We learnt greatly from court decisions — Prof. Jega
The celebrated former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of Nigeria, Prof Attahiru Jega, has stated that one of the magic wands that engendered public confidence in the INEC was its readiness to review all court cases that went against it and its staff and the decision to correct things.
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He added that where INEC as a body was indicted in the electoral infringements, it ensured that such violations did not recur and he explained, “this built public confidence and also sent a strong signal to its staff that when you do something wrong you will be held accountable.”
Prof. Jega was speaking in Kumasi at the second in the series of lectures organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a public policy think tank, as part of the institute’s 25th anniversary celebration.
The well-attended lecture was on the theme: “Towards Free and Fair Elections in Africa: The Nigerian Experience.”
Prof. Jega explained that electoral officers who could not be sacked, forced to resign or penalised were made to stay off any functional position.
Resilience
He mentioned that some of the useful lessons Ghana and, for that matter, Africa could gain from Nigeria was the resilience in formulating and implementing electoral reforms and that it was significant to keep on trying till the right things were done, adding, “There is the need to remain focused on what works no matter the intensity of opposition against it.”
Confidence of stakeholders
Prof. Jega said the confidence of stakeholders was of immense importance because the deficit of trust in African political institutions affected election management bodies significantly, explaining that the careful reconstruction of this trust should be a major focus for Africa’s electoral management bodies.
He explained that critical to building trust and confidence were impartiality, non-partisanship and the creation of a level playing field for contestants.
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Funding
He added that early and adequate findings and their timely release was also very important to successful elections, this was sometimes linked to the willingness of the Executive arm of the government to desist from impairing the independence of the election management bodies.
“A legal regime that allows for institutional as well as the financial autonomy of an election management body is necessary,” Prof. Jega said.
Technology
Prof. Jega called for a gradual introduction of appropriate technology backed by strong administrative and audit systems to increase the level of credibility of elections, explaining that technology had to be made to adapt to local conditions and circumstances.
He said election management bodies must be mindful of the changes but must focus on finding creative, innovative ways to address them because it was significant to ensure that technology-associated challenges did not overwhelm or incapacitate an election management body.