2023: INEC is corrupt from the chairman down – Prof. Odinkalu

The Independent National Election Commission, or INEC, has been dubbed the most dishonest federal government body in Nigeria by human rights campaigner and former Chairman of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu.

Prof. Odinkalu, who most recently served as the senior team manager for the Open Society Justice Initiative’s Africa Program, asserted that everyone at INEC—from the Chairman to the cleaners—is corrupt.

Speaking at the Colloquium with the theme, “Nigeria in 2023: What Does Nigeria Need Now?” on Friday in Abuja. The professor remarked that the Nigerian electoral umpire was more dishonest than the Nigerian Police.

The electoral umpire and the courts, he claimed, must operate at a particular level of perfection as Nigeria prepares to hold its presidential election next weekend if the nation is to do it right.

Everyone at INEC, including the chairman and cleaners, is corrupt, he claimed.

“INEC is less trustworthy than the cops. Their corruption is seasonal, which makes a difference. It has a plan. When they amass large sums of money, it occurs every four years.

While speaking to journalists, Dominic Obuzuwa, one of the directors of the civil society organisation, urged Nigerians to elect a leader whose priority should be on global competitiveness as a development plan.

He asserted, “The citizens are not concentrating on the appropriate topics. The North and the South are unimportant. North and South, or Christian or Muslim, are not factors in our nation’s rivalry.

Political parties are not at issue. That has to do with the requirement that we maintain global competitiveness. Can Nigeria compete on an equal footing with Malaysia in terms of economic development? In terms of economic progress, is Nigeria capable of competing with the United Arab Emirates?

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“These are nations that have, at one time or another, profited from Nigeria. The political class, however, has developed a narrative over time that has pitted citizens against one another in order to keep themselves in power.

“This causes a number of problems; the scarcity of fuel, for example, is man-made. The Naira is currently scarce due to human activity. The nation’s issues are the result of human activity.

“Nigerians should vote in the upcoming elections not because they are from the South or the North, because they are members of the APC or the PDP, or because they are Christians or Muslims, but rather because they are Nigerians who want a better country in four years.

The character, competence, and credibility of candidates must be considered. There are concerns with inclusion and development, not with a person’s country of origin, religion, area, or tribe, for example. The following four years are at issue.