Obasanjo Says Electoral Integrity At Stake, Urges Nigerians To Vet INEC Leadership Thoroughly

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, weekend, charged the Nigerian people to, as a matter of urgency, ensure the appointment of new and credible leadership of the Independent National Electoral commission (INEC) at all levels for electoral integrity.

According to him, the people must make sure that the INEC chairperson and his or her staff were thoroughly vetted, adding that the vetting exercise should yield dispassionate, non-partisan, actors with impeccable reputations.

In his keynote address at the Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum, Yale University, New Haven Connecticut, USA, Obasanjo who spoke on the theme: “Leadership Failure and State Capture in Nigeria”, described what was happening in the country at the moment as “state capture”.

The former president, who also alleged that the Nigerian judiciary has been heavily compromised by politicians, declared that justice in the country was now conceded to the highest bidder.

Touching on virtually all sectors of the system, Obasanjo maintained that under Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as Finance Minister, Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was $510 billion, but has now slumped to $199 billion under the Bola Tinubu administration, according to latest figures from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The ex-Nigerian leader also specifically targeted President Bola Tinubu, even without particularly mentioning his name but alluded to his ‘Emilokan’ philosophy, and accused him of extending his 25-year hold on Lagos.

“As a matter of urgency, we must make sure the INEC chairperson and his or her staff are thoroughly vetted. The vetting exercise should yield 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 re-establish trust in the electoral systems by its citizens.

“The INEC chairperson must not only be absolutely above board, he must also be transparently independent and incorruptible,” he argued during the long speech.

He also raised concerns over the current state of the Nigerian economy, observing that the feat of a fairly good economy was achieved in the past because of the quality of persons in government.

“Let us not fool ourselves, there is a lot to be concerned about Nigeria. For one, Nigeria’s GDP has declined from $510 billion – after it was rebased in July, 2014, by then Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and colleagues – to the recent revision downwards by the IMF to $199 billion today.

“By the end of my tenure in 2007, the country’s average GDP growth over my eight years in office was 6.59 per cent (reaching 15.3 per cent in 2002) – one of the highest in the world.

“This increase was attributable to the quality of the leaders we had in our government – the eminent, late Bola Ige, General TY Danjuma, Adamu Ciroma, Sule Lamido, Mohammed Arzika, Liyel Imoke, Jerry Gana, Kanu Agabi, the aforementioned Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and several others who came on board in my second term.

“One of the stars of that cabinet, Mrs Oby Ezekwesili, former Minister of Solid Minerals and later Education of Nigeria is also here today. Other reasons for the country’s robust growth at the time can be attributable to reforms we instituted, especially in the private sector and service delivery,” he added.

Describing the 2023 elections in Nigeria as “a travesty” by all rational measures, he stated that following the problem-prone exercise, electoral system reform is now among the top targets for change in Nigeria.

He insisted that Nigeria must find a way to prevent electoral interference at every level and protect elections from foreign as well as local malevolent actors.

At the local level, he stated that Nigeria should implement and enforce clearly defined financial regulations for political campaigns, establish effective control and enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance with financial regulations.

Besides , he called for the intensification of activities to prepare and secure the voting infrastructure – such as safeguarding the technology used to collate, transmit, verify, and disperse election results.

“Prior to elections, we should have a transparent exercise (witnessed by international observers) where so called ‘penetration testing of the election system and infrastructure’ is conducted for all to witness and verify.

“Nigeria must ensure the physical security of the commissions and voters. Our security apparatus must be professionally trained to protect our citizens during elections not to be participants in electoral malfeasance.

“INEC must ensure that it institutes ballot security to prevent tinkering or unauthorised access – manually or by cybercriminals. Ballot security also means the secure storage and transport of ballots to collation centres to prevent any form of interference,” he emphasised.

Obasanjo maintained that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and INEC Election Result Viewing Portal (IReV) are two technological innovations that prior to 2023 were celebrated for their promise.

According to him, they were to ‘potentially’ enhance the accuracy and transparency of Nigeria’s 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 hen house,” the elder statesman stated.

He stated that Nigeria must put in place post-election audits and transparent processes – clear documentation and paths for meticulous and free and fair voting, and a credible electoral system – that builds trust and comfort for all stakeholders and voters.

“Politicians corruptly getting themselves declared as winner in an election where votes do not matter and asking winner declared loser to go to court where justice cannot be assured is the easiest and best way to kill electoral democracy,” he said.

In 2024, corruption, he said, continues to rank among the most important problems affecting Nigerians, stressing that the judiciary in Nigeria has become a very pale version of its once internationally esteemed self.

“Politicians after rigging elections openly ask their rivals to ‘go to court’ in Nigeria because they are aware that they have completely compromised the judiciary system.

“A number of Judges are in the pockets of wealthy politicians and individuals and make judgements – not based on the law of the land but to the highest bidder. This, my learned audience, is one of the most effective strategies of state capture…that must be excised from Nigeria like a surgeon cutting out a malignant cancer,” he pointed out.

According to him, state capture is not always overt and obvious, it can also arise from the more subtle close alignment of interests between specific business and political elites through family ties, friendships, and the intertwined ownership of economic assets.

“What is happening in Nigeria – right before our eyes – is state capture: The purchase of national assets by political elites – and their family members – at bargain prices, the allocation of national resources – minerals, land, and even human resources – to local, regional, and international actors. It must be prohibited and prevented through local and international laws.

“The main risk of state capture is that decisions no longer take into consideration the public interest, but instead favour a specific special interest group or individual. Laws, policies, and regulations are designed to benefit a specific interest group, often times to the detriment of smaller firms and groups and society in general.

“State capture can seriously affect economic development, regulatory quality, the provision of public services, quality of education and health services, infrastructure decisions, and even the environment and public health.

“My military training and experience taught me that what you capture, you tend to hold under your sole control for as long as you can hold it. That is the case of one governor of a state who still holds the state captive in his pocket 25 years after being the governor of the state,” Obasanjo said.

Describing Nigeria’s situation as bad, Obasanjo argued that the more the immorality and corruption of a nation, the more the nation sinks into chaos, insecurity, conflict, discord, division, disunity, depression, youth restiveness, confusion, violence, and underdevelopment.

“That’s the situation mostly in Nigeria in the reign of Baba-go-slow and Emilokan,” he stated.

Emmanuel Addeh

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