Mike Igini says he regrets decade at INEC

Mike Igini, former resident electoral commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has said he regrets spending 10 years with the electoral body, citing persistent resistance to electoral reform and the personal risks faced by officials.

Speaking during an interview on Arise News, Igini said his efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s electoral process were undermined by systemic challenges and entrenched interests.

“I spent over 30 years of my life, including 10 practical years in INEC, working to remove the history of our elections from the realm of frustration and pain, so we can give meaning and purpose to the ballot,” he said.

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“To now find out that all that we did was in vain, that’s why I regret that I wasted my 10 years in service of the fatherland.”

Igini also pointed to the dangers faced by electoral officials, recalling the killing of a colleague in Kano who had attempted to uphold the integrity of the electoral process.

“I would have been a dead man pursuing this cause; my colleague in Kano was killed because we wanted to do the right thing for Nigeria. His entire family was wiped out,” he said.

He expressed concern over proposed amendments to the Electoral Act, warning that they could increase the exposure of presiding officers to threats and violence at polling units if signed into law.

Igini criticised what he described as widespread hypocrisy among political actors and stakeholders, arguing that such conditions have continued to undermine efforts to ensure credible elections.

He said safeguarding the integrity of the ballot remains essential to Nigeria’s democratic future, but warned that electoral reforms must be backed by genuine political will and stronger protections for officials.