Tunde Akanbi, Ilorin.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner for Niger State, Professor Samuel Gabriel Egwu has called for the unbundling of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) so that the commission will face squally its major assignment of conducting a free, fair , credible and acceptable elections in the country.
Professor Egwu made the call in Ilorin , the Kwara State capital North Central Nigeria while answering questions from Newsmen.
The INEC boss said the functions of the commission are too much for one organization to bear and for a country as vast as Nigeria and suggested that the commission should be made to face the task of solely managing and administering elections which according to him, is a enough responsibility for a body like INEC.
He highlighted some of the functions of the commission to include registration of political parties, regulate and monitor political parties including their finances , carrying out sound knowledge of democratic society , registration of voters and updating of voters register on a continuous basis as well as procuring ballot boxes .
The Don therefore advocated the need to create a new and dedicated body out of the present INEC that will take care of the heavy burden and responsibilities of the commission such as the aspects of registration and regulating of political parties .
According to him , prosecuting electoral offenses is another major task that involved the police and other institutions of justice administration which ordinarily , the commission should not be saddled with.
CUE IN ACTUALITY……….
On the forthcoming 2019 general elections, Professor Egwu disclosed that INEC had moved Nigeria’s electoral process to a point where Nigerians can not demand for anything less but rather better elections, hence the need for collaboration of all stakeholders while the commission itself must behave truly as an unbiased umpire .
Professor Egwu charged INEC to prepare in terms of logistics and appropriate technology in the coming polls to create a better election while the electorate must demand for better elections than those of previous year’s and must not abrogate their responsibilities by demanding for political accountability from those elected to govern them.
Answering another question, the INEC commissioner who is a Professor of Political Economy and Development Studies, said in keeping with the principles of federalism, it’s good to allow state independent Electoral Commissions to stay but suggested that they have to be reformed they way INEC was reformed at the national level so that they will meet the expectations of the Nigerian people in terms of conducting a free and fair elections.
He similarly advised that all members of the state electoral commissions must not be card carrying members of any political party and that they should be strengthened describing local governments as the foundation of Nigeria’s democracy lamenting that there is sufficient public outcry about the outcome of local government elections that were conducted across the country.
