Prof Amupitan and Nigerian democracy

By AMINU JAHUN

Since the support of his appointment by the National Council of State arsenic INEC Chairman, and consequent endorsement by the Senate, Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan has been a recipient of torrential congratulatory messages, prayers and unsolicited advice, immoderate successful bully religion and others outrightly opportunistic.

But galore pundits would alternatively articulation the prayerful and unsolicited advisers, alternatively than the chorus of congratulators, due to the fact that congratulations could hold aft helium exits the occupation with unscathed reputation.

Prof Amupitan should beryllium pitied alternatively than envied, underscoring the necessity of prayers for the Good Lord to usher him close successful his assignment, and pieces of proposal that could navigate him retired of the lion’s den- that is what the nationalist electoral duty has go owed to the following: In a governmental situation wherever incumbent contestants wouldn’t restrain themselves to reasonably triumph elections, the losers wouldn’t judge their decision without transferring the aggression arising from their nonaccomplishment to the electoral umpire, particularly if it is simply a notorious snatcher of electoral victory.

To astir Nigerians, if INEC is truly  independent, past the federation is equally  independent. As Nigeria could hardly asseverate its “independence” successful captious affairs(domestic oregon international) without the support of almighty nations oregon supranational bodies; INEC is besides little known to person firmly and responsibly projected its “independence”. 

Like slavish electoral gadgets, many   Chief Electoral Officers tin hardly separate loyalty to principals and to the nation, manufacturing electoral heists to delight governmental masters, alternatively than to responsibly discharge law burdens. At times going the other mile to state predetermination results earlier the decision of collations. 

As a fallout of the above, precise fewer INEC bosses exited their jobs without eroding their hard earned reputation. Besides Ephraim Akpata whose tenure was short, and Professor Mahmud Jega, the trio of Drs Abel Guobadia and Maurice Iwu and Professor Mahmood Yakubu- contempt judicial confirmations of their elections- are believed to person been partial successful the elections they supervised successful 2003, 2007 and 2023, leaving acheronian imprints connected their post-INEC duty reputation. 

Therefore, aft the nonaccomplishment of nationalist assurance successful INEC, Prof Amupitan,  would necessitate much than 24/7 hours successful a time to acceptable the organisation connected an acceptable trajectory to Nigerians. He would person to combat to redeem INEC’s representation and reconstruct nationalist assurance successful the electoral agency, and Nigeria’s antiauthoritarian project. 

If truthful acold the worst predetermination was the  Maurice Iwu 2007 supervised canvass whose victor was declared earlier the decision of collations, who publically condemned the behaviour of the elections, and the champion canvass was the 2015 Jega supervised election, whose incumbent loser vouched its fairness by congratulating the winner, 1 could conception the Iwu and Jega predetermination absorption models. 

The Jega exemplary is premised connected the following: 1.Continuous engagements/ consultations with nationalist and planetary electoral stakeholders; 2.Proactive technologically driven electoral reforms; 3.Holistic implementation of the Electoral Act successful the elections; 4.Zero tolerance for subjective quality involution successful the electoral processes. 

And the Iwu predetermination exemplary is underpinned by: 1.Callous indifference to captious electoral stakeholders; 2 Wanton breach of important provisions of the Electoral Act; 3.Subjective quality involution successful the electoral processes; 4.Deliberate instauration of electoral chaos for the tribunals to settle. The Iwu exemplary produced the electoral messiness of 2003, 2007 and to an grade the 2023 infamy(skipping existent clip transmission of results, and leaving the chaos for the tribunals to benignant retired ), whilst the Jega exemplary midwifed the transparent  2015 election. Whereas Dr Iwu utilized the Electoral Act arsenic a Trojan equine to undermine democracy, Prof Jega holistically deployed it to entrench democracy. 

The caller INEC boss, Prof Amupitan, volition beryllium confronted with a dilemma: the prime of an predetermination model, signposting the antiauthoritarian bequest helium wishes to permission behind. To a jurist, ineligible student and SAN, who mightiness person been horrified by the behaviour of the 2007 predetermination arsenic the precocious President Yar’Adua was, the prime of exemplary wouldn’t beryllium a problem. 

To deepen Nigeria’s ideology Prof Amupitan has to beryllium astatine an arm’s magnitude with the Iwu exemplary due to the fact that it corrosively ...