Mr Olufemi Aduwo is the Permanent Representative of Centre for Convention on Democratic Integrity (CCDI) to ECOSOC /United Nations and Chairman, CSO-African Countries Group of World Bank, Civil Society Policy Forum (CSPF). He speaks with IMOLEAYO OYEDEYI on the state of the Nigerian electoral system and what has been affecting the independence of the electoral commission in recent times, among others.
With the way elections have been held in Nigeria since 1999 till now, can you say the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has truly functioned independently as it was mandated to operate?
Let me lay the foundation. One, democracy everywhere in the world is a process. Both in its growth and in the way it collapses. History is replete with how democracy collapsed in other climes and most times disregarding the rule of law is often the root cause. The most consequential disregard for the rule of law is the one that affects the entire population. And that is where the people lose faith in the electoral process. Cases like that have even made some people conclude that there is no difference between authoritarian rule and other forms of government as using electoral fraud to decimate democracy is far easier than other means. So in most of the countries where democracy crumbles, they follow the same pattern. Whether in Peru, Venezuela, or others, the pattern is the same. It simply means the people compromised the institution of the state: the judiciary, security, and military apparatus. Now coming back to your question, the 2023 general election was a watershed in our electoral history. And we have all seen the reverberations of its impact. Never in Nigeria’s history have the people been highly committed to an election with hope, optimism, and great expectation. Unfortunately, INEC bungled the process.
Meanwhile, using the title ‘Independent’ has never made the electoral commission independent. In fact, let’s get it clear. INEC is an agency under the presidency. And every agency under the presidency is answerable to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF). So, I don’t really know how people got this idea or were made to believe that INEC is really independent. In fact, attaching the word ‘Independent’ is like making a mockery of the situation. It is a grand deceit as there is nothing that is independent about the electoral commission.
By God’s grace, I have been close to and worked with two past INEC chairmen. In fact, there were instances where I was at the office of one of the past chairmen and the then SGF just walked into the place to deliver some instructions to the chairman. It happened before my eyes, though I did not hear what they were saying. But I could read their body language and countenance. What I am just trying to let you know is that the word ‘Independent’ was borne out of the criminal mindset of the military people who established the commission. And that is why the word, despite being attached to the commission’s name has not made it independent in any way. But the crux of the matter is that in the past 20 years, the kinds of characters that occupy the INEC office, are they really credible? Are they trustworthy? How did they even emerge? These are the questions.
The fact is there is nobody in INEC, the chairman, commissioner, or Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), that was not appointed or recommended by politicians. There has been nobody. And what we have seen from them over the years is nothing to write home about. I could remember that during the Muhammadu Buhari’s government, a card-carrying member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Lauretta Onochie, was nominated as a REC. But the people protested and in fairness to the immediate past Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, the woman was not screened or cleared. But look at what we have seen in the past three days where card-carrying APC members were being nominated as RECs. It is just like Manchester United FC playing a football match with Chelsea FC, but you then bring a player from the Chelsea team to officiate the match. What do you expect at the end of the match? So the recent incident is glaring proof that INEC has been annexed as a part of the APC secretariat. It is very sad. So, the word ‘Independent’ should not even be placed on the commission’s name.
After all, we were here in this country in 1979. Even though I was a young boy and served as a polling agent of a party in my village. Then, we had FEDECO. I can say that even without the present-day technology, what FEDECO did then is far better than what we are seeing now. As I said, the rule of law is now being disregarded, while INEC itself did not follow its own regulations.
Concerning the Justice Uwais committee’s report that you mentioned, one of the salient issues raised in the report was that lack of independence has incapacitated the electoral commission from delivering credible elections to the people, what is your take on this?
As I have said, we shouldn’t talk about the word ‘Independent’. Look at what happens in America. The United States does not have a central electoral system. In fact, it is the secretary of the state that organise all the elections at the state level. And we have seen cases whereby the ruling party lost during an election in the country. So it is not about laws, but about individuals. Who pays? Who gives money to INEC? Do you know that since 1999 till date, nobody has ever probed INEC’s account? The commission will just come out with one kind of dubiously audited account. Every government allows the commission to spend whatever it wants to spend. But this shouldn’t be. So it is not about the independence of the commission, but the personality who operates the commission.
It is in this same country that we had someone like Mike Igini, who performed credibly well as a REC. The question is why hasn’t he been elevated into the position of a chairman or another top office? Yet, we have had some people who are dubious and can’t even do anything, yet they are holding top positions in the commission. So it is not about the name attached, but about individuals. Take for example: look at the way INEC makes interpretations on the position of the electoral act and the use of technology, especially the BVAS and Irev. You can see how the whole issue was interpreted. See what they told us before the election and what they said after the election.
Meanwhile, Section 55 of the Electoral Act (2022) states that “The commission shall have the power within seven days to review the declaration and return in places where he felt that the declaration and return were not made voluntarily or made contrary to the provisions of the law. We witnessed during the last presidential election where results were declared at gunpoint. Look at what happened in Rivers State. Did the commission have the boldness to review? Come to think of it, when you see the letterhead of INEC, what do you see on it: the presidency? So what does that mean? So I think it is only when the people appointed to the positions are credible and honest. As I have said, it is high time we got rid of the idea of giving the offices to professors. This is because we have seen different professors heading the commission, talking about Iwu, Jega, and Mahmood. Yet, the endpoint has been a total mess. More so, being a professor doesn’t make you more credible than others. In fact, there are many Nigerians who are more credible than even the professors. But we have laid so much emphasis on academic papers and that is why we keep seeing forgery of different kinds here and there. Beyond the papers and academic records, I feel emphasis should be laid on the credible records of an individual and the person’s ability.
Still on the Uwais Committee’s report, one of its recommendations is that key electoral officers like the INEC chairman and the RECs should not be appointed by the president, but by the judiciary. Do you think this would help the commission become more independent?
The question is: who appoints the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and even the members of the Judicial Service Commission? Is it not the same president? We are talking about institutional credibility and how we can make it strong. So it is not about what you do or don’t do, because the crime can be done through proxy or even directly. It is about being credible and believing that you want to work for the nation. The fact is even though you go to the judiciary, it may still not work have we not seen in this country when some people in INEC were made ministers, while some judges were also appointed as ministers? As of today, what do you see in the judiciary? Are they better off than INEC? Can we say the judiciary is still the last hope of the common people from what we have seen, where technicality is now overriding the rule of law in the country? So the whole thing is a shame. I just believe it is about how we can get people who are credible. And then, when the government’s institutional system collapsed, there was nothing that could happen. So we need to strengthen the institutions.
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