Cynthia Ezegwu
Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, has warned that the desperation of Nigerian politicians and their “do-or-die” perspective towards elections proceed to undermine the integrity of the electoral course of and threaten the nation’s democratic growth.
Jega, who spoke on Monday in Abuja through the joint commencement ceremony of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) and the University of Benin, expressed concern that regardless of 25 years of uninterrupted democracy since 1999, Nigeria nonetheless grapples with electoral malpractice, violence, and a scarcity of public belief in elections.
“When we see the desperation of these politicians, it is very clear, as former President Obasanjo said, that they engage with elections with a ‘do-or-die’ mentality. We must win by whatever means are necessary,” Jega mentioned in his keynote deal with.
The former INEC chairman, who can also be a Professor of Political Science at Bayero University, Kano, famous that such attitudes have eroded residents’ confidence within the democratic course of, leaving Nigeria “muddling through” its democratic journey for the reason that return to civilian rule.
“No elections are perfect and none are likely to ever be,” he mentioned, including that electoral integrity “is relative and measured as a continuum from the extreme worst-case scenario to the ideal best-case scenario.”
Jega traced the roots of Nigeria’s political desperation to 2007, when then-President Olusegun Obasanjo famously described elections as a “do-or-die affair,” an announcement that, in accordance with critics, mirrored the nation’s zero-sum political tradition—marked by violence, poll snatching, vote-buying, and limitless litigation.
He confused that addressing the issues in Nigeria’s electoral course of would require “continuous and concerted efforts” to reform the system, strengthen democratic establishments, and instill moral requirements amongst politicians.
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“The credibility of elections has a direct correlation with the quality of representation and governance,” Jega added.
In his remarks, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin, Prof. Edoba Omoregie, counseled President Bola Tinubu for introducing the scholar mortgage scheme, describing it as a transformative coverage that has diminished {financial} obstacles to training.
“The establishment of student loans has minimised education barriers and ensured that Nigerian students, regardless of their economic background, can access funding for tertiary education in public universities,” Omoregie mentioned.
He congratulated the graduating class of the NILDS/UNIBEN programme—comprising 46 Master’s diploma, 19 Higher National Diploma, and 9 Postgraduate Diploma recipients—praising their dedication and tutorial excellence.
