Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Adewole Adebayo, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct the 2027 general election with fairness and neutrality, insisting that the electoral body must never be viewed as an opponent by candidates.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s ‘Sunday Politics’ programme, monitored by Zoyols News, Adebayo reflected on his experience in the 2023 general election, claiming that contestants were forced to battle not only one another but also the electoral commission.
According to him, the last general election failed to meet expectations because of what he described as widespread irregularities and the acceptance of results he believes did not reflect the true outcome of the polls.
Adebayo said he hopes the situation will change ahead of the 2027 elections, stressing that every candidate deserves a level playing field where victory or defeat is determined solely by the votes cast by Nigerians.
He maintained that the electoral process should be transparent enough to inspire confidence among contestants and voters alike, adding that no politician should ever feel they are contesting against the institution responsible for conducting the election.
“In 2023, I contested against INEC. INEC was the opponent. It’s like you allow a bank robber to count the money stolen from the bank, and you say that’s his profit. So what happened in 2023 was not good at all. All those numbers were fake.
“The difference I would want now, hopefully I pray for the INEC chairman, Joash Amupitan, Electoral Commissioners and other staff, that this time around no candidate should see INEC as an enemy.
“So if it is candidate versus candidate, then we are ready. But there is no candidate who should be unfortunate enough to be running against INEC, like we were running against INEC in 2023, and that is what we need to change.
“And I pray that we pay attention to that and we become serious to run for an election. It’s like writing an examination where your final score truly reflects the effort you put in, and that is how elections should be conducted.”
