In a recent statement via his official X account, Professor Pat Utomi, a well-known political economist and management expert, has made a statement about election reforms and good governance in Nigeria.
Utomi, who is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Values in Leadership Institute and a former presidential aspirant, discussed the issue after a virtual meeting with members of The New Tribe (TNT), a group focused on these reforms.
"Last night I met virtually with some of the Election Reforms and Good Governance cohort of the new tribe(TNT). Four of the tribe had served as INEC commissioners. The consensus was that the technology and systems were optimal and tested. The problem was in the people selected by partisan governments to go to INEC. It is argued they are canvassing for APC people to be appointed into INEC. Can we not then agree to have one person nominated by the four top polling parties, one from CAN and one from from Council of Islam. I will not even mind one from the UN. When I chaired the committee for institutions of transparent in Government in 1999 we had a member from TI UK," Utomi wrote.
Utomi highlighted a critical issue regarding the personnel selected by the government for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
To address this issue, Utomi proposed a more inclusive approach to selecting INEC members.
Utomi recalled his experience in 1999, chairing the committee for institutions of transparency in government.