The new chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Joash Amupitan, has been advised to halt the rate at which political parties slam arbitrary charges on the procurement of nomination forms for elective positions.
An Ado Ekiti-based cleric, Pastor James Omitade, who gave the advice, said such merchandise tendency has deprived Nigeria from producing committed leaders that can really bring the desirable changes to the already decayed system.
Omitade, who is the general overseer of Holy Trinity Authority Prophetic Church International, spoke during a chat with journalists in Ado Ekiti, on the state of the nation, particularly its current electoral position.
He expressed worry over how political parties have turned themselves into merchants, where interested aspirants would have to cough out a staggering sum of N100 million for presidential, N50 million for governorship and over N30 million to buy nominations for senatorial contests.
He charged Amupitan to spearhead amendments to the Electoral Act that will prevent criminals from taking over the leadership positions, saying arbitrary charges have scared away people of integrity from the political space.
Prophet Omitade warned that corruption in the country will continue to spiral as long as the electoral system is riddled with manipulations and susceptible to full control by moneybags, who don’t wish Nigeria well.
He added that corruption has snowballed to a height in Nigeria, so much so that the citizens no longer earn the respect of the global community, saying this started from the shoddy conduct of elections that produced people of shady characters as leaders.
On the forthcoming Anambra Governorship election, the fiery preacher urged the new INEC boss to use the election to send a signal to Nigerians that his reign will usher in credibility to the electoral system, by conducting a poll that will be acceptable to Nigerians.
“To the new INEC boss, what Nigerians need is real and genuine electoral amendments; one that will be inclusive where a public hearing that will aggregate the positions of all Nigerians will be conducted.
“Our politicians must learn how to do things right and they must allow the new INEC helmsman to work. They should remember that those who held sway in 1979, 1983, 1999 and even 2007, have left the political space.
“My major concern is that INEC must look for ways to give the poor people to be elected. How can a party be selling governorship nomination forms as high as N50m, presidential for N100m? This is criminal.
“This is a cunning way of imposing the rich as party candidates. Whoever is not rich can lo longer contest in Nigeria, even if they are loved and wanted by the people. That is why you have criminals controlling us.
“If the INEC boss must get it right, he must look for ways to ensure that credible people like we had in the first and second republics, even up to 1999, find their way to leadership positions.
“In 1999, the late Ondo, Oyo and Osun State Governors: Chiefs Adebayo Adefarati, Lam Adesina and Bisi Akande, respectively, were poor people. But they became governors and they did well. A system that seems to be stern produced good people. At every election, parties shift the post and the rich now control the system.
“This odious practice must stop and it must begin with Amupitan,” the cleric said.
Prophet Omitade also appealed to the new INEC boss to ensure full digitalisation of the electioneering process to entrench the culture of electronic transfer of votes to the portal after voting during the 2027 general elections.
He said at this age and time, that physical collation must be removed from the electoral system, describing this as an opportunity for moneybags and influential politicians to rig the weak candidates out of the contest.
“From the units, voting must start and complete there. When you vote and such is transferred directly to the INEC portal, nobody will be able to bring out fictitious figures, because they are already collated.
“If truly the Nigeria of our dreams is to be realised without revolution, our electoral system must be totally reformed and sanitised to allow poor Nigerians participate. But allowing only the rich to take absolute control will spell doom for all of us,” he warned.
