A former Director-General of the Nigeria Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Prof. Epiphany Azinge, yesterday criticised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for not ensuring that politicians abide by the expenditure cap during the last general election.
He spoke in a keynote address delivered at the opening ceremony of the Law Week of the Warri Branch of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA).
His paper was titled: “Nigeria Enduring Democracy: The Challenge of Effective Electioneering and Independence of the Judiciary”.
The member of the Commonwealth Arbitral Tribunal averred that the unmitigated spending by politicians raised the stake and led to rigging and other electoral vices during the last general elections.
He said: “Politicians and political partiers spent outlandishly to win elections. The law was honoured more in the breach than observed. Let the truth be told, the last election was as rigged as any other we have witnessed. The difference was that political parties rigged massively in their comfort zones.
“With high cost of election comes all sorts of electoral offences, bribery, undue influence, thuggery, violence and disorderly behaviour. We have now graduated to kidnapping, abduction and political assassination during election.”
Prof. Azinge also slammed the media’s “role” in promoting hate campaign during the election, noting that the role of the media gave credence to the assertion that ‘all is fair in warfare”.
He said the use of derogatory statements were commonplace during the electioneering campaign period.
On the autonomy for the judiciary, he said: “First is to evaluate the salary structure of judges and how safeguard they are. Second is the examination of the process of appointment, discipline and removal of judges and to know if the other arms of government are capable of compromising the judiciary because of financial control or lack of autonomy.”
The Warri Branch Chair of the NBA, , Mr. John Aikpokpo-Martins, in his welcome address, said it was relevant for the judiciary to be independent.
A compromised or partisan judiciary tied to the apron of any vested interest is dangerous to the sustainability of the nation’s democracy, he said.
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