Okechukwu To INEC Chair: Stop The Lectures, Conduct Elections Nigerians Can Trust

The former Director General of Voice of Nigeria, VON DG, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, has fired back at the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Joash Amupitan, saying that the electoral umpire should focus less on preaching internal democracy to parties and more on delivering credible elections.

In a statement in Enugu on Sunday, Okechukwu said free and fair polls remain the only real antidote to impunity within political parties.

He was reacting to Amupitan’s recent charge to parties during a visit to former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar in Minna. The INEC boss has made similar calls in Akwa Ibom in March and Abuja in June.

Okechukwu agreed that internal democracy is important, but argued that parties only respect it when they are sure votes will count.

“The greatest incentive for political parties to uphold internal democracy is the consistent conduct of free, fair and transparent elections by INEC,” he said.

“Political leaders will obey the wishes of the electorate and present their best candidates only when they are confident that elections will be free and fair. 

“But when the process is shrouded in doubt, impunity thrives, and party crises become inevitable.”

The APC chieftain also knocked allegations that INEC is working for the ruling party.

“I dismiss the handgun allegation. The APC needs free and fair elections — not for optics, but for legitimacy, for our 31 governors, and for the survival of our democracy,” Okechukwu stated.

He insisted that credible elections will not weaken the APC, but will instead strengthen democratic institutions and force all parties to play by the rules.

“Nigerians do not need more sermons. They need an INEC that conducts elections where the votes of the people, not godfathers, decide the winner,” he added.