A former Presidential Candidate, All Progressives Congress (APC) Mr Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim has canvassed a further reform of the Electoral Act, INEC and the election petitions before the 2027 General Elections.
Olawepo-Hashim, the APC chieftain, made the call in a statement in Lagos on Wednesday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that INEC was established by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to among other things, organise elections into various political offices in the country.
The functions of INEC as contained in Section 15, Part 1 of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (As Amended) and Section 2 of the Electoral Act 2010 (As Amended).
Olawepo-Hashim said this would address the recruitment of the leadership of the nation’s electoral umpire, INEC and make it truly “independent” of “external control and influence” before the 2027 election.
He recommended that the position of INEC Chairman and National Commissioners should be advertised and not appointed by the president.
The ex-presidential candidate also stressed the fact that the Electoral Act should put the onus of proof of the conduct of credible election on INEC and not on the petitioner.
Olawepo-Hashim said if they don’t ‘sort out’ the electoral system right now, and not six months to election, or one year, the 2027 election was going to be war.
The chieftain added that nobody would be going to court, which they don’t want presently.
He said: “The issue of electoral reform is not the business for the opposition alone, it is the business for everyone who loves Nigeria.
“This is because if they don’t reform the process and election could not be delivered credibly, 2027 will be war.
“So we have to rescue the democratic process because it is becoming meaningless. Why are we having coup d’etat all over Africa? Because people did not see any content in what we call democracy.
“I know that people have their expectations in the judiciary but judges adjudicate based on law and evidence.
“The truth of the matter is that the Electoral Act has skewed the balance in favour of the winner of the election and the man who organized the election.”
Olawepo-Hashim disclosed that during the military regimes, he and other activists fought for a truly independent INEC, the positions should be advertised.
The chieftain added that the National Judicial Service Commission (NJSC) should be the collation agency, independent of the Executive.
Olawepo-Hashim said in 1999, they won the election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) asking who were those that asked for an independent electoral commission?
He said they were the ones, saying that they were not behaving like people who were sure they were going to get power, because they were believers in democracy.
The chieftain said Nigerians needed believers in democracy across parties to survive, not APC and PDP, adding that the issue was beyond APC, PDP.
The chieftain said Nigeria needed statesmen not politicians, as the country do not need politicians in the driver’s seats of the reform of their state institutions, saying that the country needed statesmen to speak up.
