INEC boss decries huge cost of organising elections in Nigeria

By Gbenga Ariyibi Ado Ekiti A Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) National Commissioner, Professor Lai Olurode has decried the huge amount spend in organising elections in the country, saying America does not spend as much as an average legislator spends in this country. Olurode, who serves as the National Commissioner in charge of Ekiti, Oyo and Ogun states spoke in Ado Ekiti yesterday while presenting certificate of return to members of Peoples Democratic Party who won election to the national assembly ” The cost of organising elections in this country is quite huge compared to what the cost is in other countries. “America does not spend as much as an average legislator spends in an election in this country. ” After spending all these money, where are you going to get it back from if not from the public purse? “It is so costly to do elections in the country because every process has been monetised, he declared Olorode further disclosed that the country cannot organise any meaningful election without the deployment of security, noting that the trend cannot continue to be so. “You can’t do elections without deployment of large number of security agencies to the field. It cannot continue to be like that. He said Nigerians must not take the current democratisation process for granted and be ready to change with the trend as in other country “We shouldn’t take this democratisation process for granted. We can unwittingly be putting it in the opposite direction if care is not taken. He warned. Olurode also lamented that political parties as institutions in the democratic process had been relegated, saying “How many members of political parties pay their membership dues in this country, like it was done in the olden days? Nowadays, you have strong people in political parties who call the shots and members have no voice. We can’t run political parties like that, it is not sustainable. “He noted that “there is no internal democracy in party processes in this country, it shouldn’t be like that. We should not gag the voices of the members. This is why we are fearing that the democratisation process in this country might be put in reverse gear.” He said contestants would sell their property to contest elections and stated that it shouldn’t be like that, advising that “we should be members of political parties because we believe in their ideologies, otherwise we create political gods in the political parties and if you don’t allow people to have a voice, political process is unwittingly endangered.” The INEC chief said “we should strengthen the party institution. This is very important for our democracy to be sustained.”He later presented certificates of return to Mrs. Fatimat Raji-Rasaki of Ekiti Central; Mr. Dúró Faseyi of Ekiti North and Chief (Mrs.) Abiodun Olujimi of Ekiti South senatorial districts respectively in the well-attended ceremony. He also presented certificates to Ayodele Oladimeji of Ado/Irepodun/Ifelodun; Segun Adekola (Ekiti South West/Ikere/Ise-Orun); Julius Awodimula (Emure/Gbonyin/Ekiti East); Thaddeus Aina (Ido-Osi/Moba/Ilejemeje); Olamide Oni (Ijero/Ekiti West/Efon) and Kehinde Agboola (Ikole/Oye).