Nigerian Society of Engineers, NSE, has charged the federal government to ensure that the next Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is an engineer.
Gatekeepers News reports that the President of NSE, Tasiu Gidari-Wudil said this has become necessary sustainable development of the country.
Gidari-Wudil said this on Saturday at a news conference organised by the society for the commemoration of World Engineering Day in Abuja.
The theme of the 2023 World Engineering Day is ‘Engineering Innovations for a More Resilient World’.
Gidari-Wudil said “70 per cent of the operations of INEC is logistics, that is industrial engineering, the operations; election now is ICT based, technology-based, so if you are going to bring a professor of political science or history most of the questions in this field, he cannot answer.
“But if you bring an engineer he will use his experience, am sure most of the commissioners are not engineers, so when you talking of logistics and tracing, I can tell you if you put an engineer he will be geo-tagging every ballot box.
“So, if really government is ready to solve problems let them put square pegs in square holes, there are more than 40 fields of engineering, so if you want things to work don’t be afraid to put the right professionals in the right places.”
He added, “What we are saying is that the in-coming government should be mindful of this if they want to develop this country. In every political party, there are engineers. People with the right competencies should put in place.”
At the recently concluded 2023 presidential and National Assembly Elections, many of the challenges that the commission faced late arrival of sensitive materials and INEC personnel, coupled with the failure of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System.
Gadari-Wudil also used the occasion to call for full implementation of Presidential Executive Order 5, which according to him, certain critical sections of the Executive Order were not being fully implemented.
On the recent building collapse in Gwarimpa, FCT, the NSE president said there was an urgent need to establish responsible building engineering practice and governance.
He said, “The Nigerian Society of Engineers views with severe dismay and as a national disgrace, the recent collapse of a three-storey building on 6th Avenue, Gwarimpa District, Abuja.
“This unfortunate incidence is the latest in the unmitigated trends of shameful and avoidable building collapse incidences across Nigeria, which have resulted in humongous deaths and maiming of innocent Nigerians.
“These disasters are outcomes of ineffective compliance, breakdown of regulatory control, official negligence, and failure to stamp out building design and construction incompetence and quackery.
“It is the NSE’s well-considered view that henceforth, a determined precedence should be set for deterrence and as part of the healing balm for victims of this disaster by fully implementing the reports of the investigations.”
