Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has called for the appointment of new, credible leaders for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with short tenures, in order to prevent corruption and restore trust in Nigeria’s electoral system.
Obasanjo made the comments during the Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum held at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
In his keynote address at the forum, titled ‘Leadership failure and state capture in Nigeria,’ Obasanjo described the 2023 general elections as a “travesty.”
The former president emphasized that reforming the electoral system is a critical issue for the country, stressing the need for thorough vetting of INEC officials to avoid partisan appointments.
“As a matter of urgency, we must make sure the INEC chairperson and his or her staff are thoroughly vetted,” Obasanjo said.
“The vetting exercise should yield dispassionate, non-partisan actors with impeccable reputations.”
“Nigeria must ensure the appointment of new credible INEC leadership at the federal, state, local government, and municipal—city, town, and village levels—with short tenures—to prevent undesirable political influence and corruption and re-establish trust in the electoral systems by its citizens.”
“The INEC chairperson must not only be absolutely above board, but he must also be transparently independent and incorruptible.”
Obasanjo further stated that Nigeria must prevent electoral interference at every level, protecting elections from both foreign and local malevolent actors to safeguard democratic integrity.
He also advocated for the implementation of clearly defined financial regulations for political campaigns to ensure transparency and accountability.
“On the local level, we should implement and enforce clearly defined financial regulations for political campaigns and establish effective control and enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance with financial regulations,” the former president said.
“And intensify activities to prepare and secure the voting infrastructure, such as safeguarding the technology used to collate, transmit, verify, and disseminate election results.”
Obasanjo alleged that INEC deliberately failed to use the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS) and election viewing portal (IReV) technologies during the 2023 presidential election.
“The BVAS and IReV are two technological innovations that, prior to 2023, were celebrated for their potential to enhance the accuracy and transparency of our election results, eliminate the threat of election rigging, and boost public trust in electoral outcomes,” he said.
“These technologies were touted by the INEC chairman himself. In the end, these technologies did not fail.”
“INEC willfully failed to use or implement them, which resulted in widespread voting irregularities. It was a case of inviting the fox into the henhouse.”
