A former presidential candidate and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim has called for a further reform of the Electoral Act that would address the recruitment of the leadership of the nation’s electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and make it truly independent from external control and influence ahead of the 2027 election.
INEC was established by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to among other things organise elections into various political offices in the country.
The functions of the electoral umpire are contained in Section 15, Part 1 of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (As Amended) and Section 2 of the Electoral Act 2010 (As Amended).
Speaking to newsmen in Abuja, Olawepo-Hashim recommended that the position of the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and National Commissioners should be advertised and not appointed by the president.
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He also stressed the need for the Electoral Act to put the onus of proof of the conduct of credible election on INEC and not on the petitioner.
Recalling the role played by activists (himself inclusive) during the military regimes, for a truly independent INEC, he said the positions of INEC chairman and national commissioners should be advertised, while the National Judicial Service Commission (NJSC) should be the collation agency, independent of the executive.
“In 1999, we won the election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). But who were those that asked for an independent electoral commission? We were the ones. We were not behaving like people who were sure they were going to get power, because we were believers in democracy.
“So, Nigerians need believers in democracy across parties to survive, not APC and PDP. This is beyond APC, PDP. If we don’t ‘sort out’ the electoral system right now, and not six months to election, or one year, the 2027 election is going to be a war. Nobody will be going to court. We don’t want that now.
“Nigeria needs statesmen not politicians. We don’t need politicians in the drivers’ seats of the reform of our state institutions. We need statesmen to speak up”, Hashim maintained adding that the issue of electoral reform is not the business for the opposition alone but everyone who loves Nigeria.
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