A former member of two periods of the House of Representatives and Main Defender of Nigeria (San), Dr. Ehiogie West-Idahosa, said Friday that if Nigeria’s democracy must grow beyond their current state, Nigerians must resolve to build stronger institutions instead of the current practice of building stronger individuals.
The former federal legislator listed the Judiciary as one of the institutions that should be stronger so that the confidence of the people in an impartial referee was reinforced, and added that perhaps it would improve the massive participation in the political system.
Dr. West-Idahosa, who was the speech invited in the 2025 edition of the IV and Radio’s pre-independence anniversary conference, said it is axiomatic that “the word of the judge is the law”, therefore, the Judiciary must be aware of the great responsibility imposed as an institution to show the right path through the correct judicial pronouncements.
Also read: Ferma begins the rehabilitation of the Maiduguri -Damaturu road
Speaking on the subject, “anchoring Nigeria’s democracy about electoral integrity: the imperative of an impartial and transparent electoral referee”, the San said that the fundamental failure in the electoral system of the nation “is the investigation of the power to appoint the president of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) of the President.”
While reviewing how INEC has been from the beginning of this current political dispensation, West-Idahosa said that after the holdings of the late Judge Ephraim Akpata and Ambassador Abel Guobadia as presidents of INEC, the fortune of the electoral body began to take a trip to the well.
He hinted that after the 1999 elections held by Judge Akpata, only two litigation emerged, and after the 2023 elections managed by the late Ambassador Guobadia, the number of litigation increased a bit above 500 because many people had begun to show interest in politics.
The Senior regretted that from then on, due to the collapse of the integrity of the electoral system, the litigation after each round of elections since 2007 jumped to more than 1.6000 cases.
Therefore, he postulated that development put a great burden on the Judicial Power of the Nation, and warned that the Judiciary must take conscious measures to demonstrate that it could be above the Board as the last hope of the electorate.
West-Idahosa, while the massive participation in the political system was revasted, said that Nigerians must be resolved by making electoral reforms the most important element, and added that this was the only way in which the strongest people could reduce against stronger institutions.
He regretted that instead of acclaimed democracy as defined years ago, “what we have in our various states are the” governorate “, which is the government of the governors by the governors and for the people.”
To reduce the influence of the president on INEC’s affairs, the former legislator said that the appointment of the President of the INEC must return to the commission of all political parties to discuss and agree who to appoint.
This was just when he dismissed the statement that inappropriate financing had been one of the problems faced by INEC, arguing that information in public space indicated that INEC had received many more funds than other electoral organizations in other Third World countries, but equally highly populated as Nigeria.
The main speaker at the event, Professor Ezekiel Asmah, Vice Chancellor, Glorious Vision University, Ogwa, Edo state, urged the media to galvanize people towards mass participation in the electoral system of the nation.
Professor Asmah lamented the worrying level of apathy as evidenced by the percentage of Nigerians who are registered as voters and those who arrived at the voting centers during the elections, and added that the statistics showed that about 24 percent of the population voted in the 2023 elections.
Thanks the participants to the occasion, Mr. Elvis Obaseki, the managing director of ITAV and Radio, who was represented by Elder Ogbeide Uwunmwens, said that the annual conference prior to the independence of the organization was part of his contributions to the development of democracy in Nigeria.
The president of the occasion, Chief Matthew Emiohe, Itohan de Esanland, who was represented by the sunny Duke-Okosun of ITV and the radio, asked the Nigerians to take measures to involve the political class on the ways to maintain and develop the democratic profits of the current dispensation..
Watch the best Nigerian Tribune TV videos