Recall Clause, Tool For Accountability – Analyst

The constitutional provision for a possible recall of elected legislators in the country has been described as a tool for the electorate to demand accountability from their elected representatives.
A public affairs analyst and management consultant, Dr. Emmanuel Iruayenama, made the assertion while exchanging views with The Tide in Port Harcourt.
According to Dr. Iruayanama, the possibility of incurring the wrath of the electorate through the activation of the recall clause in the constitution could serve as an effective check on the people’s representative and make them more responsive and responsible.
He described elected legislators as those with the mandate of the people to speak and act on their behalf, adding that, to that extent, the lawmakers were even more important to the people than members of the executive arm of government.
“To that extent, the desire to want them to be more accountable, in my opinion, is what this recall clause seeks to achieve, such that it makes them know that every other time, people are going to ask questions about them, they would be checked every other time and where they’re not meeting up, there is a possibility of the people showing their dissatisfaction by a recall,” he said.
Dr. Iruayenama reiterated that “part of the things we have been clamouring for is that of accountability. It will put our elected representatives on their toes, knowing that there is the possibility of incurring the ire of the electorate even before the natural process of re-election.”
He decried the attitude of most elected representatives in the country who have little contact with their constituents as soon as they\re declared elected into the various legislative houses and expressed the hope that the recent move by the Independent National Electoral Commissioner, INEC, in the case of the Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District, Senator Dino Melaye, will open up a new vista in the relationship between the electorate and their representatives.
“If we are to make success of this our democratic journey, everything should be handled according to the law, not with an ulterior interest of an institution in defense of itself,” he said while urging the electoral umpire and the judiciary to discharge their duties diligently on the matter and in the overriding best interest of the people.

Opaka Dokubo