Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has called for the removal of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, and the dismissal of commission officials at all levels, as part of a broader reform of Nigeria’s electoral system.
Obasanjo made the remarks while presenting a paper at the Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum at Yale University, United States.
The annual lecture, which honours the late Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, provided a platform for the former president to discuss his concerns about Nigeria’s electoral integrity, according to Premium Times.
He also advocated for shorter tenures for INEC officials and a more thorough vetting process to prevent the appointment of partisan individuals.
Obasanjo emphasized the need for a new, non-partisan leadership for the commission, stressing that appointments should be made based on credibility and integrity.
He stated that the vetting process should ensure that only individuals with impeccable reputations are appointed to serve in INEC, and that these individuals must be thoroughly dispassionate and non-partisan. He further suggested that the tenure of INEC officials should be reduced to minimize political influence and corruption, and to restore public confidence in the electoral system.
The former president argued that the INEC chairman must be independent, incorruptible, and transparent, and must maintain an absolute commitment to fairness and integrity in overseeing elections.
Obasanjo also criticized INEC’s handling of technological tools during the 2023 presidential election. He claimed that the commission failed to use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and the INEC Election Result Viewing Portal, despite earlier promises by Yakubu. These technological innovations had been hailed as key to enhancing electoral transparency, preventing rigging, and restoring trust in election results.
He accused INEC of willfully neglecting the use of these technologies, which contributed to widespread voting irregularities during the election. Obasanjo described the failure as a significant breach of trust, likening it to “inviting the fox into the henhouse.”
“As a matter of urgency, we must ensure the INEC Chairperson and their staff are thoroughly vetted. The vetting exercise should produce dispassionate, non-partisan actors with impeccable reputations.
“Nigeria must ensure the appointment of new credible INEC leadership at the federal, state, local government, and municipal – city, town, and village – levels, with short tenures to prevent undesirable political influence and corruption, and to re-establish trust in the electoral system by its citizens,” he said.
He argued that “The INEC Chairperson must not only be absolutely above board but must also be transparently independent and incorruptible.
The BVAS and IReV are two technological innovations that, prior to 2023, were celebrated for their potential to enhance the accuracy and transparency of our election results, eliminate the threat of election rigging, and boost public trust in electoral outcomes.
“These technologies were touted by the INEC chairman himself. In the end, these technologies did not fail. INEC wilfully failed to use or implement them, which resulted in widespread voting irregularities. It was a case of inviting the fox into the henhouse,” he said.
