Datti Baba Ahmed, the former vice presidential candidate of the Labour Party, has launched a scathing on Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission, accusing the electoral body of criminal conduct for announcing the 2023 presidential election results in the early hours of the morning. Speaking in a recent interview with Symfoni, Baba Ahmed pulled no punches in his condemnation of what he described as a fundamental breach of electoral protocol that undermined the credibility of the entire democratic process.
At the heart of his criticism lies a specific allegation that INEC Chairman promised African leaders, including former South African President Thabo Mbeki, that results would be announced at 9am, only to proceed with the declaration at 4am instead. Baba Ahmed framed this timing discrepancy not merely as a procedural irregularity but as evidence of deliberate malfeasance. “How can an INEC chairman promise African leaders, including Nelson Mandela’s younger brother, Thabo Mbeki, that he would announce election result by 9am but sneaked and did the announcement by 4am?” he questioned, his remarks laden with incredulity at what he perceives as Nigerian society’s passive acceptance of electoral impropriety.
Baba Ahmed went further, directly challenging the legitimacy of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, which emerged from the controversial electoral process. “How can you shamelessly be leading a government that was announced at 4am? Who works at 4am? Criminals!” he declared, drawing an explicit connection between the timing of the announcement and the character of those involved. His rhetoric reflects the lingering bitterness among opposition figures who continue to dispute the outcome of the election, viewing it as fundamentally flawed and lacking in transparency.
Throughout the interview, the former vice presidential hopeful expressed frustration with what he characterized as Nigerian complacency in the face of democratic erosion. “Why do we just take everything to pass?” he asked, positioning himself as someone who attempted to intervene but was ultimately unable to prevent what he views as a miscarriage of electoral justice. His comments suggest a broader concern about institutional decay and the normalization of practices that would be considered unacceptable in more robust democracies.
Baba Ahmed’s remarks come amid ongoing debates about electoral integrity in Nigeria, where questions about the transparency and efficiency of INEC have persisted across multiple election cycles. While the commission has defended its handling of the 2023 elections, critics point to various irregularities and the departure from promised procedures as evidence of systemic problems that require urgent reform. The timing of result announcements, while seemingly procedural, carries symbolic weight in a context where public trust in electoral institutions remains fragile.
Looking ahead, Baba Ahmed’s forceful criticism signals that the 2023 election will remain a contested narrative in Nigerian politics, with opposition figures maintaining pressure on the current administration’s legitimacy. Whether such rhetoric translates into concrete reforms or simply becomes another chapter in Nigeria’s contentious electoral history remains to be seen. As the country moves toward future electoral cycles, the demand for transparency, predictability, and adherence to stated protocols will likely intensify, particularly if civil society and opposition parties sustain their scrutiny of INEC’s operations.
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