Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, has said that the commission needs to be unbundled by the national assembly to be more effective.
Jega who said this at a Citizens
Town Hall on Electoral Reform organised by Yiaga Africa, European Union (EU) in
collaboration with the National Assembly joint committees on electoral matters
on Tuesday, November 28, added that the issue of cross carpeting by politicians
must be proscribed if Nigeria’s electoral process must be improved.
He said;
“From 2011 to 2022, a lot of
efforts have been made to reform the electoral process. A few months after a
new government has been sworn in, electoral reforms have started. The 2022
electoral reforms are the best in recent times but there is room for
improvement.
“We must look at the voting
rights and inclusion, political parties, primaries and litigation, security and
public enlightenment which are necessary to electoral integrity.
“If we want to improve politics
and deepen democracy, we must prevent cross-carpeting by politicians from one
party to another. The reason why our lawmakers don’t want to do that is because
they win elections in another party and join the ruling party later.
“The law is very clear. If you
move, unless there is a crisis, a by-election should be conducted. If a
politician crosses the carpet as a matter of principle, he should vacate his or
her spee.
“If you cross the carpet, you
should be able to vacate the seat. I strongly support the recommendation that
the appointment of the INEC chairman and the Resident Electoral Commissioners
(RECs) should be reviewed
“Because when the president
nominates, there is no serious screening. The legal provisions of appointing
someone that is nonpartisan should be considered.
“INEC should be unbundled. We
also need to review how people stand to contest a presidential election. Some
people form political parties just to run for the office of the president. A
political party should not field a presidential candidate unless they meet a
certain threshold.”
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