Public affairs analyst and constitutional lawyer Kenneth Okonkwo has sharply criticized the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), alleging that the electoral body functions as an extension of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), thus obstructing efforts to build a unified opposition in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
In a live interview with ARISE News<\/em> on Monday, Okonkwo dismissed claims that the opposition coalition is falling apart, clarifying that talks are still in early stages and focused on shared national priorities, not personal ambitions.<\/p>\n \u201cHow can something be in disarray when it hasn\u2019t even started?\u201d he asked. \u201cWe\u2019re currently discussing ideas and options, not candidacies or party differences.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Okonkwo identified INEC\u2019s alleged lack of independence<\/strong> as a major stumbling block. \u201cWith INEC acting like a department of APC, opposition parties face constant roadblocks\u2014whether in party registration or fair political competition,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n According to him, in a country governed by the rule of law, forming a new political party would be the most logical strategy for coalition-building. But due to what he described as INEC\u2019s intentional delays in registering new parties, opposition leaders are now considering alignment with an existing party that shares democratic values.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s no longer feasible to place all our hopes on a new party, because INEC will delay the process,\u201d he noted. \u201cWe are considering viable existing platforms as alternatives.\u201d<\/p>\n Okonkwo emphasized that the coalition isn\u2019t just focused on defeating the APC in 2027, but on restoring democratic institutions and safeguarding civil liberties in Nigeria.<\/p>\n \u201cWe envision a democratic Nigeria where the press is free, the judiciary is impartial, and citizens enjoy full human rights,\u201d he said. He further condemned recent cases of journalist arrests and urged for a future where dissent is protected, not punished.<\/p>\n The lawyer stressed that the coalition aims to offer Nigerians more than electoral success\u2014it seeks to restore true democratic governance<\/strong>, constitutional order, and respect for the rule of law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Public affairs analyst and constitutional lawyer Kenneth Okonkwo has sharply criticized the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), alleging that the electoral body functions as an extension of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), thus obstructing efforts to build a unified opposition in Nigeria. In a live interview with ARISE News on Monday, Okonkwo dismissed claims […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7985,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Kenneth Okonkwo accuses INEC of bias, says it's obstructing opposition unity and delaying democratic reforms in Nigeria.","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[35,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7981"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7981"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7986,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7981\/revisions\/7986"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shakamomodu.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}