Staff members of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have escalated their welfare demands to the National Assembly and announced fresh plans for a nationwide protest scheduled for July 30-31, 2025, over continued frustration and alleged neglect by the commission’s management, headed by Professor Mahmood Yakubu.
The Federal Workers Forum Nigeria (FWFN), representing concerned INEC staff nationwide, disclosed this to THE WHISTLER at the weekend.
The association has written to both the Senate and House of Representatives committees on INEC and Electoral Matters, seeking intervention in their long-standing grievances against the commission’s leadership.
The workers, who had previously demanded the removal of Professor Mahmood Yakubu as INEC Chairman, are demanding the establishment of a staff welfare association as a platform for effective communication with management.
In a letter dated June 26, 2025, addressed to Senator Simon Lalong, Chairman of the Senate Committee on INEC and Electoral Matters, and Hon. Adebayo Balogun, Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters, the staff requested permission to form a welfare association.
“Following several previous requests to join a union, which have always met a dead end with reasons being that we are essential services personnel, it has been accepted and taken as our fate. Now there is a need to have a platform where staff concerns can be easily discussed and communicated to the management,” the letter stated.
The staff affirmed their constitutional right to peaceful assembly and association, arguing that establishing the staff welfare association would enable them to collectively negotiate for improved working conditions, fair wages, and benefits while fostering a collaborative work environment.
A follow-up letter dated June 30, 2025, seen by THE WHISTLER, was sent to the same committees notifying them of arrangements for the peaceful rally, described as a “walk-the-walk awareness rally” to create awareness of the plights and pleas of INEC staff.
The rally is scheduled to take place within and around various INEC offices nationwide on July 30-31, 2025.
The staff’s current demands come on the heels of earlier accusations against Professor Yakubu’s leadership.
THE WHISTLER reported that workers had accused the INEC Chairman of running the commission as a “one-man show” and accused him of tyrannical leadership.
They also claimed that allowances approved by the federal government were being withheld from staff while benefiting the chairman and commissioners.
The INEC chairman’s Chief Press Secretary, Rotimi Oyekanmi, failed to respond when THE WHISTLER reached out to him for comments.
The workers had also accused Yakubu of running INEC without consultation from other commissioners and preventing staff from forming associations.
They alleged that courageous staff members who attempted to organise associations in the past were harassed, bullied, and transferred out of INEC headquarters as punishment.
“For an establishment as sensitive and crucial as INEC not to have any form of platform where staff members can communicate their concerns is an error as well as outright unjust treatment,” the staff members said in the letter addressed to the National Assembly under the banner of ‘concerned staff of INEC and senior staff members of INEC’.
The staff members warned that continued frustration could lead to reactions that authorities may not expect.
They argued that forming a staff union would calm frustrated and unhappy staff members who feel embittered due to the alleged negligence over welfare matters.
“We believe that forming the Staff Welfare Association will calm the frustrated and very unhappy staffs who are embittered due to negligence of staff welfare matters and care, therefore restoring civility and a serene working environment that will benefit both the staff, the commission, and the country as a whole,” the letter stated.
The workers recalled that their concerns had been presented to the presidency on several occasions but have consistently not been given due attention.
They noted that other government establishments classified as essential services personnel have platforms for staff communication.
The staff requested that the National Assembly use its position and discretion to facilitate the actualisation of having at least a platform to share ideas on work and workers’ concerns.
Professor Yakubu assumed the role of INEC Chairman on November 9, 2015, and became the first INEC chairman to be sworn in for a second term after former President Muhammadu Buhari renewed his appointment in 2020. Under the constitution, the president can only remove the INEC chairman with the support of two-thirds of the Senate.
