*Kano, other states’ election judgments eye-saw our democracy shaking, electoral process commercialized – Rafsanjani
*You cannot insult us for complaining against your judiciary’s misdeed – Prof Ibrahim replies Ariwoola
*As he hits back at CJN for regarding critics of his compromised judiciary as mob
*Political figures interfere in decisions of courts – Ebun-Olu Adegoruwa
*Democratic system in country not designed to hold election – Sowore
*Says judiciary in Nigeria has come to judgment this year
*Not being able to attain political height without godfather makes Nigerian democracy difficult – Olajumoke Anifowoshe
*Stop using education, tax clearance as qualification to contest election – Uche Onyeagocha
By BASHIR ADEFAKA
To Adegoruwa, it is not all electoral matters that should end up in court, citing Senator Kukachuwa’s confession to back his position that political figures interfere in the decisions of courts.
It was a parade of intellectuals as 21 notable leaders from across civil society organisations, academic, bar and and the media gathered in Lagos, joined by several other stakeholders on Thursday to say “no” to the ongoing decadence in the electoral process and judiciary system in their one and only owned country, Nigeria.
They agreed that despite countless political and, specifically, Electoral Law reforms that had taken place in the country, Nigeria at over 63 of independence has continued to descend to all kinds of electoral frauds because the politicians, who are in the business of playing the game, are not serious about getting things right but about self, regardless of whether or not their actions have possibility of drifting the nation into chaos or not.
The stakeholders converged and spoke glowingly at the event organised by Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and tagged, “National Seminar on Targeted Electoral Reforms and Enhanced Judicial Integrity in Post-Election Litigation” and moderated by Professor Victor Adetula of the International Relations and Development Studies, University of Jos, included Olisa Agbakoba SAN, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), who became unavoidably absent but sent his word that his name should be used anyhow, and Professor Farooq Kperogi of Kennesaw State University, Georgia, United States of America.
“We cannot continue to invest our energy in an election and some people will sit down and will be writing results for themselves. That is why the civil societies, the media and other stakeholders must come together and rise up against the trend,” Mallam Auwal Ibrahim Musa a.k.a. Rafsanjani, Executive Director of the organising body, CISLAC, said offline his prepared welcome address at the event.
Before going into his prepared speech, Rafsanjani let the intellectuals on seat to be aware that:
“We must be interested in seeing where the problem is because, we cannot continue truncate the decision of the Nigerian people. If it is INEC that is the problem, we must find out. If the problem is the politicians or judiciary, we must find out who is responsible.
“We saw the judgment in Zamfara, Plateau and particularly in Kano State where Tribunal judges delivered their judgment via Zoom. That happened because they knew what they did to the mandate of the people of Kano and reason they were afraid to deliver their ruling physically,” he blast open the root cause of the political crisis in Kano State, which purportedly sacked a man that over a million voters chose in their electoral right decision to be their state leader, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.
The DEFENDER’S investigation showed that the Tribunal judges were on ground in Kano eve of the judgment day but had to be flown to Abuja by some political figures within the ruling party where they delivered their judgment via zoom right from the governor’s lodge of a South East state.
The investigation further revealed that it was in the lodge in Abuja all the zoom programme was allegedly put together and there the Kano Tribunal judges delivered their judgment of September 20, 2023 that sacked Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.
That experience, the CISLAC boss said, is a clear indication “Our judiciary is shaking and electoral process is apparently commercialised”.
From his prepared speech, the Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative and Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Mallam Auwal Ibrahim Musa a.k.a. Rafsanjani, expressed dismay that democracy in Nigeria is now under threat due to the misbehaviour of political actors and involvement of members of the judiciary.
“Despite various legal reforms preceding the 2023 general and off-cycle elections, the conduct and outcomes of the elections have questioned the direction of Nigeria’s democracy. It is like going ten steps backward for every one step taken forward. We are not unaware of the undemocratic actions of the political class who are bent on capturing power at all cost for their personal aggrandizement and at the detriment of the collective good remains a growing challenge.
“These unpatriotic political group appears with the determination to sabotage the integrity and backpedal progress in our legal and institutional reforms targeted at electoral system and process, as well as any other thing that stands on their way. This has left devastating effects on citizens’ trust in Electoral Body and the judiciary.
