POLITICS IS NOT A DO OR DIE AFFAIR- INEC CHAIRMAN WARNS POLITICIANS

The Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission of Nigeria (INEC), Attahiru Jega, has criticized the “do or die” attitude of today’s politicians.
Jega made this statement while speaking at Bayero University conference in Kano.
According to the chairman, such categorical attitude threatens Nigeria’s democracy.

“Unless the do-or-die affair in the polity is quickly checkmated, then the challenges facing the elections would be difficult to overcome.”

Continuing his speech the chairman added:

“We are hell-bent on doing our best; although our best might not be enough, but we will be impartial and nonpartisan.”

Jega announced in his statement that the commission was ready to conduct elections in the three North Eastern states, Adamawa, Yobe and Borno fighting with the Boko Haram insurgency.
He also mentioned that the commission was trying to ensure it captured all the internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Talking about the upcoming elections, Jega called on Nigerians to take an active part in it.

“No matter what people have to come out and vote with integrity and do everything that will avoid political crises because election results are not determined by violence or burning of people’s properties; it is determined by open casting of one vote in a free and fair atmosphere.”

According to Vanguard, Jega also stressed in his lecture that the level of successes in the forthcoming elections would depend on people’s collaboration as well.

“Good elections are not the business of the election managers alone. Politicians want to win by hook or by crook; they induce and entice INEC officials and if they fail, they threaten them because it is an investment that they want to win at all costs. INEC is not a magician, we can make mistakes. The problems with elections are enormous and most politicians don’t play by the rules, but the fact remains that we are democratising and it would take time to clear the Aegean stable and every stakeholder has to thrown in his/her best.”

The chairman assured the reporters and the audience that the commission had improved its work based on the mistakes of the past in order to provide a free, fair and credible election.
Furthermore he reminded that the INEC had removed four million people from the voters register because of their multiple registrations.
The INEC chairman has recently announced that in its current projection, the cost per voter in the February elections is $7.90 (over N1,300.00) bringing the total cost for the 68 million voters to about N90.2 billion.
According to him, figure is $1.10 higher than that of the 2011 elections, despite the enormous technology that is currently deploying into the electoral process.