A former Minister of Education, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, has called for the financial and operational autonomy of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to enable it to conduct credible elections without political interference.

She stated this at the National Electoral Reforms Summit 2025 themed ‘Critical Constitutional Amendments for Credible Election in 2027, organised by the National Consultative Front/Labour and Civil Society Front in collaboration with Movement for Credible Elections held in Abuja yesterday.

Ezekwesili insisted that INEC should receive allocations directly with out going through the executive branch in order to ensure independence from political interferences, saying the commission’s budget should be protected and released in full and on time to enable proper election planning.

She stated that in turn, INEC which is “one of the institutions bedevilled by corruption, should be mandated to adopt the full principles of open budgeting and spending, working with civil society to track every money sent in order to ensure accountability.”

The former minister also called for organisational strengthening to enhance prosecutorial powers for INEC as it currently relies on the police and the Attorney General for prosecution of electoral offences. She said: “The absence of any credible investigation and conviction for electoral offences has led to a country where there is no deterrence for bad behaviour.

“As a matter of fact, that gap is the reason that people repeat the behaviours that infringe fraudulently on our electoral system and democracy. “Granting INEC its own prosecutorial unit or guaranteed access to dedicated prosecutors would ensure timely action against electoral violations.”