Prof. Attahiru Jega, a former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday, raised the alarm over recent political development, saying he was very worried about the possible outcome of the general elections in 2023.
However, Jega, also expressed optimism that Nigeria would overcome the difficulties and hold a smooth election.
The former INEC chairman, who was also a former Vice Chancellor of Bayero University in Kano, expressed the concerns in an interview with journalists on the sidelines of a colloquium held in Prof. Adele Jinadu’s honour on the occasion of his 79th birthday. The colloquium’s theme was “Adele Jinadu and Electoral Democracy in Nigeria: Knowledge Production and Praxis.”
He said, “I have a lot of fears about the outcome of the election. But you’ll see people like me are, what I call, an incurable optimists about the future of our country. So I remain hopeful that in spite of the recklessness that we see, in spite of the vandalism that we see perpetrated by many of our so-called leading politicians, we are hopeful that people will mobilize and become effectively engaged in the electoral process so that we have a good outcome in 2023.
“We can’t give up hope. We still have to engage because the more we engage, the more the possibility of change happening.”
According to Jega, Nigeria was at a very crucial juncture where systemic erosion and undermining of democratic development promises are taking place.
He claimed that in order to meet the basic needs of the populace, Nigeria needed good, intelligent, and kind individuals.