Bishop Isaac Idahosa, the 2023 Vice Presidential Candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), has called for punishment against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and public officials responsible for electoral failures.
He believes that without consequences, electoral misconduct will continue to undermine democracy in Nigeria.
He gave the recommendation while speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief program on Wednesday.
It should be noted that the 2023 presidential election won by Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been disapproved by politicians and commentators alike. The introduction of the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) and the Bimodal Voter Registration Systems (BVAS) for the 2023 general elections was supposed to improve transparency but it failed. Deflecting blame, INEC cited technical glitches as the reason for the inconsistencies.
Idahosa, a close ally of former Kano State Governor and 2023 NNPP Presidential Candidate Rabiu Kwankwaso, is the latest personality to criticize INEC, citing the electoral body’s failure to uphold electoral integrity. He argued that the lack of accountability allows electoral malpractice to persist.
“We don’t punish anybody for what they do; there are no consequences, so they keep on repeating it,” he stated. “INEC does this, and nobody puts them in check, and then it repeats. Once there are no consequences for actions or inactions, there will always be a repeat because there is no accountability.”
Idahosa insists that such failures should not be overlooked and that authorities must ensure that electoral processes are credible and transparent in future elections.
The NNPP chieftain recommended that elections should be held on the same day to improve credibility.
He said, “I will want to suggest where all elections are done on the same day. That will help curb a whole lot of things – presidential, senatorial, gubernatorial, all on the same day. It will cut costs and will get the desirable results. But when you have this in a span of one or two weeks after the presidential, a whole lot can go, bandwagon can go.”
Addressing speculations about internal crises within the NNPP, Idahosa said he is still close to Kwankwaso.
“To begin with, I’m still very close to my principal. He was here last week—on February 8—when I celebrated my 60th birthday. So we are still very much in touch, and we remain close. There is no crisis in our party; he is still our national leader, His Excellency Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso,” he said.
