By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
Determined to conduct a free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has concluded plans to use both facial and fingerprints accreditation in the 2023 General Elections.
Also, the Commission will ensure that electoral offenders no matter how highly placed will spend up to five to seven years in prison just as the political elites have been blamed for all the electoral problems in Nigeria.
These expositions were made today (Tuesday) on Channels Television breakfast programme ‘Sunrise Daily’ by INEC top official, Mike Igini, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in charge of Akwa Ibom state.
Igini revealed that the Commission under Professor Mahmoud Yakubu has worked so hard to improve Nigeria’s electoral processes by the introduction of many innovative methods to make the nation’s elections more credible.
But the fiery INEC high-ranking REC insists that these and other innovations gradually being introduced by INEC to improve the country’s electoral processes will not become practically possible except the National Assembly (NASS) passes the New Electoral Act Amendments Bill before the two chambers of the assembly.
Said he: “I humbly appeal to the 9th National Assembly to in the interest of the nation quickly pass into law the proposed Electoral Reforms Act Amendments Bill before it. I dare say that the proposed bill has captured all the laws that will make our electoral processes run smoothly.
“For example, the chaos the country is witnessing now in Anambra state over their party primary elections would have been averted if the new Electoral Amendments Bill is signed into law.
“Section 87 of the proposed Electoral Act, if passed into law will take care of all the problems in our elections or how to chose our representatives across board.
REC Igini also posited that: “Sections 9, 38 and 49 which has 14 sub-sections have dealt with electoral violence or offences which carry five to seven years in prison for offenders.
He explained that INEC is a creation of the Law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria hence it will not go beyond its mandate by jumping into the selection of candidates for political parties, saying that anytime that happens, INEC will seize to be an independent body.
He therefore called on NASS to as a matter of urgency pass the proposed Electoral Act Amendment Bill into law even as he said that; “if the bill is passed and the President signs it into Law 48 hours to the 2023 General Elections, INEC will be happy to conduct the elections using the new law”.
On the Commission’s latest innovation called INEC Voter Enrolment Device (IVED) which is being deployed to the on-going Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), Igini said INEC is trying to be up to speed with the advanced democracies in terms of conducting transparent and credible elections.
According to him: “to achieve greater success in this regards, INEC is set to do both facial and fingerprints accreditation in the 2023 General Elections. So if someone cheats with fingerprints the person will not escape facial identification.
“We are getting close to electronic voting and if you look at what happened in the last Edo and Ondo states Governorship elections where results were collated electronically, you can agree with me that elections were acceptable by all”.
He argued that media organisations in Nigeria can now like their counterparts abroad project the winners of elections in Nigeria if the Edo and Ondo elections are anything to rely upon.
Meanwhile, the Akwa Ibom REC has declared democracy at local government levels in Nigeria clinically dead, pointing accusing fingers to the shenanigans of the 36 State Governors in the country.
Said he: “Democracy is dead at the Local Government Areas (LGA) levels in Nigeria. I stand to be challenged on this. State Governors have hijacked the purses of the LGAs and it’s no longer a secret that they determine what happen in the local governments.
“The situation has gotten worse over the years since Nigeria returned to democratic government as Governors determine who runs for what position from Councillors to Members of the states and National Assemblies”.
Igini decried a situation where only the party of the seating Governor in each state wins all the 20 plus Chairmanship and Councillorship positions in a state.
