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Jega’s exit and INEC’s future

By Olufemi Olusola
08 July 2015   |   11:10 pm
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to direct the internal administrative workings of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), through the choice of Amina Zakari, to take over the affairs of the commission in the manner it was done undermines the independence of INEC and public trust. This creates a new doubt in the President’s highly rated…
Attahiru Jega

Jega

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to direct the internal administrative workings of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), through the choice of Amina Zakari, to take over the affairs of the commission in the manner it was done undermines the independence of INEC and public trust. This creates a new doubt in the President’s highly rated credibility. The President should have been properly advised that as long as the tenure of the national commissioners subsists, the Chairman could always hand-over to any of them without recourse to the president. That is the way it has been done whenever Prof. Jega was outside the country or sometimes when he was out of Abuja. The chairperson cum leadership of the commission is not like any other appointment the way Presidency seemed to have wrongly construed his action. The power of the President to appoint a chairman and members of INEC and other executive bodies under Sections 153 and 154 in particular could only be exercised in consultation with the Council of State and the confirmation of the Senate after screening.

Given the sensitivity of the election management body, the position of an Acting-Chairperson of INEC does not appear in any statute empowering the President to so act, where it may occur in contingency as on this occasion. This is a matter inherent in the independent actions of the commission. There is no provision in the constitution that gives the President power to direct routinely who should be an acting chairman. In so far as there are commissioners whose tenure subsists, handing-over to one another is a routine administrative process that hallmarks the independence of INEC. What has taken place now is a direct incursion, if not invasion, of the independence of the election management body by the Presidency (Executive) and this calls for concern.

Eternal vigilance, the saying goes is the price a free democratic society must pay to retain its democratic rights, especially the right of democratic choice of its leaders at periodic elections. All Nigerians value this political right above all other rights and are ever ready to champion, defend and protect a body like INEC from being a tool in the hands of any individual or groups. Never again should Nigeria be returned to the Prof. Maurice lwu era, particularly after Prof. Jega’s commendable achievements in the area of growing public confidence in the electoral process.

The people of the South West, whose votes along with those of other Nigerians brought this new government, expect that everyone, particularly President Buhari, who is a beneficiary of an INEC headed by Jega; would ensure that anyone who is to take over from Jega should be someone that commands public confidence, trust and must be untainted and free from baggage of nepotism. One thing that Nigerians and the world would credit and remember President Jonathan for is his appointment of Prof. Jega that was universally applauded, as well as his non-interference in the administrative affairs of INEC, which led to a significant improvement in the electoral process, such that an opposition party could win the last general election.

Unexpectedly, the exit of Prof. Jega has unwittingly exposed the new government of President Buhari, as one with very suspect motivations with regards to future elections, requiring all freedom- loving Nigerians to pay close attention to the unfolding script and the disturbing development in INEC. This recent event calls to mind the restraining advice of our late sage, Pa Obafemi Awolowo who in 1986 on the eve of the take-off of the Ibrahim Banbagida, organized a Political Bureau meant to fashion a governance framework that would lead to transition to civilian regime, with all the high expectations by Nigerians. Awo declared, “whenever Nigerians expect that a new dawn has come, they would be disappointed.”

To be fair, 30 days are not enough to assess a new government but it is enough for us in the South West who voted for and gave President Buhari the much needed constitutional requirement of 25%, which he never got from the three geo-political zones of the South in his three previous unsuccessful attempts, except the 2015 general elections. However, the people of the South West can see early enough a clear danger to our most cherished value of freedom of choice for the sons and daughters of Oduduwa in future elections.  More than ever before, Nigerians are now interested in who takes over after Prof. Jega and the entire composition of that commission.

The curious replacement of one Ambassador Wali whom Professor Jega handed over to with Alhaja Amina Bala Zakari by the Buhari administration few hours after his exit, poses a worrisome and a very early significant threat to the independence of the electoral commission, an institution that all Nigerians should protect and watch very closely. Prof. Jega, it was reported between the 1st and 2nd of June 2015, wrote to the Presidency informing it of his impending exit by 30th June, a fact the government ought to be aware of from administrative diligence. However, until the morning of Professor Jega’s exit, government did not respond. Why?

Given the exit dates of the national electoral commissioners; with Alhaji Wali expected to exit statutorily by 11th August 2015, and Alhaja Zakari 21st July, Professor Jega handed over to Ambassador Wali. A very sensible and logical decision, considering the ample time the government may require to appoint a new substantive chairman and national commissioners under Section 154 of the Constitution. Jega handed over to the national commissioner with a longer exit date. But was upturned within hours, without thought for the wider ramifications of this action for the independence of INEC, public impression of the ruling party and other stakeholders in the country.

Beyond the suspicion that has trailed this action of the government is the fact that anyone who is selected to head INEC after Prof. Jega, must be one who can command public confidence and must attract close scrutiny because any action taken by such an individual may have skewed elections long before the actual election date. That is why it is important to question why President Buhari would direct Alhaja Zakari from the same North West zone as himself to take over the headship of INEC? What would have been the fate of the 2015 election if President Jonathan had appointed a South South person as INEC chair?

Are we going to be disappointed with this new dawn, as Pa Awo’s timeless prediction seems to suggest? The current situation in INEC if not reversed quickly will damage the credibility of INEC and erode public confidence, because that institution is expected to be a neutral and detached body that must be federal in all actions. Even at his worst moments of regression, Professor Jega comported self to portray INEC as an unbiased, impartial and professional body.

This decision seems to follow a disturbing trend of reflexive decisions not well thought out in recent times such as the decision to bar some electronic media before recanting; dismantling of all military check-points but reversed after a Council of State meeting; decision on the Department of State Security (DSS) later reversed, decision to call a meeting of party leaders and legislators on the day of inauguration and now a controversial directive directing a national commissioner who has less than three weeks of statutory appointment as acting chairman of INEC. There is need for appreciation of our diversities in order to avoid anomalies like the current one at INEC, a body the independence of which the democracy we all enjoy resides.

•Dr. Olusola is Secretary, South West Sustainable Electoral Process Study Group, Ibadan.

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