Kukah Sends Strong Warning To INEC Over November 11 Elections
The convener of the National Peace Committee, Bishop Matthew Kukah, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to complain about insufficient funds ahead of the November 11 off-cycle elections.
Kukah made this plea in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday.
He said substantial funds have been budgeted for the elections, and INEC should not be experiencing resource insufficiency.
The bishop said, “We cannot spend the time in the classroom; we must graduate to a new class of consciousness. Nigeria must take full responsibility for how these processes are conducted.
“There is a size of this country and limited resources, but INEC can no longer complain about a lack of resources because we hear of the hundreds of billions that are being spent on INEC,” he said.
Kukah, however, maintained that Nigerians must take full responsibility for how electoral processes are conducted, while INEC must reach a point where it is not anxious every election season.
“People must also get to a point in which INEC will not have anxiety every time they are about to conduct elections.”
He noted that to pave the way for a better future, errors of the past must be addressed.
“INEC took the heat; it’s having a legitimacy crisis; it’s having a confidence and trust crisis. We must also understand that at least the sins of yesterday have to be cured so that tomorrow can be better,” he said.
Kukah noted that trust is essential in the conduct of elections, and institutions entrusted with this responsibility should function in a way that commands respect.
“It’s about trust, but we fail to trust ourselves to deploy trust to institutions and those who run those institutions, but they must also function in a way and manner that commands respect,” he said.
