Buhari: Elites Are Nigeria’s Electoral Reform Problems

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Buhari said yesterday at the launch of a book titled, "Face of a Nation: Democracy in Nigeria, Foreign Relations and National Image," written by Dr. Zimako O. Zimako, at the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Victoria Island, Lagos.

He advised the elites to go back to their various constituencies to enlighten their people properly, adding that whichever way Nigeria goes,  the elites should be held responsible. He also said  the nation’s problem was not electoral reform but how to ensure a free and fair election in the country, adding that the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Acts of 2002 and 2006 are good enough to lead to real democratization.

Also yesterday, while delivering his speech at the event, Buhari explained how he escaped death during a flight.

He said the passengers in the plane were saved by the pilot who landed the aircraft in Abuja, after he discovered problem in one of the engines.

According to Buhari, the pilot explained what happened to them after they had landed safely in Abuja, and attributed their being alive to divine intervention and the smartness of the pilot. 

At the event,  former Senate President, Senator Ken Nnamani  and former External Affairs Minister, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi,  appealed to members of the National Assembly to do everything to ensure the completion of the electoral reform before the 2011 general elections, to usher  development in Nigeria .Nnamani, who insisted that every development starts from the ballot box not necessarily election,  admitted that the 2006 Electoral Act passed during his leadership of the Senate omitted certain things that would have helped the electoral process.

He listed four things the current National Assembly must include in the electoral reform,  appointment of the chairman of the electoral body not to be done by a sitting executive as recommended by the Justice Mohammed Uwais-led Electoral Reform Committee, no candidate must be declared winner until all judicial interventions have been concluded, onus of prove should be on the candidate, not the electoral management body and the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) should be autonomous.

Source: Africa Daily