Former President Olusegun Obasanjo recently called for the sack of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, and other officials of the commission.
During his speech at the Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum held at Yale University in the United States of America, the former President spoke on the theme “Leadership Failure and State Capture in Nigeria.”
His speech has generated a lot of reactions, with some siding with the former President that INEC has not been truly independent. Others have argued that Obasanjo lacks the moral fiber to criticize the current government and our electoral process, mentioning that he did not perform any better during his time.
INEC, after the 2023 General Elections, came under intense scrutiny, especially for their deployment and usage of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Election Viewing Portal (IReV). Reports about challenges like vote buying, electoral violence, late starting of elections, the non-appearance of electoral officers, and many other inadequacies were widely discussed.
However, I think that INEC has made some progress, even though the steps may be considered slow.
INEC’s voter register is a progressive development. Previously, there used to be allegations of underage registration, with claims that animals and even dead people were registered just to inflate numbers. But with INEC putting out its voter register, Nigerians can now confirm who is registering and who will be voting. That is progress. The real-time transmission of election results is also a good step forward.
Today, we have a result-viewing portal, and Nigerians can now do simultaneous accreditation and voting. This is a significant improvement from what we had in the past. Previously, elections lasted until midnight because people had to do accreditation, go home, and come back later to vote.
Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, adding his voice, told the former President to refrain from making statements that undermine Nigeria’s progress. He asserted that the country is functioning effectively under President Bola Tinubu and the APC-led Federal Government.
Obasanjo is an elder statesman and has the responsibility to advise and contribute to our growing statehood. As a former military president and civilian president, he has the moral burden to see the country work.
We should not throw away the child with the bathwater. While our electoral system still has some issues, considerable progress has been made.
Ubong Usoro for Nigeria Magazine
