President should be stripped of power to appoint INEC chairman - Jega

An erstwhile Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Attahiru Jega, has proposed that presidents should be stripped of the constitutional power to appoint chairman and National Commissioners for the electoral body.

To achieve this and other required measures to improve the nation's electoral process, Jega suggested that the 2022 Electoral Act should be amended.

Though he said the operating version of the electoral act is the best in Nigeria's history, the former INEC chairman highlighted the need for further amendments to remove ambiguities and clarify and strengthen some of its sections.

He put forward these suggestions while speaking at a two-day retreat organised for senators by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State.

“Review the process of appointments into INEC, specifically to divest/minimize the involvement of the President in appointment of Chairman and National Commissioners of INEC, in order to free the commission from the damaging negative perception of “he who pays the piper dictates the tune,” he said.

Jega stressed that the proposed amendments should make electronic transmission of results mandatory from the next general elections in 2027, adding that the law should be reviewed to ensure that all cases arising from the conduct of elections are dispensed with before the date of swearing-in.

“INEC would have enough time to prepare for this, if the Act is amended early enough in the ensuing electoral cycle,” he said in reference to section 64 of the Electoral Act, which gives the electoral umpire the power to decide the mode of transmission of election results.