Law To Remove President’s Power To Appoint INEC Chairman Advocated
Enacting a law to remove the power to appoint the principal officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission from the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has been advocated.
According to the views aggregated by THE WHISTLER on Thursday, Nigeria’s electoral system will continue to lack credibility until a law makes the emergence of the chairman and other principal officers of INEC independent of the country’s president is enacted.
A former Director of, the National Orientation Agency, Enugu State, Dr Augustine Okolie, held that, “Everything is wrong with elections in Nigeria. The electoral problem in Nigeria is multifarious.
“It is as if Nigerians are cut out in the conduct of elections. With its current state, the president should be recommended to even appoint members of the National Assembly, instead of making them go through elections.”
Dr Okolie recommended a law stipulating that INEC presiding officers are drawn from staff members of INEC instead of ad-hoc staff.
This, he said, would enable tracing of erring ones to make them face the full weight of the law when the need arises.
He added, “Presiding officers should call for the arrest of electoral offenders at polling units, including those buying votes.
“A situation where security operatives fold their arms and watch electoral offences does not help matters.
“They are simply there to be paid, and because their sole interest is to be paid, they look for other ways when they should act.”
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Labour Party in Enugu West Senatorial Zone of Enugu State, Barr Nnadume Afforkansi, said the blame for Nigeria’s electoral shortcomings should go to INEC and the people.
In his words, “People keep quiet when there is an institutional failure. During the 2023 general elections, INEC made rules for electronic transmission of results. It said no BiVAS, no voting.
“At the end of the day, the same INEC circumvented its rules by conducting the election manually. They didn’t show us any corresponding figures with the ones they were calling.
“The boldness they urge aggrieved citizens to go to court seems as if there is something which they know and the masses don’t. This is institutional abuse, and we simply keep quiet.
“The INEC chairman moved around the world claiming that the results would be electronically transmitted.
“At the end of the day, they manufactured a Nigerian lexicon that there was a glitch in the presidential election, which did not affect the election held the same day.”
He said even electoral reforms might not solve the shortfalls. In his view, “If you reform, who will implement the reform?
“The blame goes to INEC and we the people for not talking. Because those who make the laws are beneficiaries, nothing good will come out of INEC as it is constituted now.
“Let there be a national conference of traditional institutions, religious leaders, civil society groups, and elders to discuss the future of this country.
“The one former President Goodluck Jonathan organised is still there. Let it be dusted, and relevant sections adopted.
“The electoral umpires should not be appointed by the president. Some INEC commissioners are card-carrying members of some political parties. How do you expect them to be fair?”
Law To Remove President’s Power To Appoint INEC Chairman Advocated is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
