Rotimi Amaechi, ex-minister of transportation, says attempts by the late former President Muhammadu Buhari to deliver electoral reforms were stopped by a cabal within his government.
Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday at the national electoral
reforms summit organised by the Movement for Credible Elections (MCE), Amaechi
noted that any meaningful reform must be driven by citizens rather than
politicians.
“Most Nigerians who speak about this electoral reform, it
depends on where their stomach is facing,” he said.
The former minister also claimed that those who thwarted
Buhari’s reform efforts are serving in the current administration.
“If their stomach is facing the wrong place, they will want
electoral reform. If they are chopping, they will tell you that it is wrong to
eat and talk,” he said.
Amaechi said only civic determination can stop electoral
malpractice.
“If you come out en masse, nobody will write any result;
nobody will take away the result sheet, because anybody who takes away the
result sheet is probably going to cause confusion for himself,” he said.
He expressed disappointment over the absence of former
President Goodluck Jonathan and Emeka Anyaoku, erstwhile secretary-general of
the Commonwealth of Nations, who were scheduled to attend the event.
Amaechi argued that resolutions from the summit would be
futile if reforms are not demanded by the people.
“What will be the objective is when we all citizens gather
and say, enough is enough,” he said.
He criticised the perceived co-option of organised labour
and student movements into political structures.
“The politicians they arrest are politicians who are against
the government in power,” he said.
Oby Ezekwesili, former minister of education, who also spoke
at the event, said elections remain the backbone of democracy and argued that
Nigeria has failed democratic indicators since 1999.
Ezekwesili said the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) should have prosecutorial powers.
“The absence of any credible investigation and conviction
for electoral offences has led to a country where there is no deterrence for
bad behaviour,” she said.
She said granting INEC dedicated prosecutors would ensure
accountability in the electoral process.
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