Ex-INEC Commissioner Urges Trump To Tie US Policy To Credible 2027 Polls

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja A former Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mike Igini, has called on the United States of America’s President Donald Trump to adopt a ‘No Mandate From Fraud’ doctrine ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 presidential election, insisting that his administration would not do business as usual with any government produced through electoral fraud. In the letter dated November 15, 2026, Igini said the US government should make the announcement before the election and not after. The former INEC national commissioner argued that Nigerians are not leaving Nigeria because they do not love their country, but because decades of electoral malpractice, corruption, insecurity and weak accountability. This, he noted, has destroyed confidence in government and forced thousands of professionals, students and families to seek refuge in the United States. Igini added: “Border enforcement alone cannot solve this. We must address the cause at the source. “Nigeria has the population, oil, gas and talent to be one of the richest nations on earth. But [it has been] undermined by [a] leadership recruitment process that has rendered the country a plundered wilderness, littered with the debris of missed opportunities.” Igini urged the Trump administration to dispatch a senior US delegation to engage President Bola Tinubu, presidential and governorship candidates, INEC, political parties and other relevant institutions, to communicate clearly that credible elections, peaceful competition and respect for constitutional rights are core US national interests tied to bilateral engagement, migration and stability. In consultation with European partners, igini stressed that the U.S should issue a clear warning to the INEC Chairman, national commissioners, resident electoral commissioners and ad hoc staff drawn from federal agencies and universities. He said officials who engage in deliberate manipulation of results, falsification of electoral records or other serious electoral offences established by credible evidence should face individual consequences, including visa restrictions and, where legally justified, targeted financial sanctions and asset freezes. Igini also proposed extending consequences to the immediate family members where applicable. While stressing that judicial independence is indispensable, Igini said it must not become a shield for deliberate corruption or subversion of electoral justice. He maintained that judicial officers whose deliberate corruption or other sanctionable misconduct is established by credible evidence should face visa restrictions and asset seizures. Igini stressed that the Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Services (DSS), armed forces, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and other security institutions have a duty to protect citizens and obey the law impartially, not politicians, and to stem growing violence and thuggery since campaigns commenced. He emphasised that senior officers and commanders whose authorisation or facilitation of voter intimidation, electoral violence, unlawful suppression of opposition or manipulation of outcomes is established by credible evidence should face visa restrictions and other sanctions. He noted that the police and DSS are currently headed by two officers with enviable records of service. Igini maintained that the US should support credible domestic and international observers to monitor the process before, during and after the election, with particular attention to voter intimidation, impartial conduct of security personnel, publication of polling-unit results, transparent collation and resolution of electoral disputes. Igini argued that the doctrine serves Trump’s America-First agenda in four ways: Reduces migration pressure as credible elections produce good leaders. He explained that good leaders fix the economy, saying when Nigeria works, Nigerians will stay home and many in the US diaspora will return. Igini said it would also help the US to stop legitimising and funding governments that lack the consent of their people.