Prominent human rights activist and former President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba, has called for a complete overhaul of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), citing its failure to conduct credible elections.
Agbakoba expressed his disappointment with the performance of INEC, stating that the institution has completely failed and cannot be trusted. He criticized the head of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubi, for his inability to ensure well-conducted elections.
In his words, “There’s no reason why the professor, who is the head of INEC, should be there. He’s completely failed. We can’t trust him.”
The legal luminary pointed out that INEC had promised that the introduction of the Biometric Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the Independent Review of Electoral Votes (IREV) would eliminate issues with manual vote collation. However, he expressed surprise that INEC has not fully implemented these systems.
Agbakoba further criticized INEC for its inconsistency in applying electoral rules. He questioned the legal framework for conducting elections, especially with upcoming elections in Ondo and Bayelsa states. He expressed concern that INEC could arbitrarily change rules, creating uncertainty about the electoral process.
He suggested that INEC should be streamlined to function solely as a referee in elections. He also called on the National Assembly to create a transformative legal framework for elections.
Agbakoba concluded by expressing his dissatisfaction with the 9th National Assembly for misleading Nigerians to believe that IREV and BVAS had a solid legal framework. He described the recent election as the worst in Nigeria’s history due to INEC’s constant rule changes.
“This is the worst election in Nigeria’s history because INEC just kept changing the rules,” he said.