The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) needs a comprehensive overhaul, according to Olabode George, a former national vice chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In an interview with Saturday Tribune, George called Nigeria’s election system chaotic and shameful.
In response to the crisis that shook the Lagos State House of Assembly, the PDP leader bemoaned the problem of godfatherism that plagues Lagos State politics.
He said we cannot discuss political problem solving without mentioning the process by which we elect senators, members of the House of Representatives, governors, the president, and members of the State Assembly.
He said that if we want peace and progress in this nation, we need to redesign our electoral system from the ground up.
“If you look at this party called APC, aside from Ganduje posing as chairman, who is the National Secretary of APC?” George asked. The APC’s National Organising Secretary is who? Where is their Exco? Is holding a general assembly the proper way to run a political party? That’s all we’ve heard lately. Since the electorate needs to be informed about all of these shenanigans, I am approaching the situation from the perspective that they have the authority to choose to elect or remove you during an election based on your performance and how they feel about your management style. Additionally, you can see that the party is owned by an emperor. How did all those boys win their seats in their respective constituencies? Did their constituents vote for them, or did a single desk make the decisions? One of their main criteria for a political party is godfatherism. You are not allowed to leave if the boss does not give you permission. Therefore, the decision is not made by the people or the constituency. Democracy is based on the idea that the people are the true owners of governance. When you don’t perform, they remove you from office in the following election. They elect the people they want.
“How about the mess we call INEC?” Now, I am attempting to explain the consequences and the unimpressive methods used to address this nation’s political issues. The process by which we elect members of the State Assembly, senators, members of the House of Representatives, governors, and the president must be mentioned whenever we discuss it. If we want peace and progress in this nation, it needs to be totally redesigned because it is chaotic and a total embarrassment. In order to eradicate all of these intruders who write things by hand and tamper with the process, we must totally revamp this INEC and all of its personalities because they purchased the computers, equipment, and system. After you vote, the results are sent to the BVAS, after which they are released.
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“The last time, they said that the issue was due to a glitch. It is not limited to the exhibits in the Lagos State House of Assembly, then. It goes deeper than that. Our eyes have now been enlightened to the drab methods of running our nation. We are only kidding if we keep up that mess without cleaning out the INEC and the process because it isn’t functioning. It would worsen.
