Chairman of INEC is affair that the system he had set up with INEC could fail.

By Joseph Erunke
AS he prepares to leave office next month as
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral
Commission, INEC, after conducting the 2015
general elections, Prof. Attahiru Jega, has
expressed worry that the achievements recorded
so far by the commission may not be consolidated
by his successor.
Jega said INEC had done well in restructuring the
electoral process in Nigeria, but noted that it would
be very easy for what had been achieved to be
reversed by the incoming members if the country
got it wrong on the new leadership.
To this end, he has tasked Civil Society
Organisations, CSOs, to play a watchdog role in
the INEC with a view to putting those that would
be at the helm of affairs of the commission, on
their toes.
Speaking yesterday, in Abuja, at the presentation of
the 2015 general election observation report
carried out by Election Monitor, a civil society
group, supported by McArthur Foundation, the INEC
chairman insisted that for his achievements to be
consolidated, his policies and programmes aimed
at repositioning the country’s electoral process
must be maintained.
Represented by the commission’s, Director,
Elections and Party Monitoring, Mr. Sheu Wahab,
the INEC chairman stressed that: “We need to
continue to beam the searchlight on post election
events, and the first thing that will come to your
mind is the reconstitution of new INEC.
“Jega’s commission will be winding up by the end
of June, a new commission is going to be put in
place. If we are going to consolidate on the gains
of 2015 elections, I think CSOs have every reason
to watch out for the new commission that is going
to come in place,” he stated.