“The growing commercialisation of electoral process has deprived many decent Nigerians the opportunity to compete favourably in primary elections across political parties. Money politics constitutes a threat to credible and inclusive electoral system in the country. Political financing has become a profitable investment in the country. Despite the limits to campaign donation and finance as stipulated by the Electoral Act, in 2023 general and off-cycle elections, there was no control in political spending, as whopping sums were expended on party primaries, electoral campaigns, vote-buying and vote-trading that consequently defeated the essence of electoral integrity.
“Electoral violence is one problem that has been identified as a stumbling block to free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria. It is no more news that many politicians resort to illicit electoral strategies and make use of militant youth wings, militias or the state security forces to either win the election or strengthen their post-election bargaining position. Politics at all levels is currently marred by violence, persecution and intimidation and exclusion of women from active participation in electoral politics.
“The emerging judicial corruption through the post-election litigation like tribunal activities and outcomes has called for adequate reform in our judicial system to make it more independent and efficient in the delivery of electoral justice through which the citizens’ choices prevail. Many Nigerians strongly believed that judiciary suffers from credibility as allegations of bribery activities to truncate justice and compromise electoral outcomes are playing out.
“We must recall the alleged attempts to truncate citizens’ electoral choices through the tribunal judgments in Kano, Kaduna, Plateau and Zamfara states which highlight a disastrous channel Nigeria’s democracy trends in recent times. The judiciary through tribunal judgments has reportedly employed the technicalities in upturning electoral victories, which in most occasions, rigs out the choices of the electorate.
“These are very disturbing trends that must be brought to an end in order not to make the role of the electorates irrelevant. Again, the case of Kano election tribunal is clear example of a deliberate effort still people’s mandate through connivance of both INEC and sponsored judiciary injustice. The conflicting double standard court judgement papers showed the desperation to undermine Kano election victory.
“Equally the recent elections in Kogi state, where original result sheets were reportedly filled in favour of the incumbent political party and in Imo state where the incumbent polled over 80% of total vote cast have sent shivers across the minds of Nigerians, signaling the dangerous extent of political compromise in Nigeria. As concerned citizens, it is imperative on everyone desiring the reflection of true democracy in our practice to be apprehensive of the current situation and seek channels for improvement.
“It is in light of this that CISLAC is championing this critical seminar bringing together highly valuable resources to speak on topics reflecting areas of challenges in our democratic journey and desire to free fair and credible elections to enable us to have patriotic, transparent and accountable leaders that will work and ensure good governance in Nigeria not political merchants.
“We have been able to get committed Nigeria today, to share thoughts and reflect on critical next steps to free our democracy from the strangulation of the political class. For us on the side of Civil Society, highlights of discussion today will be useful for advocacy as we seek reforms capable of entrenching electoral and judicial integrity in Nigeria. We are fully confident that reflections shared today can be compiled into a compendium of thoughts by vastly experienced Nigerians on electoral reforms and enhanced judicial integrity,” he said.
Jibrin Ibrahim
Professor Jibrin Ibrahim, Senior Fellow, Centre for Democracy and Development, who spoke to the title of “Reforming Nigeria’s Electoral System for Mandate Protection: Opportunities, Challenges and the Way Forward”, said when election riggers face consequences, things will be better.
Professor Ibrahim seized the event to hit back at the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CNJ), Olukayode Ariwoola, for regarding critics of his compromised judiciary as mob.
“You cannot insult us for complaining against your judiciary’s misdeed. I am astonished that we complicate and mess up something so simple”, he said.
The professor noted that even in Niger Republic there is no post-election litigation “because votes are cast, they are counted, winners are announced and people move on”.
He said the only time election was compromised in Republic of Niger was in 1999 when the then Military Head of State, Col. Ibrahim Bare Mainassara, who had made a law against a military person contesting election, eventually changed his mind and contested.
“After he got security report that he had lost the election, he ordered that the votes be taken to the army Barracks and there the votes were recounted. Then he won in landslide. What happened the next day? His own ADC took a machine gun and blasted his head,” he narrated, saying that was to tell all political leaders that there are consequences for every action that threatens democracy.
The DEFENDER investigation revealed a Washington Post report of April 10, 1999 which said of the former Army colonel as saying he staged his 1996 coup because the then President Mahamane Ousmane had failed to address Niger’s burgeoning economic and political problems.
Then Prime Minister Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, who announced the President Mainassara’s death that Friday in a radio broadcast, said Mainassara’s death came “at a particularly grave moment in the history of our country,” a reference to growing political tension following chaotic local elections in February.
