‘INEC bears moral burden to deliver credible polls’

[TGD]

CHAIRMAN, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega and a former Nigeria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Dr. Yusufu Maitama Sule, yesterday identified high ethical and moral conducts as imperatives for the commission's workers to deliver free, fair and credible elections holding in 15 days' time.

The duo spoke at a one-day workshop on "Ethical foundation of election management" organised by INEC in collaboration with the Fredrick Ebert Stiftung Foundation for resident electoral commissioners, administrative secretaries, electoral officers and assistant electoral officers from the North Central Zone ahead of the elections.

According to an INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of INEC Electoral Institute, Prof. Lai Olurode, Nigeria could be compared to a sea of decay with its pockets of ethical islands under siege as exemplified by the near absence of individuals and institutions in the country that resonate with social integrity, honesty and concern for the public good.

His words: "Nigeria's moral threshold has been weakened. Though Nigeria is rich in a material sense, it is poor in ethical sense. With such a profile, the prospect of free, fair and credible elections is ominous. Nigerians have high expectations that INEC should be part of Nigeria's disappearing islands and we cannot do this without deciding to be rebels."          

Corroborating Olurode's views, Jega told participants that the commission and its managers have the moral burden to ensure the success of the forthcoming elections in order to meet the expectations of Nigerians and the international community.    

The INEC chief said: "We need to remind ourselves on the need to bring about a new ethical foundation, which forms the basis for the quest for excellence. It is important that we remind ourselves that high moral standards underpin successful electoral process."

He identified integrity, honesty, transparency, incorruptibility and efficiency as some of the attributes that could help build the confidence of Nigerians in the electoral system, lamenting, however, that these qualities have been in short supply over the years.

Ega stressed: "At the moment, we have the public trust to conduct free, fair and credible elections. That means we must deploy these attributes to bear on our jobs."

Maitama Sule, who was the guest speaker, agreed that Nigeria was standing at the threshold of history and at crossroads over its election system because of the country's influence in Africa and world's affairs.

Against the backdrop of the fact that Nigeria's smaller neighbours like Ghana and Niger Republic have gotten their electoral processes right and received global accolades for the development, Maitama Sule warned: "The world is watching Nigeria because she has the greatest political clout in Africa and it is supposed to be higher than other countries, especially in Africa. The question now is should we meet the expectation or fail to meet those expectations?"

However, Maitama Sule said he remained optimistic despite the challenges facing the country's electoral process and charged the electoral officers to serve as the agents of change that the country desired to change the negative perceptions about its electoral process.

He said: "You the electoral officers are the panacea, the solutions and the vanguard of the revolution."

Maitama Sule submitted that Nigeria needed a stubborn and principled electoral chief like Jega to spearhead the quest to conduct a credible election in the country.          

Source: 'INEC bears moral burden to deliver credible polls'