The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to explain allegations that recent staff postings and redeployments within the electoral body favoured officials from President Bola Tinubu’s South-West region.
The opposition party said it had received complaints and intelligence suggesting that personnel changes in some strategic departments and stations might reflect ethnic considerations.
In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC said it was concerned about the reported redeployment of officers from northern states who had served in Electoral Operations and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) departments.
The party alleged that some of the affected officers were replaced by personnel from Lagos and other South-West states.
“We have specific names of officers moved from Electoral Operations and ICT in a number of northern states and replaced with officers from Lagos and other South-West states. INEC may dismiss this as routine. But we have noticed a pattern, especially along ethnic lines, and we are concerned,” the party said.
Although the ADC said it was not accusing INEC of any improper motive at this stage, it warned that allegations capable of undermining public confidence in the electoral umpire should not be treated lightly.
It stressed that any perception of sectional bias in the deployment of election officials could raise questions about the commission’s neutrality and impartiality ahead of future elections.
The party urged INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, to publish details of the recent postings, the criteria used in selecting officers for deployment and the reasons behind the changes.
According to the ADC, such disclosure would help reassure Nigerians that electoral officials would perform their duties fairly, regardless of their ethnic background, language or state of origin.
Meanwhile, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has instituted a suit against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the Federal High Court in Abuja over alleged failures to account for $6.23 million in election-related funds and more than N1.63 trillion in other public funds.
The suit followed allegations contained in Volume II of the Auditor-General of the Federation’s 2023 Annual Report, published on August 7, 2026, covering various financial transactions between January and December 2023.
According to SERAP, the audit findings identified several areas of concern, including $6.23 million in payments linked to an allegedly fraudulent election-funding request purportedly made by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Other funds highlighted in the report include more than N1.25 trillion in unrecovered CBN intervention loans to state governments, N116.18 billion in loans to distressed and liquidated banks, and N262.86 billion disbursed under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme.
In the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2450/2026 and filed over the weekend, the organisation is seeking an order of mandamus compelling the apex bank to account for the funds and provide details of their disbursement and management.
SERAP is asking the court to direct the CBN to disclose the purposes for which the money was released, the beneficiaries, repayment status, recovery efforts and findings of any internal investigation into the alleged election-funding fraud.
It also wants the bank to identify the officials and other individuals who authorised and disbursed the affected funds, as well as disclose any disciplinary or administrative measures taken in response.
Beyond the financial transactions, the organisation is seeking information concerning seven boxes of currency notes awaiting examination, abandoned and unserviced vehicles at the CBN’s Lagos branch, and bullion vans at its Abeokuta branch.
SERAP argued that the allegations raised by the Auditor-General point to possible breaches of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, the CBN Act, relevant anti-corruption laws and Nigeria’s obligations under the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
The organisation said the scale and nature of the reported findings raised serious questions about the custody, expenditure, accounting, protection and recovery of public funds.
It further maintained that the CBN’s institutional independence should not shield it from constitutional audits, statutory accounting obligations, public financial scrutiny or investigations into credible allegations of fraud and financial misconduct.
In the suit filed on behalf of the organisation by its lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare, Kehinde Oyewumi, Andrew Nwankwo and Kelechi Anwu, SERAP argued that the allegations required a credible investigation to establish the facts, determine responsibility and recover any public funds found to have been unlawfully lost.
The court’s determination of the reliefs sought by SERAP is pending.
