A former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, has said that politicians and the electorate are the biggest dangers to the success of the February 25 and March 11 general elections.
He said this on Tuesday in Abuja while delivering a keynote at the public sensitization on peaceful co-existence and the need to have hitch-free 2023 elections, organized by the Abuja National Mosque Da’awah and Welfare Foundation (ANMDWF), with the theme “Towards a free, fair, and credible 2023 general election.”
According to him, it is generally acknowledged both at home and abroad that this year’s general elections are the most consequential elections to be held globally.
“To my mind, the most worrisome challenges going into the 2023 general elections are the attitude and disposition of the so-called political class (politicians and political party bureaucracy or aristocracy) and the attitude and disposition of the electorate, the eligible voting citizens, as they engage with the electoral process.
“The so-called political class, as active partisans and candidates/contestants in elections, is the category of stakeholders with perhaps the least noticeable improvements in the ways in which they engage with the electoral process since 1999.
“Their mindset is to achieve victory at all costs; to win elections by deploying “all means necessary,” seeing electoral contests as a “do-or-die” affair. As they have done since 1999, they have continued to do so and are likely to do so in 2023.
“As their impunity has remained unchecked, so have their criminal and fraudulent predispositions.
“This may constitute the major challenge to the 2023 general elections,” he said.
He noted that the attitude and disposition of the electorate, including citizens who qualify to register and to vote, are also major concerns.
“Increasingly, even if they register to vote, they hardly make the effort to vote, as declining voter turnout statistics in general as well as off-season elections indicate.
“This may be because of what is called a crisis of rising expectations and/or the inadequacy, or lack of sensitization, of political and voter education.
“As the intrinsic value of electoral democracy is hinged on citizens’ participation in elections to, in an enlightened manner, elect their trusted representatives in the legislative and governance institutions, the evidence of declining participation of eligible citizens or of their unenlightened participation is undesirable and needs to be addressed.
“Therefore, sensitization, public enlightenment, and voter education are absolutely necessary, not just close to elections but throughout the 4-year electoral cycle.
“This is even more significant in a country such as Nigeria, with significant numbers of illiterate populations.
“For, in our own kind of situation, it is not enough for people to register to vote and go to polling units on election day to vote.
“They must know how to vote and not waste their votes,” Jega said.
Media is key to credible elections—Aisha Yusuf
On her part, a former editor and columnist, Hajiya Aisha Umar Kabiru Yusuf, who spoke on “The Role of the Media in Ensuring Violence-Free Elections,” said that the media, as the fourth estate of the realm, comes after the executive, legislature, and judiciary.
“Just like a three-legged table cannot be stable, so will a democratic system devoid of the media remain unstable and dysfunctional,” she said.
She, therefore, urged the media to objectively report issues relating to the elections like other societal issues so that offenders can be punished and people can be encouraged to do the right thing.
On his part, the chairman of the ANMDWF, Dr. Muhammad Kabir Adam, said it is the responsibility of all Nigerians to ensure the success of the coming general elections.
“If the elections are credible, the outcome will be successful, and the leaders that emerge will be answerable to them and deliver good governance,” Imam Adam said.
