New INEC chairman must uphold rule of law –Yoruba elders

By Oluseye Ojo

The Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) has enjoined the new INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan, to ensure that he upholds the principles of rule of law, as soon as he is cleared by the National Assembly, and he resumes office.

The Secretary-General of YCE, Chief Oladipo Oyewole, told Sunday Sun that the new INEC Chairman must set his priorities soundly and correctly ahead of the off-cycle governorship polls, and the 2027 general elections.

According to him, ‘Nigeria is at the threshold of another election year and the President has just announced a successor to the outgone chairman of INEC, who served a 10-year term.

“Keeping in full view the fact that Nigeria is a growing democracy, the Yoruba Council of Elders holds on to the elders’ view that growth is good when it is progressive.

“Accordingly, as a nation, we cannot be static. This country deserves the best at any given time. We relish the power of heavy population wherein talents abound in human beings of many good means in Nigeria.

‘In the appointment of this Lawyer of good standing (a Senior Advocate of Nigeria), who knows the in-and-out of the laws, we congratulate Mr President on this choice of the new arbiter.

“Be that as it were, we are not, in any way, opposed to the new appointment because we expect the new chairman to hit the ground running to improve what he is meeting on ground

“We would want him to allow the rule of law to be applied to the extent that it will remove the untruthfulness, cheating and all inadequacies of electioneering processes of the past.

‘The Yoruba Council of Elders observes that a man who lives in Igbeti and operates a bank account in his area of domain can travel to Maiduguri and operate that same bank account to his satisfaction, using the ATM card.

“We would want an improvement of voters’ registration that will protect all registered Nigerians voters so that they can attend to fulfilling common civic obligations by voting and voting right without being conscripted

“We would want a situation where the INEC will be seen as a truly an independent body.

We want this erudite legal practitioner to protect the interest of all concerned through a ‘fair play’ policy and other actions that will solidify our position as a democratic nation.”