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The National Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has called for greater collaboration between political parties, security agencies and the judiciary.
Baba-Ahmed said political parties needed assurances that security agencies would remain impartial during the electoral process, expressing concern about what he described as the ruling party’s influence over state institutions.
He made the call during News Central’s National Chairmen’s Dialogue on Thursday, urging INEC to make itself more accessible, transparent and responsive to political parties in the period leading up to the elections.
“Between now and the elections, we must find a way to insist that INEC makes itself available more regularly, more openly, and more transparently and listen to us,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed also called for stronger engagement with the police, Department of State Services and other security agencies, saying many political parties lacked confidence in their ability to act fairly before and during elections.
“If you speak to most parties, they will tell you, we don’t have faith that on the day of the elections or in the run-up to the elections, the security agents will be fair and free of manipulation and influence of the state,” he said.
He likened the situation to competing against an opponent while the referee favoured the other side.
“Basically, the ruling party is both the ruling party and it is running the security agencies. So you’re fighting an opponent in a cage in a boxing ring and the referee is on your side,” Baba-Ahmed said.
He questioned the deployment of large numbers of security personnel during elections, citing the deployment of about 4,000 policemen for a single state governorship election.
“You cannot see 4,000 policemen in the state for one state gubernatorial election and not suspect that everybody knew that they anticipated problem or to intimidate people,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed also questioned how security agencies would provide adequate coverage for a national election involving tens of thousands of polling units.
“These are critical issues and they need to be discussed and solutions found to them before we get there,” he said.
On the judiciary, the PRP chairman said opposition parties should be able to engage directly with judicial authorities over concerns about the handling of electoral disputes.
“We don’t want to say the judiciary is being programmed to destroy the opposition, but we would like to talk to somebody in the judiciary,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed said political parties were concerned that some court judgments appeared to weaken their ability to operate effectively.
“Some of the judgments that come out appear deliberately designed to cripple political parties. If it is not true, we need assurances,” he said.
He also questioned the effectiveness of repeatedly directing political parties to seek redress in court when the judiciary itself was the institution about which they were raising concerns.
“If you say go to court every time to us, you are telling us to go to the same person, the same agency we are complaining against,” Baba-Ahmed said.
“We must find a way to insist that INEC makes itself available, more regularly, more openly and more transparently…”
Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, National Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party, says INEC, security agencies, and political parties must engage in honest dialogue to… pic.twitter.com/NPxAKXCeFc
— News Central TV (@NewsCentralTV) September 10, 2026
