the materials and states assigned to each, the procurement method, the security clearances obtained and the safeguards governing production, storage and delivery," Atiku said.
He argued that awarding any ballot contract to Hitech would undermine INEC's neutrality, pointing to what he described as publicly reported business ties between the Chagoury family, which owns Hitech, and the Tinubu family. Hitech has previously been associated with the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, which the federal government says was awarded through a special procurement process.
Warning to INEC Officials
Atiku linked the concerns to what he called the Tinubu administration's failure to address economic hardship facing millions of Nigerians, warning that a struggling government must not be allowed to use the electoral commission as a tool for political survival.
"Let there be no mistake: Nigerians will not accept a stolen election. Any attempt to rig the 2027 polls will be met with determined resistance through the ballot, lawful civic action, and every other democratic channel available to the people," he said.
The ADC said it would closely monitor all election preparations and alert both domestic and international observers to any lack of transparency in the handling of election materials.
Atiku Hits Out at Tinubu Over Rising Food Imports
Meanwhile, Legit.ng also reported that Atiku accused President Bola Tinubu of presiding over a collapse in Nigeria's agricultural export earnings in 2026. Nigeria's agricultural trade swung from a ₦740.27bn surplus in the first half of 2025 to a ₦56.13bn deficit in the same period of 2026. The former vice president made the allegation in a statement signed by the ADC Presidential Campaign Council's director.
