By Ikechukwu Okaforadi
A former presidential aspirant in the 2019 general elections under the platform of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and former Governor of Plateau State, Senator Jonah Jang, has said for Nigeria to have credible and successful elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must be restructured.
The former Governor also said the National Assembly should not be blamed for the lacuna in the country’s electoral system, since the 8th Assembly had passed the Electoral Bill but President Muhammadu Buhari has refused to sign it into law.
The immediate past Senator who represented Plateau North equally decried the non delineation of constituencies in the country, saying it’s over 20 years since it was last done.
Jang disclosed this in an interview with journalists in Jos, the Plateau State capital.
He said, “The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is very clear about delineation of constituencies; that after every ten years, INEC is supposed to revisit the delineation exercise and they are supposed to do it according to the population of the area.
According to him, “This is the way they are handling the nation’s constitution.
“The areas that suits the powers that be, they use, while the one that doesn’t suit them, they don’t touch it,” he lamented.
“When was the last delineation of constituencies done in this country?” he asked.
“It’s over 20 years now, nobody wants to talk about it, because they know that it is helping their injustice over other areas,” he maintained.
The former Governor further explained that, “If INEC is truly independent, they are not supposed to take orders from anybody before embarking on any delineation, because it is a constitutional function; but because they have to go with the powers that be, they will not do it.
“That is why I have said, INEC is one of the areas that badly requires restructuring if we are going to have credible and successful elections in this country,” he stressed.
Speaking on the Electoral Bill, Jang who was the immediate past Senator that represented Plateau North in the 8th Senate, said, “Before we left the 8th Senate, and the House of Representatives, we passed the Electoral Bill, but the President refused to sign it into law, so don’t blame the National Assembly.
“Now I heard they are talking about Electoral Law again; what happened to the one we passed?” he asked.
