Former president Obasanjo has insisted that for a credible and acceptable election in Nigeria, there is need for reforms and strengthening of the nation’s electoral process as well as holding the electoral umpire officials accountable. Obasanjo had last week while criticising the electoral umpire has called for the dismissal of Professor Mahmud Yakubu, the Independent Electoral Commission of Nigerian, INEC Chairman and other official to purge the system.
The former Nigerian leader made the recent call via a recorded video while addressing public during a Chinua Achebe’s Leadership Forum at Yale University, new Haven, Connecticut, United States, insisting that for acceptable democratic process the electoral system in Nigeria requires overhauling.
In his opinion, Obasanjo said that the prospective INEC chairman and all his staff need to be vetted and thoroughly come up with a credible non-partisan actor with impeccable record to occupy the seat in the electoral office.
Obasanjo statement reads, “As a matter of urgency, we must make sure the INEC chairperson and his or her staff are thoroughly vetted. The vetting exercise should yield dispassionate, non-partisan, actors with impeccable reputations.
“Nigeria must ensure the appointment of new credible INEC leadership at the federal, state, local government and municipal – city, town, and village levels – with short tenures – to prevent undesirable political influence and corruption, and re-establish trust in the electoral systems by its citizens.
“The INEC chairperson must not only be absolutely above board, he must also be transparently independent and incorruptible,” he said.
Obasanjo recalled that during the last election, INEC failed to implement the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and INEC Election Result Viewing Portal during the 2023.
“These technologies were touted by the INEC chairman himself. In the end, these technologies did not fail.
“INEC wilfully failed to use or implement them which resulted in widespread voting irregularities. It was a case of inviting the fox into the hen house,” Obasanjo stated.
However, reacting to Obasnjors critique, Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga has accused Obasanjo of being hypocritical that he supervised “most fraudulent election held in Nigeria since 1960.”
“It is hypocrisy writ large when a man who presided over the worst election in Nigeria demands the sack of the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission,” Onanuga wrote.
Recall that the alleged non-compliance with the 2022 electoral law by INEC was one of the grounds on which the presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and that of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, challenged the declaration of President Bola Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 presidential election.
Although Atiku and Obi lost their petitions at the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) and the Supreme Court, they had argued that INEC did not follow the provisions of the 2022 electoral act and its own rules in conducting the election.
The duo insisted that the electoral umpire has violated the electoral laws by failing to deploy the device for voter accreditation, verification, and authentication.
Consequently, the Supreme Court particularly acknowledged that the non-functioning of the Result Viewing (IReV) portal of the Electoral Commission may reduce the confidence of the voting public in the electoral process.
Recently, Sam Amadi, Director of the Abuja School of Social and Political Thoughts, said the “gross flaws” and “manipulations” in the Edo governorship election were sufficient reasons for the country to have radical and comprehensive electoral reforms.
Lending his voice to Obasanjo opinion, a Public Affairs Analyst and Communication Scholar at Peaceland University, Enugu, Nduka Odo, told DailyPost that said the manipulation of results and lack of accountability among INEC officials were serious concerns that needed to be addressed.
Odo opined that the electoral body’s excuses about national infrastructure and readiness were unconvincing stressing that INEC must get its act together and demonstrate strong commitment to free and fair elections.
