Last week, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, called on Nigerians to pray for him to succeed as the nation’s chief electoral umpire.

The appeal came on the heels of nationwide outrage over certain decisions taken by INEC since Amupitan took over as its chairman, which seemed to cast doubt on his preparedness to do the job effectively.

Two decisions in particular have brought INEC’s reputation to near ridicule. Nigerians have queried the commission’s persistent ambivalence on the status of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), including a direct threat to remove the political party from the 2027 ballot.

INEC’s earlier decision to revalidate the voters register was also a thorny issue for which Nigerians believed Amupitan and his team of electoral managers had compromised on their roles as an independent agency backed by extant laws.

For the latter decision, Nigerians wondered how INEC could have come up with such a plan on the eve of a pivotal general election in 2027, including pending governorship election in states like Osun. Why seek to change the rules of the game midstream?

Indeed, INEC’s constant change and adjustment in the guidelines for the 2027 general elections suggests that it may have other motives beyond its constitutionally assigned task as an independent electoral umpire.

Professor Amupitan should realize that Nigerians are not moved by his call for them to pray for a successful tenure. They are not inclined to accept any appeal to Divinity for a job that is well spelt out by the Constitution for INEC to do.

It is against this backdrop that we wish to remind Professor Amupitan and INEC of the onerous tasks ahead as the 2027 general elections draw closer. This has become important as INEC may not have imagined so early in the day that some of its decisions lately have portrayed it as an arm of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Sunday Southerner recalls that there are subsisting legal disputes concerning the ADC for which the Supreme Court is yet to declare a stand one way or the other. So, what was the rush in declining to recognize the leadership of the party, including the threat to remove it from the 2027 ballot?

We do not agree with the INEC chief’s call on Nigerians to pray for him to succeed in delivering a credible election. Rather, he should ask the people to ensure that the election and all agencies involved with its organisation play by the rule. That was exactly what happened with the now jettisoned plan to revalidate the electoral register. It was the outrage of Nigerians to the ill-advised review that made Amupitan to abort the plan.

Amupitan’s resort to call for prayers from the people is a familiar refrain. Over the years, politicians routinely ask Nigerians to pray for them. The people duly obliged, but the more they prayed, the more degenerative the political leadership has become. Amupitan has all the ingredients to succeed in his task – the Electoral Act, the Constitution and other extant laws that pave the way for good governance. And there is his conscience. Conscience is an inner moral compass or cognitive process that enables individuals to distinguish right from wrong, often eliciting guilt for immoral actions and satisfaction for ethical ones. It acts as a self-regulating mechanism, functioning as a “moral monitor” based on an individual’s personal values, societal norms, or ethical principles. He should listen to his conscience.

Beyond prayers, Amupitan should realize that Nigerians expect INEC to conduct free, fair and credible elections. It must be truly seen as an independent electoral umpire. All its policies and decisions must reflect the commitment to abide by its constitutional role.

It is worrisome that INEC has spent the past few months defending its reputation, including that of Amupitan who seem to have been caught up by ghosts from his past, when he was a university lecturer. This does not augur well for a body that should be up beat in seeking to deliver on its mandate.

INEC should realize its pivotal role in maintaining peace and stability in the democratic process. That consciousness should spur it to seek higher values that will engender confidence from the voting public.