June 12: Credible elections are a right, not a privilege — NHRC

Chief Tony Ojukwu, the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, just dropped a truth bomb today on Democracy Day. He said credible elections are a fundamental human right, not a privilege that those in power can grant or take away. The man even referenced the annulled 1993 election as proof that we can do free and fair polls when institutions respect the people's will.

Ojukwu called out voter suppression, vote buying, electoral violence, and result manipulation as serious violations of civil and political rights, not just administrative failures. He said, "Whenever elections lose their integrity, the rights to freedom of expression, association, participation, and peaceful assembly are also placed at risk." That is a direct quote from his statement.

More than 30 years after June 12, we are still dealing with the same mess. INEC, political parties, security agencies, the judiciary — all of them need to step up. The NHRC boss is even pushing the National Assembly to strengthen legal safeguards for electoral institutions. But be honest, do you think any of this will actually change anything before 2027?