The decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission to extend the deadline for the conduct of primaries by six days threatens the independence of INEC, a former National Commissioner, Prof Lai Olurode, has said.
Olurode said this in a statement on Friday titled, ‘INEC’s Independence under Threat’, while reacting to the decision of the commission to extend the deadline.
The former INEC commissioner said it was obvious that the electoral body only decided to shift the deadline because it was under pressure from the ruling All Progressives Congress which has not even begun its preparation for a Presidential primary.
The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had travelled out of the country, a move which many believe was evidence that he was aware of the commission’s plan to extend the deadline.
He said the constitution guarantees the independence of INEC but the commission has allowed itself to act as an appendage of the Presidency.
Olurode stated, “INEC cannot deny that it was under pressure by the government’s party. If the pressure had been from the PDP or any of the small parties or a coalition of them, would INEC have deployed its discretion the way it had? Very doubtful! The party in power has wielded its big stick and INEC had, sadly, bowed to pressure.
“This is dangerous for credible elections in 2023. This step casts aspersions on the extent to which INEC is a separate sphere from the state realm. Indeed, INEC ought not to have behaved as if it were an appendage of the state or a unit under the Presidency. This is really sad for Nigeria’s fledgling and tottering democratization process.”
The former INEC national commissioner said the postponement could also work against the PDP which is expected to commence its primary in a few hours.
He said the commission had begun to lose its authority and respect which former Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, had helped build.
“It is indeed a reversal of what INEC under Jega had amassed as electoral assets. INEC has been dented by allowing itself to be used by what is certainly a weakness in political party administration and desperate efforts at imposition. I have no doubt that steps in the electoral process are open to further compromises and shift in election dates.
“Nigerians would become more sceptical and justifiably so, about INEC’S determination to live in fulfilment of its words. We must keep a watch over INEC and compel it to respect its words.
“This reversal in date would have disadvantaged the leading opposition party that had believed in INEC’s honour to respect its own timeline and is about rounding up its primaries. Nigerians should not take INEC’s autonomy as given,” he said.
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