By Ken Afor
Bishop Matthew Kukah, convener of the National Peace Committee, has implored the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to complain concerning the scarcity of resources prior to the November 11 off-cycle elections.
On Wednesday, Kukah in an interview with Channels Television highlighted that a large amount of money was allocated towards the elections and therefore, INEC should not have an issue with not having enough resources.
His words: “We cannot spend the time in the classroom; we must graduate to a new class of consciousness. Nigeria must take full responsibility for how these processes are conducted.
“There is a size of this country and limited resources, but INEC can no longer complain about lack of resources because we hear of the hundreds of billions that are being spent on INEC.”
The National Assembly approved the commission’s request of N305 billion to carry out the 2023 general election in December 2021.
It would be recalled that in October, Atiku Bagudu, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, announced that the INEC will receive N18 billion to carry out governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi, as part of the supplementary budget of N2.1 trillion for the 2023 fiscal year.
The electoral umpire introduced biometric technology and IReV, a central database to ensure transparency and speed up the result compilation process.
Nevertheless, despite these efforts, numerous allegations of technical issues, delays and potential vote rigging have been raised by many of the Nigerian population. INEC has addressed these by affirming there were “glitches”, yet they still maintain that the election was free and fair.
Weighing in on the matter, Kukah asserted that Nigerians ought to take complete accountability for the way electoral procedures are executed, adding that INEC should reach a stage where it does not experience nervousness during each election period.
According to him, “People must also get to a point in which INEC will not have anxiety every time they are about to conduct elections.”
The clergy also noted that INEC may be facing a legitimacy crisis in the wake of the 2023 elections, and highlighted the fact that addressing errors of the past will be required in order to ensure a better future.
“INEC took the heat; it’s having a legitimacy crisis; it’s having a confidence and trust crisis. We must also understand that at least the sins of yesterday have to be cured so that tomorrow can be better,” he said.
Kukah emphasized the necessity of trust in the execution of elections, noting that agencies appointed with this duty should be operated in such a fashion that engenders respect.
“It’s about trust, but we fail to trust ourselves to deploy trust to institutions and those who run those institutions, but they must also function in a way and manner that commands respect,” he said.
