June 12: Jega prescribes reforms of democratic institutions, part-time legislature with reduced pay

 

 

 

A former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, has advocated reforms of the country’s democratic institutions to deepen democracy and serve the citizens better.

 

Jega, a former vice-chancellor of Bayero University, Kano, spoke on Thursday at the June 12 edition of The Platform, a socio-political event to celebrate Nigeria’s Democracy Day, hosted by a Lagos-based church, Covenant Nation.

 

He submitted that, “No nation can build or sustain democracy without democrats”.

 

The ex-INEC boss listed the institutions that needed reform as the legislatures, judiciary, political parties, the press and electoral commission.

 

Jega stressed that the country’s legislative arm should be repositioned and reformed to better serve the public.

 

“As part of the process of reforming and strengthening the legislature for efficiency and effectiveness, a strong rational case can be made for both reducing the size of both the federal and state legislatures as well as making their work part-time with reduced emoluments,” he said.

 

He contended that the legislature could no longer withstand pressure and interference from the executive in view of the “budget padding, humongous allowances, and insensitive expenditure” irregularities.

 

“Appropriate reforms are urgently needed in our democratic institutions to build confidence, transparency and accountability.

 

“The exercise of cross-carpeting and decamping should be thoroughly investigated before or after it’s been done”.

 

The former electoral commission boss defended the inclusion of academics in the conduct of elections in the country.

 

Professors, he noted, had constantly rejected bribes offered to them by politicians and brought unmatched integrity into the nation’s electoral processes.

 

He pioneered the engagement of university professors and vice-chancellors as returning officers and ad hoc staff during elections during his tenure as the chairman of INEC between 2010 and 2015.

 

Jega said that the prosecution of one or two professors for electoral offences should not rubbish the hard work and integrity that academics had brought into the electoral processes.

 

“Election was terrible by the time we came to INEC. I was lucky, I was a co-chairman of the Committee of Vice Chancellors before I went to INEC.

 

“So, I used the vice-chancellors to help us get academic staff with good, transparent selection criteria, which they vouch for. That’s how we started using academic staff during elections

 

“Up till 2015, in fact after the 2011 elections, the NBA (Nigerian Bar Association), and the NSE (The Nigerian Society of Engineers), all came and said they wanted to participate in the elections but we said: ‘Look, when you are doing something and it works, why change it?’

 

“So, we stuck with the professors, and I can tell you frankly, the level of integrity they brought to the election…

 

“A vice chancellor who has served 35 years in the university system, who has a few years to retire, a substantial overwhelming majority of them are not going to damage their integrity that they built over the years on the matters of election.

 

“Of course, politicians use all methods of inducements, but the fact that only about two professors, not to talk of vice-chancellors, have been prosecuted for electoral offenses, frankly, is statistically insignificant.

 

“It is terrible that it has happened, but I don’t think it is something we can use to say we shouldn’t use professors in the conduct of elections.”