At a capacity building workshop in Maiduguri on Monday, former Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, criticized state electoral commissions as rigging tools for state governors.
El-Rufai, who served as governor from 2015 to 2023, made the statement in his lead paper presentation titled: “Enhancing Skills of Government Officials In Policy Implementation and Productive Human Resources Management”.
The former governor highlighted the success of electronic voting during his tenure, which he introduced for local government area elections. He recalled that despite losing some local government areas to the opposition due to the election’s credibility, the transparency of the process led to some opposition candidates decamping to his party.
El-Rufai expressed support for abolishing state electoral commissions, arguing that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) could handle all local government elections. He recounted an incident where a Northwest state governor asked for his assistance in conducting electronic voting for local government elections but later went back to his state and wrote the results instead of conducting the election electronically.
In addition, El-Rufai addressed the demolition exercise carried out during his administration, stating that his government followed due process and ensured that every demolition was carried out with the necessary approvals. He noted that his administration’s adherence to the process was responsible for the absence of court cases after the exercise.
