Success has many parents. But failure is an orphan. How true.
Even truer is the sordid and lovelorn fate of the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC). And it underscores the saying by Warren Buffett, celebrated billionaire and Oracle of Omaha, that: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it”. It took INEC not less than four off cycle governorship elections and 105 bye elections to hone its Bimodal Voter Accreditation System(BVAS) and the upload of results from Polling Units to its INEC Results Viewing Portal(IReV). This is not to add the aggressive marketing of these innovations to its legion of stakeholders which in turn built for it an exquisite reputation and earned the confidence of Nigerians and members of the international community.
Alas, this painstakingly built image was undone, in one fell swoop, by the conduct of the Presidential and National Assembly Elections of Saturday, 25th February 2023.
Recall that following its now well celebrated non-compliance with its own guideline, namely, to upload, real time, Polling Unit results on the INEC Election Results Viewing Portal(IReV) during the conduct of the presidential election and following its defeaning silence, against the grain of its Standard Operating Procedure(SOP) and core values, which demand being upfront with information and being transparent, the Commission’s credibility took a nose dive. Matters were not helped by the horrid logistics that dogged the first set of elections. Consequently, not even its subsequent compliance and deference with the said guideline in the conduct of the second tranche of elections, namely, the Governorship and House of Assembly elections, could salvage it from the depths. Neither were the seamless performance of the BVAS and the upload of PU results on the IReV.
Stakeholders, who were earlier enthralled and enamoured of the Commission’s determination to conduct one of the best elections in history, were perplexed and flummoxed particularly at the conduct of the Presidential election. The Media and Civil Society, which took INEC’s solemn pledge to deliver superlative elections seriously and helped market its innovations, felt betrayed and used. In the aftermath of the elections, members of civil society took turns on television to express their angst. A notable member announced that she had since apologized to Professor Maurice Iwu, who was thought to have conducted one of the most controversial elections in our history. Not a few academics took the Commission to the cleaners and back. And they did so deploying some of the most coarse and uncouth invectives. The pundits have since speculated that it will take at least one Election Cycle of conducting excellent elections to repair the damage inflicted by the last elections and to earn the confidence of stakeholders, especially voters.
It is possible that if INEC had complied with, and shown fidelity to its own guidelines, its underbelly would not have been exposed for all to view. And we would have glossed over some of its most fundamental challenges. In the conduct of the 2023 General Elections, matters were not helped by the unprofessional and partisan overreach of some of its Resident Electoral Commissioners(RECs). The upshot of all these failings is the clarion call by stakeholders that the process of appointing Commission members(the Chairman and National Commissioners) plus the Resident Electoral Commissioners be revisited.
The Anglican Bishop of Kaduna, Timothy Yahaya, who spoke last week at the 22nd Synod of the church argued that rather than the presidency to appoint the INEC Chairman for the conduct of the 2027 General Elections, members of Civil Society should be saddled with the task if we were to have credible elections henceforth. The Situation Room, an umbrella of many Civil Society Organizations, canvassed for the abolition of the office of REC and its replacement with Director of Elections as was once recommended by the Justice Mohammed Lawal Uwais Committee on Electoral Reforms. I agree with these cogent submissions but with slight modifications.
To be fair, there have been, over the years, Commission members and RECs who have served with integrity and distinction. They have served diligently and professionally and they have added tremendous value to the Commission. But of recent, the Commission has been visited with a number of mountebanks and undiluted partisans. This predilection to populate the Commission with charlatans and partisans has been more pronounced under the watch of former President Muhammadu Buhari. Recall his frenzied but abortive effort to foist his former aide and a card carrying member of the All Progressives Congress(APC) on the Commission. Recall his appointment of partisans and persons of dubious integrity in the last batch of nineteen RECs in July 2022. Recall that a former Governor in the South East reportedly nominated five RECs who were eventually appointed and deployed to his zone. There is no way a Commission which is replete with partisans and persons of doubtful character can deliver elections that are transparent.
First of all, the allegiance of such partisans is to their party or sponsors. As for those who have alleged track records of dubiousness, their preoccupation will be to line their pockets. Even worse, the honest ones will feel strictured and encumbered by the crooked amongst them: They will perpetually work in an atmosphere of fear and be on their guards always. For example, a lot of apprehension greeted the Commission with the news of the impending appointment of one of the former President’s aide. There was a sense of foreboding amongst Commission members and Staff as to how the Commission was going to engage with stakeholders with such an obviously partisan person in their ranks.
It is true that occasionally, the Presidency had appointed persons of integrity to run the affairs of the Commission. Also, at such occasions, the Executive and Legislative branches have given such appointees the resources and latitude to do the job. On those lucky occasions, the Commission had delivered exquisite elections. But elections are vital and they affect the lives of millions, for good or ill. Their good conduct also projects the country positively and inspires other African countries. They cannot be left to the chance of having a disinterested and gracious President. Neither can they be left to the caprices of an obtuse and a whimsical one as we saw in the last dispensation. Besides, the healthy approach is to view our electoral process and democracy as work in progress. Though the Constitution is the Supreme Law, it is not set or etched in stone. It can, and should be, amended to serve and enhance the national good and to put elections on a solid keel.
It is against this background that I endorse the quest to amend the Constitution such that the appointment of Commission members shall be outside the purview of the President.
The President himself is partisan, by virtue of his ascension to power on the platform of a political party. The positions of Chairman and National Commissioners could be advertised and persons with unimpeachable integrity and track records of competence and impartiality are requested to apply. Names of shortlisted candidates should then be publicized with members of the public being asked to make comments as to their suitability. Additionally, members can be nominated by the Media, Civil Society, the Judiciary, Professional groups etc. All nominated candidates should then be approved by the National Assembly after vetting and due diligence by our anti-corruption and security agencies. This will insulate the Commission members from pressure by the Executive and Legislative Branches. They will not owe loyalty to some Leviathan in the Aso Rock Villa. Rather, their allegiance will be to the Nigerian people. As for RECs, I wholly subscribe to the recommendation of the Justice Uwais Committee, namely that seasoned Directors on GL 17 be directed to superintend our elections in the States. As career Civil Servants, Directors will refrain from anything that will tarnish their carefully cultivated careers. Besides, they will bring expertise, commitment and institutional memory to the job.
The way to go is to continually view ours as work in progress. And as work in progress, our electoral process requires honing. We should be courageous to learn lessons. We should be more courageous by factoring such lessons as we move forward. We should be quick to adopt the positives of each Election Cycle and discard its negatives until we arrive at the conduct of seamless and transparent elections.