Nigeria, Sept. 17 -- Nigeria says INEC is independent. Yet the President in power has a constitutional role in choosing the person who will head the commission that conducts the election in which his party is a contestant. That alone should make us pause and ask a question we have somehow become too comfortable avoiding:

how independent is INEC really?



That is the question Nigeria should be willing to confront before the next presidential election: what exactly do we mean when we call the Independent National Electoral Commission independent?



The question is not an accusation against the present INEC chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan. It is not an allegation that he will favour the government that nominated him. It is not even ...