A former presidential candidate and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim has canvassed a further electoral reform to address the process of choosing the leadership of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) and make it truly “independent” of “external control and influence” before the 2027 elections.
The commission is established by the provisions of the 1999 Constitution to, among other things, organise elections into various political offices in the country.
The functions of INEC 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, on Monday, Olawepo-Hashim advocated that the positions of the chairman of INEC and national commissioners should be advertised and not appointed by the president of the country.
He equally canvassed that the Electoral Act should put the onus of proof of the conduct of credible election on INEC and not on the petitioner.
The APC stalwart noted that during the military regimes, he and other activists fought for a truly independent INEC; noting that the positions should be advertised, while the National Judicial Service Commission (NJSC) should be the collation agency, independent of the executive arm of government.
He recalled that “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 war. Nobody will be going to court. So, we don’t want that now.
“Nigeria needs statesmen not politicians. We don’t need politicians in the driver’s seats of the reform of our state institutions. We need statesmen to speak up.”
Olawepo-Hashim maintained that the “issue of electoral reform is not the business for the opposition alone. It is the business for everyone, who loves Nigeria because if we don’t reform the process, and elections can’t be delivered credibly, 2027 will be war.”
He added: “We have to rescue the democratic process because it is becoming meaningless . Why are we having coup d’etat all over Africa? Because people did not see any content in what we call democracy.”
According to Olawepo-Hashim “I know that people have their expectations in the judiciary but judges adjudicate based on law and evidence and the truth of the matter is that the Electoral Act has skewed the balance in favour of the winner of the election and the man who organised the election.”
. TheWitness
