Noah Ebije, Kaduna
In reaction to the alleged electoral malpractices that characterized the 2019 general elections, the Bishop of Anglican Diocese of Kaduna, Rev. Timothy Yahaya has called for financial autonomy of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in order to guarantee its independence, free, fair and credible subsequent elections. In an address delivered at the 21st Synod of the Anglican Communion held at the weekend in Kaduna, Bishop Yahaya proposed other far reaching reforms that would make the commission more effective and autonomous.
The clergyman also suggested that sitting Judges should be made returning officers in future elections, saying that such is the practice in Egypt. He said: “The way the chairman and members are appointed into the electoral commission, how they are fired and funded could determine how independent the body would be in conducting free and fair elections.
“The last elections seem to have put paid to the fears that an electoral body appointed by a ruling party and approved by the Senate, fired by the ruling party and funded by the government headed by it, could be compromised to do the bidding of that party.” He further argued that “consolidated fund, backed by law could be set up for the electoral commission to avoid bottlenecks that usually arise from power play among executive and the legislature.” “Full electronic voting system as earlier opined is the best solution as the polling unit for real voting would be online, not in physical location, while some other electioneering activities might still be done in physical spaces,” he added.