OWERRI — IT has been suggested that for the country’s electoral and democratic engineering to endure, “we need to strengthen our laws, the hands of our electoral umpire as well as ensure speedy resolution of electoral disputes.”
The Senate President, Chief Adolphus Wabara, made the prescription while flagging off a workshop organized in Owerri by the management of Imo State office of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“We have a lot of review to do. We need to strengthen our electoral laws. We need to strengthen the hands of the electoral umpire. We need to expand access to the system. We need to ensure speedy resolution of electoral disputes. We need to stamp out violence out of our politics. We all need to imbibe the democratic culture”, the Senate President prescribed.
He assured that members of the National Assembly are ready to do all that is necessary, in terms of legislation, to reform the electoral process, in accordance with the best anywhere in the world. While saying that there were a lot of challenges facing Nigeria’s democratic engineering, the Senate President also urged the electorate and the political actors to have confidence in the electoral system.
“It is very important to underscore the fact that the electorate and the political actors must have confidence in the electoral system for democracy to have a fighting chance at all. The voters must be sure that their votes count and the losers must be sure that they were not rigged out”, Chief Wabara said.
The Senate President insisted that “confidence does not spring from the air”, adding that it is a product of both history and performance.
“The electoral bodies must be ready to assert their independence before, during and after elections. They must be ready to conduct decent, free and fair polls, as well as declare results that reflect the wishes of the electorate.
They must do everything to prevent rigging and other forms of electoral manipulations. They must do everything within their powers to protect the integrity of the electoral process. This is what inspires confidence from all stakeholders and this is what inspires confidence in the system”, Chief Wabara explained.
In his address, the INEC chairman, Dr. Abel Guobadia, reasoned that “all stakeholders have vital roles to play, as the success of any election depends as much on the impartiality, fidelity and competence of the electoral management body as it does on the other stakeholders”.
He reasoned that where there is no confidence, apathy holds sway and this undermines the credibility of the outcome of any election, regardless of how free and fair or well conducted.
“Electoral reform must be accompanied by personal and group reform. There must be a corresponding change in the attitudes and mindset of our key players, particularly the electoral administrators and the political class”, Guobadia insisted.
In a message read by Imo State Deputy Governor, Chief Ebere Udeagu on behalf of Governor Achike Udenwa, INEC was charged to evolve new electoral strategies that will make the 2007 polls a substantial improvement from those of 1999 and 2003.
“This is the only way democracy could be solidly entrenched and Nigeria will be better for it”, Udenwa stated.
