Ahead of the general elections next February, President Muhammadu Buhari said on Monday that he is fully committed to make the Independent national Electoral Commission(INEC) to be truly ‘Independent’.

The president reiterated the commitment in his speech to mark Nigeria’s 58th Independence anniversary.

‘I have committed myself many times to ensure that elections are fully participatory, free and fair and that the Independent National Electoral Commission will be exactly INDEPENDENT and properly staffed and resourced. The ballot box is how we make our choice for the governments that rule in our name.

“Developing a thriving democracy is not an easy task. There can be no quick fixes or short cuts. These are the most important lessons that we have learnt in our 58 years as an independent nation”, he said.

Perhaps with the pestilence of fake news and people inflaming ethnic passions and divisions on his mind, Buhari seized on the occasion to warn citizens not to misuse the technology now “in our hands”.

“Now we have in our hands technology that is a powerful tool that we can and should use for knowledge and understanding. As with other countries, we must also learn how to manage those tendencies that, instead, look to abuse new technologies to provoke passions and stir tensions.

“Never before have we faced such a challenge. We must all rise to the responsibility of shutting out those disruptive and corrosive forces that hide in today’s world of social media. We need critical minds and independent thinking, to question and question until we are satisfied we have the facts. Otherwise, all the progress we have made as a democracy since 1999 is at stake”, he said.

https://www.akelicious.net/2018/10/buhari-commits-to-truly-independent-inec.html

Do you know why GEJ will forever be greater than this dulled?

When GEJ was in power he made an hausa man the inec chairman but buhari's insecurity will not allow him make a man not from his tribe inec chairman

joke of the month

He is right.

We all saw INEC independence in Osun.

Votes might not count, but the hand of God will do it.

Nigeria will defeat Buhari.

We have different definitions of the word 'indipendent', I guess.

With dis govt, there's definitely a different meaning to words like Integrity, Independent

Chiemerie8:
Do you know why GEJ will forever be greater than this dulled?

When GEJ was in power he made an hausa man the inec chairman but buhari's insecurity will not allow him make a man not from his tribe inec chairman

GEJ remains the most respected president so far

Haha haha...

Had to check the calendar again to be sure today is not April 1!

Honestly, INEC has improved in certain areas that were grey but being independent has to do with its leadership, as long as its chairmanship is still an appointed/handpicked position it would difficult for the payer to not dictate the piper's tune.
There should be a structure that would create an independent institution but this indeed would be difficult and would not guarantee a free and fair election.

EU/US/UK delegation condemns Osun rerun election

Delegations from the Missions of the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States observed the voting in the Osun State re-run election on September 27. We once again commend the vast majority of the voters in the state for exercising their democratic rights peacefully.

In contrast to our overall findings on the vote of September 22, we were concerned to witness widespread incidents of interference and intimidation of voters, journalists, and civil society observers by some political party supporters and security agencies. Many of our findings mirror those of leading civil society groups that observed the election.

We commend the work of INEC leadership during both elections. But it is clear that the neutrality of the security services and responsible conduct by party agents, both inside and outside polling units, will be essential to ensure free, fair, credible and peaceful elections in 2019.

We continue to call for calm from all stakeholders and urge that any challenges to the election result be made through peaceful and lawful means.

We restate our position of firm neutrality among all parties and candidates. We remain committed to supporting the Nigerian people in seeing free, fair, credible, and peaceful elections.

https://ng.usembassy.gov/osun-result-joint-eu-uk-us-statement/

Only a senseless man who puts his family member as head of INEC will say INEC is independent.

Just like the 'INDEPENDENT' enjoyed by INEC as witnessed in Osun State.

Speaking in a roundabout manner, or speaking tongue-in-cheek has become synonymous with the Buhari led FG since inception, so I'm least bit surprised.

Believe this, 2019 elections is already rigged but buhari will get the Laurent Gbago treatment.