Independent National Electoral Commission

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), set up in 1998, is the electoral body which was set up to oversee elections in Nigeria.The INEC has encountered several controversies in the run-up to the April 2007 general elections, including criticism about its preparedness from Sada Abubakar, Sultan of Sokotoand a dispute over its "disqualification" of Vice president Atiku Abubakar's candidacy. The Supreme Court ruled that the INEC can not disqualify candidates, so Abubakar's name was added to ballots at the last minute.

On the subject of election irregularities, INEC spokesman Philip Umeadi said on April 19 that "We are not sitting on any crisis in Nigeria."

History

The origin of the INEC goes back to the period before Independence when the Electoral Commission of Nigeria was established to conduct 1959 elections. The Federal Electoral Commission (FEC), established in 1960 conducted the immediate post-independence federal and regional elections of 1964 and 1965. The electoral body was dissolved after the military coup of 1966. In 1978, the Federal Electoral Commission was constituted by the regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo, organizing the elections of 1979 which ushered in the Nigerian Second Republic under the leadership of Alhaji Shehu Shagari. It also conducted the general...
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