Femi Falana, a renowned human rights lawyer, has lamented that “plutocracy has replaced democracy in Nigeria,” which is why “people have lost confidence in the democratic process.”
Falana made this submission at the 2023 Law Week Programme of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Benin branch, held in Benin City, Edo State, on Thursday, July 6.
Falana urged the NBA to put pressure on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to “address the problems of the late arrival of INEC officials and ballot materials at the polling stations, malfunctioning BVAS machines, and limited or non-transmission of the results from the polling units to Results Viewing Portal, IReV.”
Revisiting some of the flaws of the last 2023 general election conducted by INEC, Falana called on the NBA to put pressure on the commission to “address the problems of the late arrival of INEC officials and ballot materials at the polling stations, malfunctioning BVAS machines, and limited or non-transmission of the results from the polling units to Results Viewing Portal, IReV.”
The famous Nigerian lawyer regretted that “out of the 93 million voters that were registered; only 22 million voted in the presidential election.”
He said further: “INEC must also address insecurity at some polling units, including violent attacks on voters and officials, voter intimidation, snatching and destruction of voting materials, significant cases of vote-buying, and limited access facilities for persons with disabilities.
“The Benin branch of the NBA should prevail on the national body of lawyers to convene a national summit to review the 2023 general elections as soon as the curtain is drawn on the election petitions by the various election petition tribunals, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
“The NBA should ensure that the representatives of all relevant stakeholders attend the summit.
“At the end of the programme, the NBA should collaborate with the judiciary committees of both houses of the national assembly in drafting amendments to the Constitution and the Electoral Act to institutionalise credible elections in Nigeria.
“All mass-based organisations must mobilise the Nigerian people to take their political destiny into their hands by participating in the democratic process.”
