Jega To FG: “Take Anti-Corruption War To National Assembly”

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Prof. Attahiru Jega, Ex-INEC chairman

Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, yesterday raised the alarm of an imminent danger ahead of the 2019 general elections, if the rate of hate speeches and violence witnessed during the justconcluded primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in some states persist.

 

Prof. Attahiru Jega, Ex-INEC chairman

The former INEC boss has urged the Federal Government to take proactive measures while security agencies display professionalism, neutrality and impartiality in carrying out their constituted responsibilities.

Jega, who stated this while delivering a paper at the 2018 Democracy Day Lecture which held in Abuja, also accused members of the National Assembly of demanding bribes from Vice Chancellors of Nigerian universities and other heads of government agencies during oversight functions.

 

 

He said the situation where some chairmen of committees in both the Senate and House of Representatives have become so notorious in the act of demanding bribes, was not healthy for the growth and development of the country. Speaking at the event, the former INEC chair explained that the relative success experienced during the 2015 general elections was because of the active engagement of inter-agency consultative committee and the commitment of the security agencies.

 

Jega admitted that security agencies, during the 2015 general elections, operated under very difficult circumstances. He said: “I’m not saying there were no bridges, in fact with benefit of hindsight, there were many bridges. But there were professionalism and neutrality in the 2015 general elections.

 

But the most important thing is that when you compare the work of the security agencies in 2015 elections to what happened in 2007 elections, it was marginally much more better.” According to him, INEC presently was confronted with various challenges. He noted that party violence witnessed in the just-concluded congresses portend great danger for Nigeria.

Jega wondered that if political parties cannot observe internal democracy and conduct peaceful congresses, it was a dangerous sign which the government and all stakeholders must take seriously. He specifically decried the increasing hate speeches by the political actors, opinion and religious leaders which, he said, were capable of sparking violence.His words: “If political parties cannot organise their internal elections peacefully, how can they engage the other parties with civility in the general elections? It is very, very important that this is addressed because if there is crisis in the elections, some of these issues are outside the scope of the electoral commission. But in the end, it is the electoral commission that gets the blame.

 

 

“It is very important that we improve our systemic mechanisms of addressing violence and conflicts related to elections and, in particular, improving the score of internal democracy within political parties. We may be running out of time, we must try harder and do everything possible within the shortest time.

“The second thing that needs to be addressed is the recent spate of hate speeches by political actors, religious leaders; it is these unbridled utterances by opinion leaders, religious leaders, political leaders that facilitate electoral violence in general elections. So, these have to be tamed.

 

 

“Again, we must ensure that the rule of law is complied with, o effective prosecution is very important to mitigate against this challenge. Otherwise, with the intensity this is going right now, it will undermine the integrity of the 2019 elections.” Jega also called persons he described as “more patriotic, democratic, and well-meaning Nigerians” to speak against hate speech. Government, he noted, must put in place mechanism to identify and prosecute those who constitute nuisance during and after elections.

 

While lamenting the delay in the passage of the Electoral Amendment Act, he stressed the need for “a much better electoral legal framework in the 2019 general elections at least, better than what obtained in the 2015 general elections.”

On accusations against members of the National Assembly, Jega alleged that the lawmakers demand bribes from government ministries, departments and agencies. The former INEC boss further lamented the deficit of good governance in the country and advised Muhammadu Buhari-led administration not to concentrate only on theft and embezzlement in its fight against corruption, but should also seek to tackle the menace of bribe taking at all strata of government. He said the situation was worse in government, especially at the National Assembly

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