Take Senate to court - Former INEC chairman tells FG, calls politicians greatest threat to Nigeria?s democracy

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Take Senate to court - Former INEC chairman tells FG, calls politicians greatest threat to Nigeria?s democracy

The former chairman of Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, on Thursday, February 22, described some politicians as the greatest threat to democracy in the country.

- Attahiru Jega laments that the federal government and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are reluctant to go to court over the recent election re-ordering

       

           

               

                   
               

           

       

       

- Jega argues that the Senate made a mistake in approving the election re-ordering

- He calls politicians a threat to the country's democracy

The former chairman of Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega, on Thursday, February 22, described politicians as the greatest threat to democracy in the country.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Jega said this at an election programme organised by Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth & Advancement (YIAGA) in Abuja.

The report quoted him as saying the biggest threat is the recklessness of politicians to undermine Nigeria?s democracy, thereby destabilising the process of development.

?Nigeria like all countries face threats to its democracy, we must identify the threats that have the tendency to derail the development of our democracy and address them.

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?We must also checkmate the threats of politicians to undermine our democracy because all we need now is adding value to the process.

?We also need to mobilise our people in towns and villages to be part of the electoral process and ensure that we do not engage in authoritarian reversal which would take us several years to get back on track.

       

           

               

                   
               

           

       

       

?The signals are there, the fragility of the system is evident, we are a country with enormous systemic security challenges," he said.

He added: ?Both INEC and the interested parties have been reluctant to go to court for interpretation of constitutional provisions and this is significant because this has to do with the independence of electoral bodies.

?Frankly, a lot of the arguments on this cannot be wished away and I think it is necessary for the independence of the electoral commission because that is key to the integrity of the electoral process because if we allow people to jettison and undermine that independence for whatever reason, then we are in serious problem. I think there is serious justification to test this matter in court.

?I am struggling to see where the National Assembly found the constitutional justification for what they have done. I will mention two specific provisions.

"First of all, in the schedule of the constitution part 15 Section 1, of the said schedule, INEC has the constitutional power to organise, undertake and supervise elections.

?But that is not enough. In section 76 (1), Section 111 (1) and Section 178 (1), it is categorically stated that elections shall be held on a date to be appointed by INEC.

       

           

               

                   
               

           

       

       

So, if elections are to be held on a date set by INEC, where does the National Assembly get the power?"

Jega advised that Nigerians should have quality representatives that would provide good governance and protect the interest of the people.

On his part, the director-general of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Dr Garba Abari, said Nigeria?s democracy was under threat and the signs and indicators were evident.

Abari reportedly stressed the need for government to partner CSOs to educate Nigerians on elections to especially curb invalid votes.

According to him, NOA was concerned about the number of invalid votes that kept recurring during elections, adding that there was need to educate the electorate on election procedure.

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Also, the executive director of YIAGA, Samson Itodo, said with barely 358 days to the 2019 elections, there was need for Nigerians to redesign what the future of the nation would look like.

Itodo explained that the election programme was timely as it was aimed at assessing the state of Nigeria?s democracy and to chart the way forward.

NAIJ.com earlier reported that the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus,? accused INEC of doing everything possible to rig the 2019 general elections in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Secondus said his party supported the electoral amendment by the Senate that put the presidential election last. He said there was nothing with the sequence.

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Source: Naija.ng

Source: Take Senate to court - Former INEC chairman tells FG, calls politicians greatest threat to Nigeria?s democracy