Let The Will of Electorate Prevail, PLF President Tells INEC

Sunday Aborisade in  Abuja

President of Princeton Leadership Forum, Dr. Chibuike Echem, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that the will of the electorate prevail in the forthcoming general election.

He made the appeal at the first leadership series on the 2023 general election organised by the PLF in Abuja yesterday.

Speakers on the occasion included, the Executive Director, Ugwumba Center For Leadership Development In Africa, Mr. Remy Chukwunyere; Founder/Chairman, EMWHYZEE Technologies, Mr. Ifeanyi Ngama, and the Chief Executive Officer of Captival Limited, Mr. Abdulmumin Umar.

Echem, who hosted the forum, also urged all Nigerians to exercise their civic responsibility if they wanted a good leadership that would tackle the nation’s social and economic crises. 

He said, “February 25, 2023 is a remarkable day for Nigeria. As we go to the poll, this is our civic responsibility. This is one of the major tasks that we owe this nation as our country to participate in our democratic process.

“I want to call on all Nigerians, especially our young people to come out en masse and support the election.

“I also want to use this medium to call on the Independent National Electoral Commission to make sure that the will of the people prevails.

“It is not good for the electorate to go out, do what they need to do and a group of people will sit down somewhere to destroy our efforts. 

“The sensitisation and awareness is very high. We are pushing out information from our platform to ensure that we monitor the election.

Heads of some Leadership Institutes who participated in the forum, advocated that the General Abdulsalami Abubakar’s National Peace Committee should henceforth ask the Chief Justice of the Federation and the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, to be part of the Peace Accord before the conduct of any election.

They noted with concern that as critical stakeholders in the electoral process, the CJN and the INEC boss should sign the documents which only candidates in elections are currently being forced to sign. 

The Leadership Institutes’ bosses  spoke on the topic, ‘What Kind Of Leaders Should Nigerians Elect’ which was anchored by Ms Ijeoma Eze, a management consultant.

They all agreed that the next president of Nigeria must be someone with credibility, character, competence, capability and wisdom to handle the affairs of the country, adhering to the rule of law.

They also said the next president of the country must shun nepotism by bringing all the various ethnic nationalities together and appoint competent people irrespective of tribe or religion.

The speakers also stressed the need for the next Nigerian leader to have the political will and ensure strong institutions that must hold public officers, including the president, accountable at all times.

They noted that age should not be a major determinant of the next president of the country but stressed the need that the person must be fit physically and mentally.

They applauded the current electoral system put in place by the INEC and the National Assembly but noted with regret that the laudable efforts were being frustrated by the judiciary and some corrupt officers of the electoral umpire.

For instance, Chukwunyere lamented the use of technicalities by the judiciary at all levels to subvert the will of the people instead of considering the merits of the case before the Courts.

He therefore urged General Abubakar’s National Peace Committee to ensure that the CJN and the INEC chief should also join candidates in elections to sign the Peace Accord.

He noted that the actions and inactions of the INEC and judiciary could spark off protests from the electorate who would not be happy that their will had been subverted by some corrupt judges and INEC officials. 

He said, “INEC which has the final say on election results was not part of the Peace Accord signing process neither was the head of the nation’s judiciary.

“The INEC and the Judiciary are key players in the electoral process. Their actions and inactions could have an impact on the outcome of the election.

“The National Peace Committee is only interested in the candidates in the election whereas the CJN and the INEC Chairman should also sign the peace pact.

“We all know that whoever the INEC returning officer declares as winner of the election remains elected unless the court says otherwise.

“So, why is the NPC leaving the heads of these two critical stakeholders out of the peace accord exercise? This must be revisited because they are even more important in the electoral process than even the political parties.”

Chukwunyere’s submissions were unanimously supported by his colleagues who also urged the National Assembly to expedite actions on the passage of the Electoral Offences Bill.

They noted that if the House of Representatives could concur with the Senate which had already passed the bill, politicians would know that punishment awaits them when they use thugs to cause violence during elections.