OYO State Governor Abiola Ajimobi at the weekend said the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) should be given the power to appoint the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Ajimobi called for a review of the nation’s federalism to allow states control resources in their domain.
He said this would encourage creativity and hard work in revenue generation.
The governor spoke at the Chatham House in London while delivering a lecture on “Review and reform: Key elements and implications of Nigeria’s constitution review process”.
He suggested the inclusion of party representatives, who are in the National Assembly, as members of INEC’s board.
Ajimobi said: “Extant constitutional provisions allow the president to appoint members of the INEC board, which will superintend the election in which he is likely to be a candidate. INEC reports to the president. Its funding relies on the disposition of the president as well.
“All these have serious implications on INEC’s independence and the possibility of having free and fair elections in the country.”
The governor described Nigeria’s present federal system as “feeding bottle federalism”.
He said a situation where states assemble monthly in Abuja for federal allocation does not allow for hard work.
Ajimobi said the milestones in many parts of the country were accomplished in the First Republic, when states had more control of their resources.
He said: “This allowed for healthy rivalry among states and the outcome is the many landmarks that still mark out the leaders of that era as the heroes of Nigeria.”
The governor, who listed projects he had executed in the last 16 months, said he would have done more if the state had control of its resources.
On the tenure of elected officials, he suggested a five or six-year single tenure for the president, governors and deputy governors.
He said: “Extant constitutional provisions limit elected presidents, governors and their deputies to a maximum of two terms of four years.
“As a former senator and governor who had contested election three times in this dispensation, this provision allows elected executives only about two years of service. This means he has one year to settle down as a newly-elected officer and one year to prepare for election, if he wants a second term.
“This is unhealthy for the system, because for the development that Nigerians seek, we need executives that can devote considerable time to the task of governance.”
The governor said the removal of the incumbent from elections would reduce the use of the incumbency factor to undermine the rights of other contestants.
Supporting the call for state police, he said it would guarantee a prompt response to security challenges and allow for indigenous police service, which he said would leverage on its knowledge of the local communities to detect and prevent crime.
Ajimobi said: “The provision for state governors as chief security officers of their states is largely meaningless, because the police do not report to them.
“Valuable time is wasted in cases of security challenges because police authorities need to seek approval for action from the Federal Government, rather than the governor, who are on ground and who feel the impact of such security challenges.
“Previous administrations at the federal level used this control of the security apparatus to intimidate, arm-twist and undermine state governments, especially when they belonged to rival parties.
“The implication is that security agencies in states are compromised and the safety of lives and property has not received the best attention because of this structural problem.”
