Bishop Isaac Idahosa, the 2023 Vice Presidential Candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), has called for strict consequences against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and public officials for electoral failures.
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Wednesday, Idahosa emphasized that lack of accountability continues to fuel electoral misconduct in Nigeria.
“We don’t punish anybody for what he does; there are no consequences, so he keeps on repeating it,” Idahosa said.
“INEC does this, and nobody puts them to check, and then it repeats it. Once there are no consequences for your actions or inactions, then a repeat will occur because there is no accountability.”
Electoral Failures and BVAS Concerns
The 2023 elections saw the introduction of INEC’s Result Viewing Portal (IReV) and the Bimodal Voter Registration System (BVAS) to enhance transparency. However, many politicians criticized the inefficiency of these technologies, with INEC citing technical glitches for the delays and inconsistencies in the transmission of results.
Despite these concerns, the Supreme Court ruled that the unavailability of results on IReV was not a valid ground for nullifying the election.
In the 2023 presidential election, Idahosa and his principal, Rabiu Kwankwaso, finished fourth with 1,496,687 votes. Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won with 8,794,726 votes, followed by Atiku Abubakar (PDP) with 6,984,520 votes, and Peter Obi (LP) with 6,101,533 votes.
Calls for Same-Day Elections
Idahosa further proposed a one-day electoral system where all elections—presidential, governorship, senatorial, and House of Assembly—are conducted simultaneously.
“I will want to suggest where all elections are done on the same day. That will help curb a whole lot of things—presidential, senatorial, gubernatorial, all on the same day. It will cut costs and ensure desirable results. But when you have this in a span of one or two weeks after the presidential, a whole lot can happen, bandwagon effects can go,” he said.
Denies Crisis in NNPP, Reaffirms Support for Kwankwaso
Addressing speculations about a crisis within the NNPP, Idahosa reaffirmed his strong ties with Kwankwaso, the party’s leader.
“I’m still very close to my principal; he was here last week—on February 8—when I celebrated my 60th birthday. We are still very in touch and very close. There is no crisis in our party; he’s still our national leader, His Excellency Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.”
He dismissed reports of factions within the NNPP, stating that those involved had been expelled from the party.
“We don’t have factions; those so-called factions have been expelled from the party. There is no room to emphasize factions in our party—we just have one party headed by His Excellency, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.”
Idahosa's remarks reflect growing concerns over Nigeria's electoral process, INEC's credibility, and the need for structural reforms to enhance transparency and efficiency in future elections.