The killing, which Nigeria’s Professor Jibrin Ibrahim referred to in Lagos to send signals to Nigerian dictatorial politicians about possible consequences of the threats they pose to the nation’s 25-year-old Fourth Republic of democracy, came amid opposition calls for Mainassara’s resignation after the Supreme Court annulled the results of the elections and ordered a new round of voting.
Opposition politicians had contended that they were winning the elections and accused the government of inciting violent attacks on vote counters. Mainassara’s government had quelled several army uprisings and mutinies the year before.
At the stakeholders conversation in Lagos on Thursday, Professor Ibrahim also spoke to the bragging by one Hon Gandi who, according to him, said people can say what they like “but when we get to the Supreme Court we will show who knows who in the apex court,” which the professor shouted down as “a threat”.
Summarising Ibrahim’s reflections, Moderator Adetula said, “Those who make peaceful change impossible make revolutionary change inevitable” but was quick to add that, “We need peaceful change in Nigeria”.
INEC Chairman
Professor Mohammed Kuna, Special Adviser and Representative of the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, with his reflection on “Electoral Reforms from Institutional Strengthening”, stated four key issues that need to be addressed to get things right with elections in Nigeria. He said reforms are critical in effort towards consolidation of electoral system in the country.
“By and large we have seen how reforms have become crucial in advancing democracy in Nigeria but there is limit to reforms because, there are elements who are impeding the legal process in order to make reforms meaningless.”
Professor Kuna warned that “there is no amount of reforms given to the Electoral Law, if the people who are impeding the legal process to satisfy themselves against the will of the people are not taken care of, it will not work.”
He made instance of two ways coups de’tat are staged namely, electoral and military. “In either case, the will of the people is subverted.” Kuna was worried that some political elite who make this happen are not talked about while the talk about electoral reforms is on.
He also talked about internal process and institutional reforms, which he acknowledged in some way as having improved in the sense that ballot snatchings are now no longer the norm.
“However, some people who still look for way to subvert the process must be properly handled,” he said, adding that, “We need to begin to focus on other bodies who are also involved in ensuring credible election, not only INEC” and he mentioned the security agencies and the political parties, in particular.
The INEC chairman representative said Nigeria had made some improvements in its electoral process but needed to now work on others, who are also involved in ensuring credible election, for instance, the political parties whose candidate use thugs.
Hassan Saliu
In his own intervention on “Electoral Reform from Political Party Strengthening Perspective”, Professor Hassan Saliu, President, Nigerian Political Science Association (NPSA), noted that “Nigerian political parties are the bakers of the electoral challenges in the country. They make law for themselves and still do not obey their own laws. If we can find a cure for our sickening political parities, then, our electoral challenges will be solved,” he said.
The political scientist said one o the problems was “all the talks about electoral reforms have been done well and fine but they do not fly because those who talk about electoral challenges do not talk about political parties, where the problems lie.”
The professor did not feel good that state governors control political parties just like other moneybags he claimed not to know their whereabouts and who are creators of problems.
“Must all the party have national spread? All these must be removed from our electoral system because it is in effort to give a party a national spread that moneybags hijack it. Where also you impose heavy charges on contestants, moneybag is able to hijack the process.
Sam Egwu
Professor Sam Egwu, Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Benue State, whose submission at the event centered on “RECs and Challenges of Election Management in Nigeria”, said: “There is need to oversight the bureaucracy within the INEC because they do not tell the truth sometimes. If you don’t oversight them, they will create problem for you,” he said, adding that, “For RECs, there are pressures from the political parties, that is clear. But RECs must be able to surmount the challenge off those pressures.”
Kola Shettima
In his remarks, Dr. Kole Shettima of MacArthur Foundation expressed sadness that as what the 2027 off Nigeria’s elections will be have been seen from the bad experience of 2023. “If 2023 is bad the way it has been, I don’t know what 2027 will be. My fear is that 2027 is going to be bad because the indicator is exactly that.”
Ebun-Olu Adegoruwa
Mr. Ebun-Olu Adegoruwa SAN, an astute legal juggernaut that took the gathering through “Politicisation of Election Disputes in Nigeria’s Courts: Key Provisions of the Electoral Act, and the Challenges of Technical Interpretation”, said the implication of the current electoral situation in Nigeria is that nobody can win election and go to sleep because the can be truncated at the level of judiciary before the end of the day.
