The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Accord Party in Lagos State have advised the newly sworn-in Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan (SAN), to do things differently.
Both parties gave the advice in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos, following the swearing-in of Amupitan as the new boss of Nigeria’s electoral body. According to them, if Amupitan can adequately address lapses in the country’s electoral processes and make votes count in elections, he will become a democracy superhero.
Both parties agreed that the former INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, tried his best, but said his best was just not enough. Speaking, Mr Dele Oladeji, Accord State Chairman, said the new INEC boss needed to do better in the area of electoral reform to make votes count during elections.
“We need improvements in the electoral law to create free and fair elections. There are still rooms for improvements, and INEC, under Amupitan, must consistently work on these ahead of 2027. People have lost hope in the electoral system because of many lapses in the process.
“For Amupitan to have impressive records and be a superhero in history, our election results must be credible. We don’t want any glitches; we must fully automate collation electronically to avoid the usual manipulations at collation centres.
“If there will be a change, Amupitan must be non-partisan, but can a man appointed by the President be free and truly independent? This is the big question?” Oladeji said. Speaking, the State PDP Vice Chairman (Lagos Central), Mr Hakeem Olalemi, who expressed doubt in big questionability to be truly independent, said that the new INEC chairman should prove skeptics wrong and write his name in gold.
Olalemi claimed that certain powerful individuals prevented the immediate past INEC boss, Yakubu, from actualising his dream of bringing integrity to the nation’s electoral system. “Professor Yakubu as a person is an astute administrator, a good professor, but could not swim the rivers of Nigeria’s politics. We just hope the new INEC chairman will be above board
“Our electoral processes require more reforms and systemic changes to restore hope of many disenchanted people over perennial electoral flaws.
“Amupitan will make himself a superhero of democracy if he allows the BVAS (Bimodal Voter Accreditation System) to work 100 per cent.
“He will be a superhero if he ensures electronic transmission and collation of election results to limit human interferences and manipulations,” Olalemi said.
NAN reports that President Bola Tinubu on Thursday sworn in Amupitan, SAN, as the new INEC chairman after taking the oath of office at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Tinubu charged Amupitan to protect the integrity of Nigeria’s elections and electoral process as well as strengthen the institutional capacity of INEC.
Amupitan’s swearing in by the President comes a week after the Senate confirmed his appointment as INEC Chairman, following a rigorous screening session on Oct. 16. The new Chairman, who resumed immediately at INEC headquarters, addressed the staff of the Commission, promising to deliver credible, free, and fair elections.
He succeeds Yakubu, a Professor of Political History and International Studies, who led the commission for two terms of five years each.
- Source: NAN
