Fear of EFCC fueling defections into APC — Chekwas Okorie   

By John Alechenu

In this interview with Vanguard, founding National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Chief Chekwas Okorie, speaks about expectations from the incoming  National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Joash Amupitan, SAN, opposition members  defections into the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and the possibility of Nigeria turning into a one party state. 

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President Bola Tinubu just named Prof. Joash Amupitan as his choice for the position of INEC National Chairman. What are your thoughts?

The gentleman in question doesn’t seem to have name recognition. By this I mean, his name generally didn’t ring a bell among Nigerians before his appointment. Compare him to people like Prof. Attahiru Jega, who made his mark as not just a university lecturer but also the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, and a household name before his INEC appointment. Even the outgone INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, was known nationally as the Executive Secretary of TETFUND before his INEC appointment. When you compare Amupitan with these two, you’ll appreciate where I’m coming from. 

However, looking at his profile, the new INEC Chairman has been a high profile academic rising to the rank of Professor and position of Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration) at the University of Jos. 

He is also a senior lawyer haven risen to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN. At the same time, he is young enough to carry the burden of the sensitive office like that of National Chairman of INEC. 

Much is expected from him based on his qualifications. But the INEC he is taking over has not been able to regain public trust since 2023. That is the number one burden he has to carry. Although, geographically, he is from the North Central or the Middle Belt, as some would prefer to call it, but we all know he is a Yoruba man, like Mr. President, who is seeking reelection in the 2027 general elections.

This, itself comes with a certain level of suspicion. Much as some would want us to ignore this fact, it cannot be denied. It is a major source of concern. The appointee should be made aware, in case he is not, that with this and the credibility of INEC which is currently at its lowest ebb locally and internationally -based on the 2023 performance of his predecessor, he has a lot of work to do as a person to regain public trust and respect.

It is the manner in which he leads the commission that will, to a large extent, determine whether or not Nigerians believe in the system enough to troop out and vote. 

The decreasing number of persons registering to vote and those actually coming out to vote on Election Day, should be a source of concern for all who wish democracy well in Nigeria. 

At the last count, over 90 million Nigerians were captured on the INEC Voter Register. But only a little above 30 million came out to vote, this is very disappointing. These are some of the things he should take a look at. 

Haven said that, to me, it shouldn’t matter whether the INEC chairman is the father or mother of an incumbent President who is going into an election, what matters is how strong is the institution in charge of the process? The critical question is, is  an institution strong?

In the case of INEC, there is the need to have an effective legal framework to support electoral reforms and institutional reforms which will give technology its pride of place. 

INEC had deployed technology in its processes perhaps much more than what you have in other African countries. It, however, made a mess of the entire process during the 2023 elections at a point it mattered the most. 

We had the National Assembly and Presidential Elections on the same day at the same time. When the results of the National Assembly elections were announced, people were happy that the outcome came close to the genuine choices made by voters. But when it came to the results of the Presidential election, INEC came out to announce that there was a glitch. It became the most controversial presidential election ever held in Nigeria. That was the height of the institutional lapse that finally eroded what was left of the fragile trust people had in INEC. 

It was a very big scar on the commission. We hope the new INEC chairman can redeem both himself and the commission. Moreover, the forth coming 2027 election is coming with a lot of pressure and is unarguably tension soaked.

So much tension that a little mistake may plunge the nation into a state of anarchy. It is important that the new INEC chairman devotes time to assure Nigerians that that election will be credible. This assurance must not only be by way of verbal assurances. Nigerians must also see in practical terms how he intends to do this. The upcoming off-season Anambra State Governorship election can serve as a test ground for this. 

The number of people who actually come out to vote will go to his credit. If he succeeds in convincing Nigerians to believe in the system well enough to vote, it will go a long way. If the numbers are substantially more than what we’ve witnessed in recent times the better it will be as a confidence boost. The legitimacy of an election can be judged from the number of persons who believe enough to come and actively  participate in the process. I can say with every sense of responsibility that the new INEC helmsman has a golden opportunity to redeem the commission and save our democracy. 

Don’t political parties have a role to play in mobilising their members and supporters to  come out to vote on Election Day?

Of course they do. The challenge is that the electorate has to have sufficient confidence in the electoral process for this to happen. When a voter is convinced that the election management body will ensure that his/ her vote will count this will serve as the number one confidence booster and motivation for the voter. The voters also have to be assured of their personal safety before, during and after voting. 

We have had situations where people vote, the votes are counted and people go back home a result different from what transpired at the polling unit is announced by INEC at the collation centre. Such situations have led to the huge voter apathy being recorded in subsequent elections. 

Should INEC register additional political parties?

I have always been an advocate of multi-party democracy. In multi-party democracies all over the world, some political parties may not aim to win presidential elections. Some of them centre on other issues rather than winning elections. Like the Green Party in the United States of America. This is basically a party that concerns itself with issues about the environment, and trying to canvass issue that relate to the environment when they are campaigning. 

