Ex-CJN, Hon. Justice Mohammed Uwais GCON.

Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association NBA, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba SAN, has urged President Bola Tinubu to implement the recommendations of the Electoral Reform Committee headed by former Chief Justice of Nigeria CJN, Justice Mohammed Uwais GCON in order to honour him as one of the country’s foremost Jurists, who recently turned 87 years.

Born 12 June 1936, the eminent Jurist was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria from 1995 to 2006, being the longest serving CJN, who is reputed to have introduced several reforms not only at the apex court but also in the country’s entire judicial system.

Agbakoba, who served on the 22-member committee set up by late President Umar Yar’Adua in 2008 said: “The longest serving Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice ML Uwais has been blessed by God to reach the milestone age of 87 years. President Tinubu’s special gift to our CJN is to implement the far reaching electoral reforms of the Uwais Committee.

“I was honoured to serve in the Uwais Committee. Mr president! please implement the Uwais recommendations.”

One of the major recommendations of the Uwais committee was the that the managers of the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Committee INEC, should not be appointed by the President. The idea of the committee was that a player should not appoint the referee in a game, as it would surely tamper with the ‘independence’ of the INEC.

The committee also recommended that the National Judicial Council, NJC, which is made up of Supreme Court Justices to shortlist names of people of proven integrity from the open society, to the National Assembly for selection and approval. The report further recommended that the president’s only role would be to swear in whoever is appointed. Under the recommendations, the INEC should also enjoy financial autonomy. These recommendations were regrettably not implemented by the Yar’ Adua’s government.

Political analysts and experts have argued that the just-concluded 2023 election failed woefully despite the massive deployment of technology and adequate funding due to the mode of the appointment of the managers of the electoral umpire.

They argued that the same technologies that worked like magic in off-cycle elections across several states in the country flopped when they were needed most, largely because of human factors: corruption, greed and lack of patriotism, among other factors.