Former member of the National Assembly, who represented Anambra South Senatorial District, Ikechukwu Obiorah, has submitted a constitutional amendment bill to the National Assembly, seeking to end decades of what he described as electoral manipulation and executive interference in Nigeria’s democratic process.
 
At a media briefing in Abuja, Obiora unveiled his legislative proposal, noting that it will free Nigeria’s electoral institutions from the grip of politicians and restore public trust in the ballot. Central to his proposal is the removal of appointment powers over the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) from the President and governors.
 
In a paper titled: ‘The Philosophy of Elections and Nigeria’s Fake Democracy’, he accused successive governments since independence of orchestrating elections that are “rigged, perverted, or outrightly thwarted,” resulting in widespread poverty, instability and democratic stagnation.
 
“In Nigeria, the simple but painful cause of stealing and rigging of elections is that those vested with the power to appoint electoral bodies and personnel were, themselves or their political parties, contestants in the same elections. It is just like making a person a judge in his own case,” he noted.
 
To address this structural anomaly, Obiorah’s bill proposes the creation of a new, independent national electoral commission dubbed “newINEC”, entirely free from executive control and reflective of both national diversity and international best practices.
 
The proposed body would consist of 13 commissioners: six to be elected by professional and labour organisations across the six geopolitical zones, six nominated by the United Nations, and one observer commissioner from Transparency International.