So, one of the benefits of multi-party democracy is that, when some people are schemed out of the nomination of the party they wish to use they will have options.

Let me give you examples: The late Senator Ifeanyi Ubah was schemed out of APGA, he found accommodation in the Young People’s Party, YPP. At the end of the election, he became the only candidate that YPP delivered nationwide in that year and that was a Senatorial seat. And he was able to go to the Senate and that was why the party was not among those deregistered at the time. 

Another example is Peter Obi. He saw that he was not going to have the opportunity to win the nomination in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. There was a Labour Party, LP, waiting for him, he went in there took it up and became one of the three top most candidates and many still believe that he won the election. 

There are so many examples here and there. Instead of having friction that will make people resort to self-help, they will just go to a party that is available. 

There are two examples from the eastern region during the First Republic. In Enugu, a northerner called Umar Altine, he was originally from Sifawa in present day Sokoto State. He came to Enugu, lived there for a while and became the candidate of NCNC and won an election and became the first Mayor of Enugu. This was a Fulani man. By the time he wanted to contest for a second term, his party NCNC denied him nomination. He ran as an independent candidate and still won because the people believed in him. And you can be sure the Fulani people in Enugu did not have the numbers that would have delivered him as the mayor. 

Then in Aguata Federal Constituency, the late Dr. Alex Ekwueme was the NCNC candidate, many people don’t remember this incident which also happened in the First Republic. An independent candidate who was actually a retired school Head Master, was a very popular candidate who didn’t have money. He contested against Dr. Ekwueme who was the candidate of the big NCNC party and defeated him. This is why multi party democracy must be encouraged. Let parties die naturally. 

There are 18 political parties today only three or four are being discussed. It does not mean others will not come up when elections come. People that would have lost elections if they depended only on “known” parties can find expression on the platform of these little known parties. 

What do you make of the spate of defections by opposition party members-especially sitting state governors into the ruling APC?

Most of the governors rushing into the APC from opposition parties are doing so because of the belief that they will be protected from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, at the end of their tenures. Without wanting to sound disrespectful, many of them have compromised their offices and committed crimes using their privileged positions. They currently enjoy immunity because of provisions of Section 308 of the Constitution. 

The fear of the humiliation they would suffer when the EFCC swoops on them when they lose this immunity at the expiration of their term in office; has become the beginning of wisdom for most of them. So, running into the ruling party seems to them as a safe net for protection. But that has not protected anyone really because those who were in office before the election that was fairly credible before the one that brought this set of leaders in, many of them did not return. 

There were about six governors who after administering their states for eight straight years failed in their bid to represent one of three Senatorial districts in these same states during the last election. Most of them are still roaming the streets only one managed to get an appointment with the presidency. It is not a guarantee. It is very bad, it does not speak well about our democracy. It is the National Assembly that has failed to lived up to its responsibility. 

Unfortunately, our National Assembly has the stigma of being a rubber stamp of the executive. Otherwise, the issue of defection should have been taken care of long ago to say that the moment that you leave the platform that you use to come into office your seat becomes automatically vacant so that INEC will immediately conduct a fresh election to fill the vacancy. That way, if the person wants to contest, he can contest on his new platform. If his people vote him back he will return. 

But we have a crude arrangement that allows people to go into an office using a particular platform and at will jump to another platform just to protect themselves after short-changing the people. It is something that is embarrassing and a set back for our democracy. 

That said, is it possible for Nigeria to become a one party state? 

No. Nigeria is too heterogeneous, multi-ethnic, diverse to be confined into one party state. Nigeria is neither China nor Russia with their kind of democracy. Ours is a country that one of our founding fathers, Chief Obafemi Awolowo rightly described as “a geographical expression.” The late Sir, Ahmadu Bello also pragmatically described Nigeria as a diverse country in which we must respect our diversity for us to survive and thrive. It was Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe that was more idealistic and was talking about an indissoluble and non-negotiable Nigeria. 

We have been telling ourselves that lie even in our constitution that Nigeria is non-negotiable. Nigeria is negotiable and it’s not indissoluble, we came near to dissolution for 30 months during the civil war. Unfortunately, Nigeria up till now has not become a nation. It has remained, even worse than what Awolowo called it. The APC presidents of Nigeria-Muhammadu Buhari and now Bola Tinubu, have done more damage to Nigeria’s diversity than any Nigerian leader before them. Their rule has awakened ethic consciousness even more than religious consciousness and has thrown up so much suspicion. Many Nigerians now, more than ever before, feel alienated leaving many to think that they don’t even belong to this country. The agitation for self-determination has been on the rise like never before. Yet these presidents who are old enough to know that Nigeria is sitting on a keg of gun powder and ought to do things to unite Nigerians seem to worsen the situation with their conduct and utterances. This is the way it is. 

To think of a one party state will be chasing an illusion. There are so many flashpoints that we need not push any further least we descend into chaos. 

Vanguard News

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