Key Points

• Dino Melaye accused INEC of misinterpreting a court order and showing outright partiality toward the ruling All Progressives Congress.
• The former Kogi West senator said Nigerians had lost confidence in the electoral commission and called on President Tinubu to sack its leadership.
• His remarks came on the same day ADC chieftains led by David Mark, alongside Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, staged a protest at INEC’s Abuja headquarters.

Dino Melaye did not come to mince words.

The former Kogi West senator and African Democratic Congress chieftain lit into the Independent National Electoral Commission on Wednesday, calling it what he said it had plainly become: a department of the All Progressives Congress.

Speaking in a video posted to his X page, Melaye said the commission’s handling of the ADC leadership dispute had shredded whatever remained of its credibility as a neutral umpire.

“INEC has misinterpreted the order of the court, they have shown partiality,” he said. “They have shown that they are a department of APC, and we have lost confidence in them.”

Removal or resignation, Melaye insists

Melaye was direct about what he believed should follow. He said those at the helm of the commission should either be removed by the presidency or step down on their own.

“We expect that the president will either sack or these people will sack themselves,” he said.

His comments were pointed, but they did not arrive in isolation. Wednesday’s remarks came as a coalition of ADC leaders, including factional interim national chairman David Mark, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi and former Kano governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, staged a mass protest at INEC’s Abuja headquarters over what they described as the commission’s interference in the party’s internal affairs.

A dispute that has been building

The tension between INEC and the ADC centers on the commission’s decision to stop accepting correspondence from either faction of the party following a Court of Appeal order on its leadership crisis.

ADC leaders aligned with Mark say INEC crossed a constitutional line when its chairman publicly weighed in on the court ruling, a role they insist belongs strictly to the judiciary.

Melaye’s accusation of bias echoed claims raised by other opposition figures at Wednesday’s #OccupyINEC rally. Senator Kabiru Marafa, a former Zamfara lawmaker also present at the protest, alleged that INEC’s leadership was stacked with card-carrying APC members, contrary to legal requirements demanding neutrality.

Former Rivers governor Rotimi Amaechi told the crowd the commission had become an instrument of the ruling party, while Obi urged Nigerians to resist what he called a creeping slide toward one-party rule.

Pressure building ahead of 2027

Melaye’s broadside adds to a rapidly building wall of opposition pressure against INEC, with tensions sharpening 18 months before the 2027 general elections.

The ADC has already served the commission a six-point demand, including the immediate resignation of INEC chairman Joseph Amupitan, a formal apology and a binding commitment to stop interfering in party affairs.

Beyond Abuja, Washington is watching. Von Batten-Montague-York, a lobbying firm recently hired by Atiku, threatened this week to recommend Global Magnitsky sanctions against Nigerian politicians and INEC officials found to be undermining the electoral process.

INEC had not publicly responded to Melaye’s allegations as of Wednesday evening.