By Simeon OSAJIE
A former two-term member of the Federal House of Representatives and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Dr. Ehiogie West-Idahosa, on Friday said that if Nigeria’s democracy must grow beyond its present state, Nigerians must resolved to build stronger institutions instead of the present practice of building stronger individuals.
The former federal lawmaker listed the judiciary as one of the institutions that should be made stronger so that the people’s assurance in an impartial arbiter would be reinforced, adding that such would thereafter enhance mass participation in the political system.
Dr. West-Idahosa, who was the Guest Speaker at the 2025 edition of the ITV and Radio Independence Anniversary Lecture, said that it is axiomatic that “the judge’s word is the law”, hence the judiciary must be conscious of the huge responsibility imposes on it as an institutions to show the right path through right judicial pronouncements.
Speaking on the topic, “Anchoring Nigeria’s Democracy on Electoral Integrity: The Imperative of an Unbiased and Transparent Electoral Umpire”, the SAN said that the fundamental flaw in the nation’s electoral system “is the vetting of the power to appoint the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the president.”
While reviewing how INEC has fared since the beginning of this present political dispensation, West-Idahosa submitted that after the tenured of the late Justice Ephraim Akpata and Ambassador Abel Guobadia as INEC Chairmen, the fortune of the electoral body started to take voyage to the pit.
He hinted that after the 1999 election conducted by Justice Akpata, only two litigations arose, and after the 2023 elections handled by the late Ambassador Guobadia, the number of litigations rose slightly above 500 because a lot of people had started showing interest in politics.
Dr. West-Idahosa lamented that thereafter, due to the collapse of the integrity of the electoral system, litigations after every round of election since after the 2007 had jumped to well over 1,600 cases.
He therefore posited that the development put a huge burden on the nation’s judiciary, and cautioned that the judiciary must take conscious steps to show that it could be above board as the last hope of the electorate.
While canvassing for mass participation in the political system, West-Idahosa said that Nigerians must be resolute in making the electoral reforms the most important element, adding that that was the only way the emergence of stronger individuals as against stronger institutions could be curtailed.
He lamented that rather than the world acclaimed democracy as defined ages ago, “What we have in our various states are ‘governorcracy’, which is the government of the governors by the governors and for the people.”
To reduce the influence of the president in the affairs of INEC, the ex-legislator said that the appointment of INEC Chairman should revert to the commission of all the political parties to debate and agree on who to appoint.
This was just as he dismissed the claim that inadequate funding had been one of the problems confronting INEC, arguing that information in the public space indicated that INEC had received far more funds than other electoral bodies in other third world countries but equally highly populated as Nigeria.
The Keynote Speaker at the event, Professor Ezekiel Asemah, Vice Chancellor, Glorious Vision University, Ogwa, Edo State, urged the media to galvanize the people towards mass participation in the nation’s electoral system.
Prof. Asemah lamented the worrisome level of apathy as shown by the percentage of Nigerians who register as voters and those who made it to the polling centres during elections, adding that the statics showed that about 24 percent of the population voted in the 2023 elections.
Welcoming participants to the occasion, Mr. Elvis Obaseki, the Managing Director, ITV and Radio, who was represented by Senior Elder Ogbeide Uwunmwonse, Executive Director Operations, said that the annual pre-indepedence lecture by the organisation was part of its contributions to the development of democracy in Nigeria.
The Chairman of the occasion, Chief Matthew Emiohe, the Itohan of Esanland, who was represented by Sunny Duke Okosun, Assistant Manager, Production Services of ITV and Radio, called on Nigerians to take steps to engage the political class on the ways to sustain and development the democratic gains of the current dispensation.