A Professor of Strategy and Development, Anthony Kila, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to consider the consequences of its decision to delist the Mark-led leadership of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Kila made this call during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Wednesday.
“I think that when INEC decides to remove the name of the chairman and secretary of the opposition party, they should think of what the consequences will be.
“You cannot say technically you are right and you don’t care about the practical consequences; that’s not commonsensical, and I mean common sense here, not the way people mean it.”
According to him, it is about making a judgment or decision that aligns with reality and takes into account the likely consequences.
His comment follows INEC’s declaration that it will no longer recognise correspondences from either the David Mark or Rafiu Bala faction of the ADC, following its review of the Court of Appeal judgment delivered on March 12.
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He, however, said he thinks INEC is not doing that and, whichever the cause, either accidental or intentional, ‘INEC is not doing well.’
Speaking further on the breakfast show, Kila analysed more flaws of INEC.
“The other thing that needs to be said is INEC—I think so far, so bad. The way INEC is conducting the issue: one is structural, the other is contingent. One has to do with the INEC of today, the way it’s being managed.
“I have always said that a lot of the problems we have in this country is that when we do things, we look at consequences, not sequence. There is a problem of approach and process to the way INEC does things.”
He noted that INEC should not just be an announcer, but a body that consults, considers, and mediates before choosing dates.
“They should get political parties inside and decide it together, I believe,” he added.
He cited that electoral bodies in other parts of the world are invisible.
“Other countries in the world, especially countries we emulate, the INEC leader is so invisible; INEC itself is not talked about. It’s as if they are not there—they are so efficient that they become invisible, like the air you breathe.
“Nobody talks about them unless there is trouble. If you talk about INEC in those countries, it means there is something bad going on. We need to aspire to that,” Kila stated.
In a statement signed by the Chairman of Information and Voter Education, Mohammed Kudu, the commission said that it will no longer engage with either faction or monitor their meetings, congresses, or conventions pending the determination of the case before the Federal High Court.
