.There’s Need For Reforms, INEC, Stakeholders Admit

A political analyst, Prof. Adele Jinadu, has said that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) cannot conduct credible elections due to the country’s culture of diabolic politics and massive human and structural underdevelopment.

He emphasised that the country’s massive and deepening problem of human development, which presents in the form of huge deficits of social and physical infrastructural development, constitutes ponderous shackles on the independence and the ability of the electoral commission to conduct unproblematic elections.

This was even as INEC, the Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa (PAACA) and other stakeholders, at an event in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, admitted that there was a need for electoral reforms to guarantee credible elections in the future.

Speaking while reviewing a book, ‘A Study on  Electoral Commissions in Nigeria Since 1958’ carried out and published by the Initiative for Research, Innovation and Advocacy in Development (IRIAD) – The Electoral Hub, yesterday, in Abuja, Jinadu noted that despite the remarkable progress made since 2011 to improve the country ‘s electoral system, delays and rent-seeking thrown up by its budgetary and procurement processes, continue to pose important limits on the extent of the financial independence of the electoral commission.

He said: “This partly explains why, for example, despite the internal administrative and financial reforms and the deployment of ICT to sanitise the country’s voter register and unwholesome practices to steal elections during the accreditation, voting and collation processes on election day since 2011 by the electoral commission under Attahiru Jega and Mahmood Yakubu, serious operational and related logistics problems continue to raise serious questions about the credibility of elections.”

The Director of (IRIAD) – The Electoral Hub, Princess Hamman-Obels, explained that the book aims to stimulate interest and collective action towards improved electoral governance for credible elections in Nigeria.

She disclosed that the study, supported by the Open Society Foundations, has three interrelated objectives: To share insights from the research with a broader audience, garner perspectives of experts and stakeholders on the experiences within Election Management Bodies (EMBs) in Nigeria, and stimulate interest and collective action towards improved electoral governance for credible elections in Nigeria.

“The research is not merely a historical recount but a comprehensive analysis, which provides actionable insights into our electoral processes. It examines the actions of successive election management bodies and their contributions to the evolution of our electoral process, including aspects such as gender, age and regional inclusiveness within EMBs,” she said.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who was represented by the National Commissioner, Alh. Abdullahi Zuru, noted that INEC places high premium on ensuring that the electoral process in Nigeria is free, fair, credible, inclusive, transparent and most importantly verifiable.

He said the book chronicles the activities of the various EMBs Nigeria has had since independence and provides opportunity for the reader to assess the country’s democratic leadership recruitment processes and possibly their impact on our governance processes

The National Chairman of the Inter-party Advisory Council (IPAC), Alh. Yusuf Dantalle, on his part, noted that election is the live wire of any democracy, adding that the ballot is sacrosanct as power resides in the people for smooth political succession.

He noted that the need for a neutral, non-partisan, independent, unbiased and impartial election management body to conduct free, fair, credible, transparent, inclusive and peaceful elections that would deepen the democratic process cannot be over-emphasized.

According to him, IPAC has been advocating for an independent body to appoint INEC Chairman, National Commissioners and Resident Electoral Commissioners, thereby moving the powers of appointment from the President to a neutral body subject to confirmation by the Senate.

He stressed that it is inappropriate for the President, who participates in an election, to appoint its umpire.

During a town hall meeting on electoral reforms organised by PAACA, which was held at the Citron Hotel and Suites, Ibadan, INEC, religious leaders, legal practitioners, women groups, journalists and others called for electoral reforms that would guarantee credible elections in the future.

Speaking, the Executive Director of PAACA, Ezenwa Nwagwu, said it was expedient to bring about reforms in the nation’s electoral landscape.

Nwagwu said the central idea of the town hall meeting was to popularise the electoral legal regime with which elections are conducted in the country.

Also speaking, the Oyo State Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC, Dr. Adeniran Tella, who was represented by the Head of Publicity Unit, Olayiwola Awolowo, called for the establishment of Electoral Commission Crimes to try election offenders.

In his remarks, the Special Assistant to Governor Seyi Makinde on Interfaith Affairs, Rev. Femi Ibikunle, stated that religious leaders have an important role to play in reforming the leadership recruitment processes.

The Executive Director, The Young and Woman Initiative, Agbeja Adebobola, and the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer of Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC), Ibadan, Deborah Omoigiafo, both harped on the need to sensitise and educate the electorate on the electoral processes.