By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
Apparently dissatisfied with the current political atmosphere in Nigeria, a Senior Fellow of the Center for Democracy and Development (CDD), Professor Jibrin Ibrahim has taken a swipe at Nigerian politicians for their unprincipled character.
He also opined that the characters of Nigerian political class and elections are nothing to write home about, adding that the country’s political class have bad characters even as they are less educated.
Prof. Ibrahim stated these in his Keynote Speech on Tuesday at the Public Presentation and Inaugural Meeting of ‘The Electoral Forum’, a new civil society group, which took place at Grand Pela Hotel & Suites, Durumi, Abuja.
According to him: “Nigerian politicians have very bad behaviours and they are less educated. The political class is the problems with the nation’s electoral experiments. They engage in political factionalism and fratricidal politics”.
Prof. Ibrahim who was also a member of the Electoral Reform Committee established by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, accused Nigerian politicians of capable of circumventing any plan devised to give Nigerians credible elections which will yield the dividends of democracy.
Said he: “Nigerian political parties have never had members since 1999 as most of the parties, in clear contravention of the the Electoral Act, introduced strange positions in their parties like the post of “National Leader” in addition to the National Chairman.
We will get it right when the citizens are registered to be political party members. Parties can only be real if they have genuine members. Political party is an institution but politicians have destroyed it by creating positions which the Electoral Act does not recognised”.
Prof Ibrahim who had observed elections in Nigeria, Ghana, Malawi, Togo, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia and Guinea for the Centre for Democracy and Development, Economic Community of West African States, the Carter Centre and the Commonwealth insists that for Nigeria to get it right, a group like The Electoral Forum and the nation’s intellectual must be involved.
Earlier, Princess Hamman-Obels, Director, Initiative for Research, Innovation and Advocacy in Democracy (IRIAD), in her welcome address stated that ‘The Electoral Hub’ conceptualized ‘The Electoral Forum’ as a way to bring together all the good hands that at one time or the other worked in Nigeria’s Electoral Management Body (EMB) like Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), at one time or another.
She said: “In recognition of this, The Electoral Hub conceptualized The Electoral Forum as a way to pool resource persons from EMBs together with other electoral stakeholders to conceptualize solutions to the unique problems facing the electoral process in Nigeria”.
Hamman-Obels also revealed that the Forum has three specific objectives namely: To facilitate systematic electoral reform. To promote evidence-based law-making, policymaking and advocacy on elections in Nigeria. To advance strategies to improve capacities and credibility of EMBs in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu was among the erudite scholars who attended the launch just as he had earlier spoken through his representative and INEC high-ranking official, Barrister (Mrs) May Agbamuche-Mbu who reiterated the Commission’s determination in conducting free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria.
Speakers after speaker including Chairman of the Forum, Professor Adebayo Olukoshi of Wits School of Governance in South Africa, who said “elections play important role in democratic process of any nation.
