From Godwin Tsa Abuja
Amidst calls for the sack of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), immediate past governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, has said its only President Bola Tinubu and the National Council of States (NCS) that have such powers to remove him.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and some aggrieved Nigerians have called for the sack of the INEC Chairman and other officials at all levels over recent election results in Edo and Ondo states.
Obasanjo specifically made the call recently during his address at the prestigious Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum at the Yale University in the United States, where he presented a paper titled: “Leadership failure and state capture in Nigeria.”
But responding to the call, the former two-term governor of Abia State noted that the removal of the INEC boss falls within the powers of president Tinubu and the National Council of States.
Ikpeazu spoke in Abuja at the public presentation of a book: “Contemporary Legal Cooperation: China and Africa – A Comparative Survey of Legal Systems,” written by a Nigerian Journalist, John Chucks Azu.
The theme of the dialogue which was part of the event is: “New Horizons in Rule of Law, Judicial Efficiency and Dispute Resolution: Any Lessons of China and Nigeria?”
The former governor who lost his senatorial election to Senator Abaribe of the All Progressives Grand Alliance APGA, had faulted INEC for declaring Abaribe winner.
However, speaking at the sidelines of the event, Ikpeazu tasked INEC to be more transparent and impartial in the conduct of elections.
On the Ondo election, he said, “unfortunately, my party lost, but that election has come and gone. I will advise INEC to be more transparent and impartial in the conduct of elections.
“When people are not happy with your process, you don’t talk about it but you open up the space to let people come and see what you are doing. Sometimes you meet them upfront,” he stated.
On the call for the sack of the INEC Chairman, Ikpeazu said: “It is not my call to make about a new leadership of INEC. That is the call of Mr. President and council of state and I think they will take that decision when the time comes.”
The former governor commended the author of the book, John Azu, for putting the works together to encourage people to understand the legal framework between China and Africa.
He said the book will be beneficial for both China and Nigeria to have a proper knowledge of the contemporary legal issues between them.
The 245- page book dwells on the prospect of China-African Cooperation and how it can support each country in the areas of social-economic development.
Beyond that, it presents a clear understanding of the growing global influence of China’s legal system with emphasis on the features that underwrite China’s business engagement in Africa.
While presenting China as a rule-based system of governance, it further explored the interconnectivity between the unique historical, ideological and structural basis of the legal systems of both regions and the opportunities for future cooperation.
The author of the book, John Azu said he was motivated by the need for Nigeria lawyers and the business community to leverage on the opportunity provided to learning and understanding the judicial and legal practice in other climes especially in the context of the Asian system.
