Ibraheem Abdullateef
SIR: The dust has not settled yet over the shocking judgement by the Supreme Court on the gubernatorial election in Bayelsa sacking David Lyon and his running mate, Degi Biobarakuma a day to their inauguration. The court, in a unanimous judgement, upheld the Federal High Court verdict disqualifying Degi, Lyon’s running mate, for submitting forged certificates to INEC. The Supreme Court ruled that the offence of Degi-Eremeinyo affects Lyon and nullified their candidature.
Now, for the politicians and the emotionalists, that is one big opportunity to vent the spleen on the Supreme Court and INEC. But for the development-oriented persons, it is a moment for reflection on our electoral system and the need for drastic review.
Certificate forgery and false submissions is not a new entrant into our political landscape. It dated as far back as 1999, as old as our democracy you may say, with Hon. Salisu Buhari as a poster boy. We have gone on to see ministers and even presidents dancing in the murky waters of academic qualification scandals till this moment. The retinue of claims and counterclaims with the intermittent court cases are innumerable. What this portends is a rise in the dirty act which we must now rise to curtail unless we desire to be perpetually ruled by mediocre.
As the electioneering for 2023 gathers momentum, the National Assembly as a matter of urgency should review the establishment act of INEC. What makes a working system in advanced nations is the presence of mechanisms making crime almost impossible. Paying little attention to this scope has been Nigeria’s Achilles’ heel.
The commission presently lacks the statutory power to verify elective office seekers’ certificates and disqualify them on such a ground. The party nominates and submits candidates. What the INEC does is displaying their names publicly hoping for objection from any quarters. This is how we do that we have possible certificate forgers in top elective positions today.
We can only spare ourselves such anguish in the nearest future if INEC is empowered to verify certificates and possibly disqualify erring candidates. It is even one swift move to rid Nigeria of the culture of fake documentations; as forgery of school certificates, birth, degrees, PhD and NYSC discharge, threatens to become a national emblem. This will also save the nation of resources holding bye-elections a judicial overruling of a candidacy may cause or the attendant tension in the land. It will also be a wakeup call to political parties to be circumspect in their nominations.
- Ibraheem Abdullateef, Kwara State University, Malete.
Leave a Reply