To Adegoruwa, it is not all electoral matters that should end up in court, citing Senator Kukachuwa’s confession to back his position that political figures interfere in the decisions of courts. He blamed technicality for other disappointments seen from the courts while citing the Senator Ahmed Lawan, who was expected to be to be disqualified was declared winner by Supreme Court of Nigeria, saying the court focused on process of filing the case which was not complied with.
He held that the court should not determine the choices of a political party. He said candidate the party brings should be its own and that whoever is chairman should be left for the party. He said judicial reforms should be done to avoid technicalities and that burden of proof in election case should be shifted from candidate of the political party to INEC.
He recommended specific training for judicial officers in case of election petition to avoid technical justice.
Ebun-Olu admitted that that is no dispute that NNPP won but the court is saying the candidate was not a member of the party and that some ballot papers used for the votes cast were not stamped. On these, he said, “There should be no mention of pre-election issues in court because elections are already concluded, you cannot come and say the votes of the people should be upturned like it happened in Kano”.
He said the judge and the judiciary in general must be free of inducement, threats, improper influences, restriction of any degree and manner, direct or indirect interference from any persons or groups and on whatever grounds.
“It is left for the National Assembly to amend the Electoral Act 2022 to give us transparent elections. We cannot continue in this fashion. The use of technology is to prevent manipulation of election results. Just as how the Federal high Court judges are always sponsored to go on judges training and retreat in respect of handling AMCON (Asset Management Company of Nigeria) matters, the justices of the appellate court ought to be sponsored on international conferences/training on election petition matters.
“I finally urge INEC to help Nigeria by keeping its guidelines and public statements and undertakings. The National Assembly should set up a special committee to scrutinize the judgment of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court for the purpose of amending the Electoral Act 2022.”
Olajumoke Anifowoshe
Mrs Olajumoke Anifowoshe, former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Ondo State, whose “Experience Sharing: Women in Politics” took the hall at the Sheraton Hotels Ikeja through memory lane of how it is difficult for women to emerge to the top in the Nigerian political landscape.
Anifowoshe, also a lawyer and daughter of late Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin, former Governor of Old Ondo State, made her submission with a call on stakeholders to be on a path of courage to speak truth to power as, according to her, “Not being able to attain political height without going through a godfather makes Nigerian democratic experience very difficult”.
Mrs Olajumoke Anifowoshe also spoke to the political crisis rocking Ondo State and urged end to it in no distant time.
Sowore
Pro-democracy advocate and former Presidential Candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Mr. Omoyele Sowore, made his intervention known from the angle by which he said the Nigerian political situation is beyond mere reforms but requiring that every wisher for truly better Nigeria must be ready for change.
He had responded to Mrs Anifowoshe about her mention of Ondo State crisis saying, “The problem with Ondo State is that the moment we get the degree we leave the state and, as a result sometimes which is the case with Nigerians, charlatans take over the state. You can imagine Ekiti, for instance, with all the professors that are there, one of the best governors they had was Fayose, who introduced stomach infrastructure. Stomach infrastructure has now become an infrastructural problem in the country. Everybody that accepted it had stomach problem and had no infrastructure.
“The other aspect of what she is saying about women is that, women also have to decide to take power. Nobody is going to give you power, whether you are woman, man, young or old, you have to go for it. And if you look at it statistically in the country today, look at the electoral roll which is the voters register, there are almost 57 percent voters who are women. If you want to get power, all the women need is to nominate a candidate, support a candidate and get a few men to vote for the woman and we have a woman president.
“And there is nothing in my view that shows that men in this country have demonstrated to show that they are better than the women as leaders. In fact most of this country who have been in power, either appointed, selected or force themselves into power have demonstrated that they have no gender. They have not favoured men or women. So, it is not a women thing, it is character thing. But I suppose that use your large numbers. Women should stop accepting percentages. Your percentage involvement in power should be equal to the percentage of your voting power and bloc. It’s as simple as that. It is a one man, one vote idea. That should resolve the issue of women.”
Sowore, in addressing the issue of credible elections, said it is easy to use the Nigerian professors to rig elections because their political science has become outdated. “And that is what is giving people like Obasanjo the feeling that he is the new political scientist in town. The other day he was telling about homegrown democracy, African democracy is they want. Anytime you are hearing homegrown democracy from people like that, they want to reinstate their own type of dictatorship. It’s not democracy.”
