The former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has revealed that efforts by the late former President Muhammadu Buhari to implement electoral reforms were sabotaged by a cabal within his administration.
Amaechi made the disclosure on Tuesday in Abuja during the National Electoral Reforms Summit organized by the Movement for Credible Elections (MCE), where he emphasized that genuine reform must come from the people, not politicians.
“Most Nigerians who speak about this electoral reform, it depends on where their stomach is facing,” he said.
The former minister further alleged that some of those who blocked Buhari’s reform agenda are currently serving in the present administration.
“If their stomach is facing the wrong place, they will want electoral reform. If they are chopping, they will tell you that it is wrong to eat and talk,” he added.
Amaechi stressed that only collective civic action can put an end to electoral malpractice in Nigeria.
“If you come out en masse, nobody will write any result; nobody will take away the result sheet, because anybody who takes away the result sheet is probably going to cause confusion for himself,” he said.
He also expressed disappointment over the absence of former President Goodluck Jonathan and Emeka Anyaoku, former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations, who were billed to attend the summit.
Amaechi argued that the summit’s resolutions would amount to nothing unless ordinary citizens actively demand reform.
“What will be the objective is when we all citizens gather and say, enough is enough,” he said.
He criticized what he described as the politicization of organised labour and student movements, saying such groups have lost their independence.
“The politicians they arrest are politicians who are against the government in power,” he said.
Also speaking at the event, Oby Ezekwesili, former Minister of Education, stated that credible elections are the foundation of democracy, lamenting that Nigeria has failed key democratic tests since 1999.
Ezekwesili argued that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should be given prosecutorial powers to ensure accountability.
“The absence of any credible investigation and conviction for electoral offences has led to a country where there is no deterrence for bad behaviour,” she said.
She added that granting INEC dedicated prosecutors would strengthen electoral justice and transparency.