The National Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria has announced plans to verify the documents of political aspirants ahead of the 2027 general elections.
This move is aimed at preventing electoral fraud and ensuring the credibility of the electoral process.
The announcement was made by the Pioneer President and Chairman, Governing Council of the Institute, Dr. Iliyasu Gashinbaki, during a meeting with the leadership of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in Abuja on Tuesday.
According to Gashinbaki, the institute will work with IPAC to authenticate the documents of candidates before the primary elections.
This includes verifying NYSC certificates, tax clearance certificates, and academic certificates, among others.
Dr. Gashinbaki stated that the institute’s intervention is necessary to prevent embarrassing situations like the nullification of the Bayelsa governorship election due to certificate forgery.
He emphasized that politics is too important to be left in the hands of politicians alone and that the institute will engage with all political parties to strengthen the electoral management process.
He further stated that the institute plans to set up two laboratories to facilitate the verification process, ensuring that no dubious or forged documents are submitted by politicians during the elections.
Dr. Gashinbaki said, “Politics is too important to be left in the hands of politicians. We will engage all political parties, through IPAC to see how we can strengthen the electoral management process. We’ve had several instances where we know that if forensic tools had been deployed it would have saved the country embarrassment and even the stress the electorate went through.
“A typical case in point is the case of Bayelsa where the election of an elected governor was nullified because of certificate forgery that shouldn’t have happened.
The person that the masses elected was a different person from who became the governor because the court nullified it. We’re talking to all the political parties in Nigeria. We’ve seen the decline of governance in Africa.
“This is the reason for multiple coups across Africa. One of the ways to address impunity is to tackle the recruitment process of people that occupy political offices from the councilor to the President.
“For this reason, we are setting up two laboratories that would be too critical for the 2027 general elections to ensure that no dubious or forged document of any kind will be submitted by politicians during the elections.
“We’ve had instances of forged NYSC certificates, tax clearance certificates, academic certificates filled in by politicians like in the case of Bayelsa, to stand for elections and this leads the country to embarrassment and the electorate are shortchanged.
“We’ll work with IPAC to help in authentication of the documents of candidates that would stand elections before the primary elections.”
The Chairman of IPAC, Alhaji Yusuf Dantalle, welcomed the partnership, saying it is a step towards addressing the country’s electoral challenges.
He expressed hope that the collaboration will lead to a better system for all Nigerians.
According to Dantalle, “We all agree as Nigerians that we want a better system for all of us.
“As long as we refuse to domesticate the solutions to our problems or refused to identify the foundation of our problems because I think some of these problems are self-inflicted because we know what to do to get out of the mess we’re in but somehow, for personal gain, we do not want to.
“This partnership, for me and the council, is a welcome development. It must be encouraged and consolidated.”
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