A former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Attahiru Jega, has decried the use of religion and ethnicity by politicians for personal gains during elections.
According to The PUNCH, Jega, stated this at a two-day roundtable on the elections, organised by the Nigerian Political Science Association, on Friday.
He said that while he trusted INEC to oversee the exercise, however he was concerned about the activities of politicians.
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,” he said.