By Lanre Oloyede
Chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Jackson Lekan-Ojo, has stated that electoral malpractices will continue in the country until the appointment of principals for the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is constitutionally reviewed.
The APC chieftain stated this while reacting to complaints of irregularities characterizing the just concluded Off-cycle elections in Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa States.
Chief Lekan-Ojo maintained that the national assembly must retweak the Constitution to review how INEC chairman is hired and fired by the executive so as to grant the body real independence it requires to conduct free, fair and credible elections.
He noted that the current malpractices trailing our elections is a serious indictment on the democratic practice in the country which potrays the nation in bad light.
The public affairs analyst blamed the Electoral umpire INEC for the recent electoral misdemeanors of vote buying saying until the current models of appointing INEC principals is constitutionally addressed electoral irregularities will continue across the country.
” The INEC chairman is being appointed by the government in power, you cannot pay the Piper without dictating the tune.
“We all know it’s a chharade and the slogan is there, ‘go to court’. In a serious country with the barrage of complaints of people both locally and internationally, I think Yakubu Mahmood should have been relieved of his duty by now.
“The way INEC principals and officials emerges is endangering the democratic practice in this country. The drivers of INEC are appointed by the executive. In a normal clime, Mahmood Yakubu should have been fired immediately after the charade called 2023 general elections.
The veteran security expert further maintained that the unprofessional conduct of INEC is an indictment to the nation’s democracy and further projects the country on a negative path.
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