By Dapo Akinrefon
FORMER Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has said that the involvement of political institutions remains the key to having credible electoral processes in Nigeria.

He said this yesterday at a lecture entitled “Political institutions and electoral integrity”, organised by the Obafemi Awolowo Institute of Government and Public Policy in Lagos.

Osinbajo explained that there was need for the judiciary, security agencies, INEC and the National Assembly to be involved in the electoral process in Nigeria, adding that the “failure of one of the political institutions is the failure of the political process. The failure of one is the failure of all.”

He also pointed out that corruption and logistic problems, has over the years,  prevented the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, from conducting credible elections, adding that “one of the major problems INEC has always had is inadequacy of time.”

He identified manipulation of facts and figures in elections and returning winners as well as inadequate time to prepare for registration as partly responsible for electoral integrity in Nigeria.

The legal luminary, who argued that the perception of the international community as regards election in Nigeria especially in 2007 was that it was a sham.

He said: “the perception of the world was that the 2007 election was a complete sham. They said it fell short of election standard. The elections were  marred by poor organisation and lack of transparency.”

As a result, elections have not lived up to the hopes and expectations of the Nigerian people and the process cannot be considered to have been credible.”

He also faulted the judiciary for its apathy and corruptibility in election matters saying “there have been founded allegations of corruption, non use of forensic evidence without admissible alternatives and unorthodox interventions.”

While profferring steps to correct the maladies in the country’s political process, he said there is need to “use independent human and institutional resources; international demographic agencies for voters registration and the appointment of logistics chief with real life experiences. It is also important for us to revamp our poor infrastructures in Nigeria; we must audit and overhaul the process for delivery, collection and collation of voting materials.”

In his address, chairman of the event and former President of the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu said there is need for all hands to be on deck if elections must be credible in the country.

According to him, “the time has come for us to see how we can use the power of our votes. Our votes are very important because elections must be of concern to us. We have influence on a number of people, but how can ensure our votes count? What we need now is vision and commitment; we need all hands on deck to ensure we have credible elections in this country.”

Akeredolu, however, expressed worry that the present amendment of the 1999 Constitution may not be feasible but advised the National Assembly to halt further amendments saying “amendments should be done after the 2011 general elections.”

Dignitaries present at the event include National Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Chief Bisi Akande, Professor Sophie Oluwole, Mrs Francissica Emmanuel, Professor Adebayo Williams, Mr Ayo Opadokun and Mr Lateef Raji.