Former Director-Normal of the Nationwide Human Rights Fee, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, has expressed confidence that the newly appointed Chairman of the Unbiased Nationwide Electoral Fee, INEC, Prof. Joash Amupitan, is not going to conduct elections marred by irregularities like these held below his predecessor, Mahmoud Yakubu.
Odinkalu made the touch upon Thursday whereas fielding questions throughout an interview on Channels Tv Politics At the moment.
He alleged that Yakubu’s administration
perfected the act of manufacturing a number of leads to elections, citing the Edo governorship ballot for instance.
“Josh is not going to administer an election like in Edo State, the place there have been 4 outcomes,” Odinkalu mentioned. “Mahmoud Yakubu perfected the act of manufacturing elections by which there are 4 outcomes — one he declares, one on IReV, one other issued to celebration brokers, and one other tendered in courtroom. That’s felony. He introduced elections and INEC into disrepute, and the brand new INEC chair must start to deal with this.”
The rights activist additionally offered statistics to help his declare of declining electoral credibility below Yakubu.
He famous that in 2007, below Maurice Iwu, about 86.35% of election outcomes ended up in courtroom. Nevertheless, he mentioned, the determine diminished considerably below Prof. Attahiru Jega, who oversaw the 2011 and 2015 elections.
“Jega diminished the variety of election circumstances in courtroom from 86.35% in 2007 to 51% in 2011, and additional to 44% in 2015. That exhibits progress,” he acknowledged.
Odinkalu argued that the state of affairs worsened below Yakubu, with election disputes rising once more. “By 2019, the determine elevated to 56.34%, and by 2023, it reached 83%. That tells you one thing — Mahmoud Yakubu ruined INEC,” he mentioned.
He urged the brand new INEC chairman to rebuild credibility within the electoral system forward of the 2027 common elections.
“Joash has a job. No one expects good elections, however he should start to redress this decline incrementally, in order that by 2027, we gained’t have over 80% of our elections going to courtroom,” Odinkalu added.