He saw no reason such people could tell the rest of Nigerians their own political agenda of political science “when our professors will be asked to go and announce rigged election on national television, some of them cannot even properly read the figures. And if country wants to develop, the academic environment, the intellectual environment must be strong. Our own intellectual environment is no longer strong. It has been weakened by hungers, starvations and compromises. Yes!
“That is why I will suggest that any university professor should not be made the next INEC Chairman. There is no law that says that electoral officer must be professors. Let the people who are handling election be election experts, not university professors who have not produced any paper in the 40 years.
“Yes! The reason why I have some issues with the professors is that, these same professors we are seeing, some of them are the ones who expelled us from the universities. Yes! They would sit down in the Senates of various universities and expel the brightest the students on campus simply because the student is against the aquake system that they had in place.
“A lot of the professors would sit in the university Senate, expel Sowore, they expelled me twice from University of Lagos, they expelled Uche Onyeagocha, they expelled Nurudeen Ogbara, Sam that is SAN today was expelled Ife. University professors expelled us and, today, world has embraced us. So, university professors must hold a meeting and they must upgrade their operative system so that they would not also become part of the victims of the revolution that is bound to happen.”
Judges the problems
“I want to say two more things and one of it is the judiciary. We must understand that the judiciary in Nigeria has come to judgment this year. Before, the judiciary used to escape all the blames for the evils that they perpetrated in Nigeria because judges are usually not seen but heard. But because we now have an Owambe judiciary, we have seen our judges more and we have reached a point where the judges have become from being seen to being seen finish.
“And the judgment that they have come to, if you look at it historically, at least from the contemporary history, in 1979 it was the judiciary that truncated the transition of power to a more stable in this country with their mathematical agenda the 12 2/3. It was perpetrated in this Lagos. In 1993 that we were involved in, it was the judiciary that truncated the freest and fairest election in this country and made sure that Abiola did not become President.
“A judicial office said the election should not hold, another officer said the election was not legitimate, another judge pronounced that Abiola should stay in detention. The Supreme Court couldn’t meeting. They claimed it was because Chief Gani Fawehinmi accused them of collecting Mercedes Benz from Babangida, which was true. They are all sitting on voters but they are destroying the country.
“In 2007, the judges met in this country and said ballot papers don’t need serial numbers. And you can pronounce all the elections the judiciary has mortgaged and destroyed our democracy here. And that is why the judiciary is also very confident that when in 2023 they were confronting some of their customers saying that, “When they were doing governorship are we not the ones who rigged for you?” So the Atikus of this world did not have any respect in front of them because they were the ones arranging judgments under Obasanjo time.
“Even our brother who had two elections he won in Anambra, Peter Obi, they were telling him, “Didn’t you win before, so if you lose this one, calm down now.” That is what I am talking about ‘see finish’. And those of us here, too, that you are seeing, we have been victims of the judiciary. There was a time were expelled in this Lagos. We met one Justice Kensington, he is late now, he told us he said, “You want me to rule against the Vice Chancellor, are you mad? First he told Mayekun, “Go and cut your hair. That your Dada, I don’t want to see it. When you finish with your Berber and you are properly dressed, I will take you to and see your VC at the National Mosque on Friday.” He did not even pronounce on our case.
“A judge sent me to jail, granted a bail condition that I could never meet. When we come back and asked for variation, Justice Ogungbe said, “You mean Sowore doesn’t have N100 million?” That was what she said in an open court. Till today, they have not given me back my passport. I’m still undergoing trial for treason. The person they said I wanted to overthrow has gone back to his Katsina State, that is Buhari.
“When I reminded the judge, he was looking at he said, “Sebi you have lawyer” and I said “I’m a lawyer too by way of how many times I have been in and out of court. But the serious matter here is that, the Nigerian situation, I will say lastly, has gone beyond reform. This is an unreformable system. Don’t let anybody deceive you. And there is no amount of conferences you can hold and seminars and workshops that can reform the electoral system in Nigeria. It’s impossible! Because, the system in the first place was not designed to hold elections, it was designed to select people into power from within the political class that has been holding this country to ransom since 1960 and beyond. Except we are ready, nothing will change.”
Sam Amadi
Dr. Sam Amadi, former Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), spoke to topic of “Addressing and Entrenching Threshold for Election Credibility in the Country”.
