Politicians’ use of religion, ethnicity in elections worrisome – Jega

A former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Attahiru Jega, has expressed concern over the attitude and mindset of politicians, especially the way they deploy religion and ethnicity for personal gains.

Speaking in Abuja at a two-day roundtable on the elections, organised by the Nigerian Political Science Association, with the theme ‘Attaining electoral integrity in 2023 general elections: Pointers to policy’, he stated that he trusted INEC to manage the exercise but his fears were with the politicians. The event was held between Thursday and Friday.

He said, “My main concern is not what INEC can do to manage the election but I am more worried about the attitude and mindset of politicians, from the way we have seen the mobilisation of identity religion, ethnicity, recklessness and manipulations of virtually all other issues whether they are judicial or insecurity. These are things of concern.

“On the attitude, disposition and mindset of politicians, I don’t think there is remarkable improvement. The engagement is to win elections, be opportunistic about the inadequacies of infrastructure, be authoritarian and win by whichever means necessary.

“There are many things that go into whether or not a country’s elections have integrity. What is very critical is the roles of the election management body, the security agencies, the politicians or those who manage the political parties.”

The president of the association, Ibrahim Salihu, said the trust deficit between the government and the citizens needed to be addressed for progress to be made.