Mutfwang, Sule Identify Decaying Electoral System as Cause of Nation’s Bad Governance

•Seek reforms

Seriki Adinoyi in Jos

Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang and his Nasarawa State counterpart, Alhaji Abdullahi Sule, have said bad governance was the consequence of decaying electoral system in Nigeria.

They, therefore, called for urgent electoral reforms to empower state commissions to fulfill their responsibilities effectively.

Addressing delegates at the opening ceremony of the 13th National Delegates Conference of Forum of State Independent Electoral Commissions of Nigeria (FOSIECON) holding in Jos, Plateau State, Mutfwang who declared the event opened, described the theme as timely, given recent concerns over irregularities and result manipulations in Nigeria’s electoral system.

He emphasised the need for states to have autonomy over their electoral processes without external interference, noting that such was crucial to achieving free and fair elections.

“The leaders of the world must begin by reforming the process of leadership. We must adopt strategies that ensure the election of leaders who genuinely have the people at heart.

“Bad governance stems not only from democratic decline but also from wasted development opportunities and misused resources. All these issues trace back to the decaying electoral system,” he lamented.

Sule, on his part, reaffirmed the importance of State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs).

He, however, highlighted the challenges they faced to include interference and inadequate funding, calling for urgent electoral reforms to empower state commissions to fulfill their responsibilities effectively.

The theme of the conference was “Local Government Elections in Nigeria: Issues, Challenges, and Opportunities.”

Chairman of FOSIECON, Jossy Chibundu Eze, in his address said the forum aimed to explore the challenges and opportunities encountered by SIECs during local government elections.

In a keynote address, Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC in Benue State, Prof. Samuel Egwu commended development partners, especially the European Union, for supporting Nigeria’s democracy through the SDGN project.