About 14 years after the release of the Justice Uwais report on election reforms, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have called on the federal government to implement the report.
Accordingly, they also sought the removal of the president’s power to appoint commissioners of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Stating their demands during an interaction on LEADERSHIP twitter apaces at the weekend, the CSOs alleged attempts to capture INEC by some desperate politicians through the appointment of some people with questionable characters as resident electoral commissioners (RECs).
They also called on the Senate to reject ‘partisan’ INEC nominees.
Speaking during the conversation, the executive director of Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo, said given the political reality, Nigeria should implement the Justice Uwais report on electoral reform and remove the power of appointing INEC commissioners from the president.
“With the present realities, we need to divest the power of appointments of INEC RECs and top officials from the president. The president is the leader of a political party. As we have seen in this administration, the president is a ‘demigod.’ How the party is run, be it nomination, if you have a weak system and weak political party, vesting the power to appoint electoral officers on the president is not good.
“If an independent body appoints electoral commissioners it’s good. It has been 14 years since the release of that report (Uwais report). We have 175 days until the election. When the president was supposed to do the appointments, he did not do it and until something is done, the president will still be appointing RECS because the president did not do it when it is supposed to be done,” Itodo said.
The CSOs suggested that beyond removing such responsibility from the president, there is need to set timelines on appointments to prevent a situation whereby a few days to elections RECs are still being appointed.
Calling on political parties to play their role by holding the government to account, Itodo also demanded the expansion of the recommendation of the Uwais report.
Itodo said added that the appointment of partisan people to be RECs is a reflection of the reality of what is happening.
He said, “Both the APC, PDP and other parties cannot build consensus. They can send petitions, ask their representatives to speak. What we are talking about is not looking down on a political party. They should call on their legislators to speak against it. The parties across board seem to be distracted at the moment, not focusing on the real issues concerning electoral transparency.
“Now that we are 175 days to the election, the politicians are not just jittery, but are also concerned about whether the increased election transparency will confer electoral victory on them or not.
“Politicians seek political power at all costs because they are ready to kill. They don’t use it to deliver the promise of democracy. The CSOs are concerned about the appointment into INEC. If the appointees are not scrutinised, it is clear that some of them have partisan lining. Remember what happened when they nominated Lauretta Onochie. They want to capture INEC.
“What is happening is an attempt to capture INEC so that the votes of citizens do not count. How do you expect votes to count when partisan people run INEC. We have reached out to legislators and sent in our petition. There is no harm in keeping the pressure.
“Democracy thrives by such. Who would have thought the Senate would come back and pass the electronic transmission of results in the electoral act amendment bill?
“We need to put in the pressure. Even if these people get confirmed, we will monitor their activities and ensure they obey electoral sanctity. We have a divided Senate. We will continue to knock on the doors of the lawmakers and we will remind the president to appoint people with unquestionable characters, ” Itodo concluded.
Similarly, the head of Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) Transparency International (TI) and the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Awwal Musa Rafsanjani, said appointment of partisan individuals is a gross violation of the constitution.
He tweeted: “The constitution is clear. They have nominated Lauretta Onochie before. It shows that they are a government of impunity because the constitution said it has to be people without questionable character and integrity. It has to be people without political lining.
“This administration is blind to the constitution, blind to ethics and morality. Because of the pretense they stand to benefit, they look the other way.
“They have already destroyed the confidence we have worked hard to install on Nigerians. CSOs, lawmakers and other likeminds work together for the electoral amendment and people have to register to vote.
“If we have people with questionable character, it will affect the election. The lawmakers should not confirm these people; they should refer Mr President to the provisions of the constitution. We should not give blind loyalty, ”
Rafsanjani pointed out that screening of the RECs is going to be a test of the integrity of the National Assembly, adding that the lawmakers must investigate properly, look at their track records and ensure that they send back the list of the people with questionable character to the president because some people in the list have no issues.
Stating that enemies of electoral transparency are determined to subvert the wishes of the people, he said CSOs and the media have been talking on it and with collective efforts, there had been progressive reform of the Electoral Act.
Rafsanjani assured that the CSOs will continue to do their best to demand for electoral transparency, using the new ways of election.
He continued: “They are determined to undermine the electoral process. CSOs cannot replace the other stakeholders. Political parties must ensure that things work right but they are only waiting for elections to come. Some even work for some political parties. When you don’t have political parties driving by common good, they are not playing the role they are supposed to play.
“Someone who did not stand for the primary election has been declared winner. In some countries that are not up to us democracy is working but in Nigeria, some want to use illicit financial flow to capture power. They keep seeing their people as enemies.
“It is time Nigerians rise up to ensure that our common enemies are people abusing power. They are inviting violence because their people, whether they are in power or not, are the same. Let us not allow impunity and corruption. If people say they want to fight corruption insecurity and they are not doing, we must rise up.
“Nigerians must ensure that we hold politicians to account. We must use our voting power to vote for credible people and we must ensure that the new electoral process works. Any attempt to bring in people that have been disqualified by the constitution, it will affect the integrity of the election.
“INEC is supposed to be independent and neutral. The president has a duty to respect the constitution. The president should leave a legacy of credible election. He must ensure that the election management meets international standards. We will not keep quiet, we will continue to ensure that there is accountability in the electoral system. The Uwais panel report on the electoral reforms”.
In the same vein, Gloria Adagbon said Nigerians must ensure that partisan individuals did not get to INEC.
“Whatever we do, we must ensure that non-partisan people take charge of the electoral process. The list taken to the president may not be known to him. He is focused on leaving electoral transparency and the Senate should be scrutinized and ensure that only people with integrity head INEC offices, ” she tweeted.
Also, Bright Ibitoyo said the people appointed will not have the power to change the election results if every Nigerian stood his or her ground.
“The National Assembly will not pass this people. The National Assembly is hearing what Nigerians are saying, ” Ibitoye said.
