Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in the last general elections has called on the President Muhammadu Buhari to fast track the implementation of the recommendation of the National Electoral Reform Committee headed by Justice Mohammed Lawal Uwais, to avert rigging of future elections.
Atiku made the call on Monday in a statement personally issued to newsmen in Abuja. He said his call was necessitated by the alleged anomaly that characterized the last general elections.
“One way of addressing the lapses is to implement the salient recommendations of the National Electoral Reform Committee, NERC, headed by former Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Mohammed Lawal Uwais. The second is the creation of Electoral Crimes Commission.
“One of such recommendations, which will enhance the independence of the supposedly Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is the recommendation that the power to appoint the Chairman and board of the INEC be taken away from the President and given to the judiciary.
“Our electoral system needs not just to be brought up to date, by the acceptance of the amendments to the Electoral Act passed by the eight National Assembly, we also need to be up to tomorrow, by taking steps today to ensure that the lapses that made it possible for the 2019 elections to be manipulated or rigged are addressed.”
The statement further read: “Of all three arms of government, the Judiciary is the least affected by elections, meaning that it has the highest objectivity in matters relating to the INEC. It is therefore in the best position of the three arms, to appoint a chairman and board members for the electoral body that are impartial, competent and patriotic.
“This recommendation may seem like a small change, but my experience in life has taught me never to underestimate the big difference small changes can make. Nigeria today faces a lot of challenges, chief of which are security and economic revival. To effectively tackle these problems, a government must have an honest and indisputable mandate.
“Where you have an administration whose mandate is considered tainted, such a government will lack sufficient moral authority to tackle the myriad of problems this great nation currently faces.”
