By Peter Omopo
Senior Advocate of Nigeria and former Nigerian Bar Association President Olisa Agbakoba has urged President Bola Tinubu to set up a special electoral offences tribunal to curb election fraud and ensure speedy trials of offenders.
Speaking to reporters in Lagos on Thursday, Agbakoba cited recommendations from the Electoral Reforms Panel chaired by Mohammed Uwais, emphasizing that such a tribunal would restore public confidence in the electoral process. He also suggested that the burden of proof in election disputes should shift to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to demonstrate that elections were free and fair, rather than placing the responsibility entirely on petitioners.
Agbakoba commended President Tinubu’s Executive Order Nine, which mandates the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to remit revenues directly to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) and removes the company’s deduction powers under the Petroleum Industry Act. He said the move aligns oil and gas revenue remittances with the 1999 Constitution and called on the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), to seek Supreme Court clarification or consider amending the Act to reflect constitutional provisions.
The legal expert recommended that NNPCL operate solely as a commercial entity without regulatory powers, in line with global best practices. He also proposed merging the Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigeria Immigration Service into a unified ‘Border Force’ while consolidating revenue collection under the Federal Inland Revenue Service to improve transparency.
Agbakoba further criticised opposition parties for failing to engage in issue-based politics, attributing their internal defections and poor electoral performance to this shortcoming. He expressed optimism that credible elections would encourage capable Nigerians to participate in politics and stated that effective resource management and elimination of revenue leakages could help Nigeria achieve a N1.5 quadrillion economy.
