From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) has called for the removal of the power to appoint the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) from the Executive arm of government in the ongoing constitution review exercise.
IPAC, also called for the scrapping of the State Independent Electoral Commissions( SIECs) and transforming their functions to INEC.
The organisation, which spoke through its chairman, Yusuf Dantalle, at a consultative session organized by the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review, on Monday, in Abuja, said this is necessary to enhance the independence of the electoral body.
Recall that former senator representing Anambra South, Ikechukwu Obiorah, in a recent proposal to the National Assembly called for an INEC and SIECs to improve the credibility of elections in the country.
Obiorah, in a proposal to the National Assembly, specifically called for the president and state governors to be stripped of the powers to appoint the INEC chairman and chairmen of the various SIECs at the state level.
IPAC, in his submission to the House Committee, said stripping the Executive of the power appoint the INEC chairman, secretary, and national commissioners, and vesting same in an independent body, would go a long way to ensure independence of the electoral body.
Similarly, the National Muslim Youth Association (NMYA), an alumni of Muslim Tertiary Students Association, at a press briefing, on Monday, in Abuja, said credible elections, in the country, would be impossible as long as the President and governors continue to appoint electoral bodies.
The President of the group, Abdulraham Aliyu, called on the National Assembly to consider Obiorah’s proposal for electoral reforms, so to address the challenge of flawed elections and the attendant problems.
“We agree with Senator Obiorah that honest elections are impossible in Nigeria with the President and the Governors continuing to wield the power of appointing the electoral bodies,
since they or their political parties are usually contestants in the same elections.
“There is no doubt as Senator Obiorah posits, that BVAS and IReV would not solve the problem of election rigging in Nigeria without the impartiality and integrity of the electoral body as those two systems are vulnerable to manipulation.
“It has therefore become necessary to amend the constitution towards establishing a new INEC, composed by independently and neutrally appointed commissioners and officers in order to ensure competence, impartiality, integrity and hence, free and fair elections, ” he stated.