Amadi said: “By the way, is there anyone in this hall who doubts that the 2023 elections were worse than the 2019 elections? I doubt. But if there is such a person let me make one argument in proof of the claim. In 2019 there was little enthusiasm and confidence in the quality of legal and regulatory instrument guiding the conduct of the elections. In 2019, the commissioners did not give so much assurance that they would protect the integrity of the elections.
“In 2019, there was no provision for bimodal accreditation of voters and there was no provision for electronic transmission of election. Notwithstanding that the Electoral Act, 2022 built in these safeguards, and notwithstanding the many assurances of the electoral managers, we ended up with elections that have immensely discredited both INEC and the judiciary.
“So, where do we go from here? We have to decide whether we truly want to embark on a serious electoral reform or not. It seems clear to me that the Nigerian political elites do not want free and fair election. The reason for this lack of commitment is not far-fetched. Free and fair election will make it difficult for them to remain in power and could lead to the sort of accountability that will make it difficult for them to expropriate as much as they would.”
Uche Onyeagocha
In his intervention, Hon. Uche Onyeagocha, a lawyer, former Member House of Representatives and Secretary to the State Government in Imo State, whose idea of reform bluntly addressed “Legislative Pathways for Effective Electoral & Judicial Reforms”, said all the criteria of educational qualification, tax clearance certificate as means to contesting election in Nigeria should be stopped.
Onyeagocha was straight and specific. He said, “Three things we need to do. One, all the clauses in our laws on who qualifies to run for an election should be completely removed, even the age barrier. The only requirement the person needs to contest is that you can vote, so you should have the right to be voted for. Every other person can now go ahead and say you are a criminal or you are not a criminal. If the populace chooses to vote for you when they know that you are a criminal, it’s their headache because, if you are a criminal, you should be actually be charged. This would serve the purpose of eliminating all these pre-election matters.
“Secondly on the issue of INEC, nomination into INEC should be made to be partisan. Every political party must have representation in INEC to follow all the processes from INEC headquarters to the last. Everybody should have equal access to INEC since the party in government is nominating people, all other parties should nominate their own people.
“The only difference is that, the person who should be Chairman of INEC should come from the minority political parties because he would not be in position to rig himself in and he will not rig another person in.
“Then finally the most sacrosanct item in an election should be the ballot paper. Anybody who tampers with the content of a ballot or ballot box is a criminal offence for which you will go to prison. At the end of every election, the contestation should start from recounting the votes. Court should preside over it. Let the court preside over the recounting. If there is no pre-election matter and they recount and you find out that the man has won, what are you arguing again. It’s all over.
“But we don’t want to hear that any ballot paper was destroyed by water or rain or fire or stolen or missing. Don’t worry about those who say they will stuff the ballot boxes. Any ballot box that is stuffed, you won’t know when you overstuff or under stuff it. But where what is contained in the ballot box does not reflect in the result on the paper, that one is cancelled.
“These three things, once you adopt them, you take away all these excessive powers of INEC to rig elections, you take away all the excessive powers of security agencies and you take away all these excessive powers of the judiciary, everybody would move. You would see that at the end of every election, everybody would move on.
“Why do you have to insist that people should be 30 years before they can go to House of Representatives. What has 30 got to do with it? Why do you say that everybody should have O’ Level? People of my father and my mother’s time who went to Standard Six are by far much more brilliant.
“It makes it simple let’s stop making this thing difficult for ourselves. Let us start to amend our Electoral Act but just add these items and amend the Constitution, remove all the causes. In fact there should not be any clause on age for any position in Nigeria any more. Like EFCC and he must be 50 year, what has that got to do with it? There 15 years old criminals. Anybody who is up to the age of 18, in fact voting age should reduce to 16 because most kids today are finishing secondary school at the age of 16. Most kids at the age of 16 are far much more reasonable in choosing a voter than many elderly people because their future is at stake. The voting age should be brought down to 16.
“And if the people choose to elect a 19 years old person to be President of Nigeria, so be it. If they choose to elect somebody who does not have tax clearance certificate, so be it. But at all times, if you don’t pay your tax, you go to prison so if a man is contesting an election we find out he hasn’t paid his tax, it shouldn’t be a ground to stop him from running and it shouldn’t be a ground to stop people from voting for him. If people want to vote for him, let them vote for him. At the end of his tenure, then take him to court for evading tax and send him to prison. But don’t use it to disrupt the electoral process.
“They like all these clauses they have introduced because that is what give people the opportunity to go to court,” Uche Onyeagocha concluded.
