*INEC empowered to deliver sound elections — Bankole

By Clifford Ndujihe, Deputy Political Editor & Dapo Akinrefon

LAGOS — Former Senate President, Dr. Ken Nnamani, yesterday in Lagos, indicted his Peoples Democratic Party, PDP-led Federal Government over the cloud of uncertainty pervading preparations for the 2011 polls.

Nnamani, who expressed fear that the forthcoming elections might go the way of past flawed polls because the nation has not tackled the root causes of election rigging, picked holes in the ruling of a Federal High Court Lagos that the President must assent to the amended 1999 Constitution before it could become law. He also warned against using the constitution to control the internal governance of political parties as the move could turn the constitution into an overtly partisan tool and demean it beyond repair.

Nnamani spoke at a lecture on “Electoral Integrity in Nigeria (Legal Instrument – Constitutional and Electoral Act)” organised by the Obafemi Awolowo Institute of Government and Public Policy, OIGPP, at Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.

He spoke as House of Representatives Speaker, Mr Dimeji Bankole, who chaired the well-attended event, placed the burden of conducting credible elections next year on the shoulders of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, which he said, had been empowered financially and legally, to deliver a sound election.

In the 10-page, 37-paragraph lecture, Nnamani admitted there were flaws in the 1999 Constitution and Electoral Act. He, however, contended that the problem with the conduct of election in Nigeria was not largely to be found in the flaws of the two documents. “The problem is not the documents. The problem is us.

“We blamed the electoral laws for failing us. We focussed on reforming these laws. In some ways, this has been a misplaced effort and misguided expenditure of energy and material resources. It was not the laws that caused the bad elections. It was not the laws that failed man. The trouble was that man failed the laws and thus himself. Let’s be honest, had those in control of the electoral management body faithfully executed the laws then in existence in both 2003 and 2007, we would have had credible elections both times. In a major way, the drive toward amending the election law was a distraction.

How to end rigging

To end election manipulation, the former lawmaker said the emphasis should be on removing the incentive for rigging instead of writing more elaborate laws.

According to him, stiffer punishments for riggers, as being championed by some stakeholders, might not end the menace as heavyweight manipulators have mastered the act of rigging and destroying the evidence.

INEC empowered
Speaking earlier at the event, Bankole noted how the National Assembly had amended the constitution and Electoral Act with input from major stakeholders, approved release of funds to INEC and re-amended the amended the constitution to accommodate INEC’s request for additional time, saying the electoral commission had no reason to fail.

“Today, the ball again is in INEC’s court to midwife an acceptable programme of free, fair and credible elections. As patriotic Nigerians, we all have a duty to ensure that INEC succeeds in organizing fair, transparent and credible elections,” he said.