Former Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Ibrahim Attahiru Jega has warned politicians intending to contest for elective positions in 2019 to carefully craft a manifesto that will convince the electorates as the era of buying votes was gone. Prof. Jega stated this on Friday at an interactive forum organised by the Centre for Democracy and Development, CDD, to interrogate how African government’s can reconcile procedural democratic practices with substantive democracy.
He lamented that the struggle for democracy to survive in Africa has been characterized by frustration because of the failure of governance to satisfy the aspirations and expectations of the people as well as promote stability.
According to him;
“Unless the people let politicians know that they cannot buy their way into office every four or five years, through the ballot box, they will never be responsible and responsive to the needs and aspirations of the people. Voters should realize that they are critical stakeholders that deserve to be listened to. Hence, it is imperative they begin to protect the integrity of the electoral process so as to have sufficient moral ground to hold those in governance accountable.
Relying exclusively on extractive revenue is unhealthy for good governance and democracy. All a public office holder needs to do to loot the treasure is simply to divert funds accruing to government from the extractive sector of the economy. However, if the government raises bulk of its revenue by compelling people to pay their taxes, the people will in turn be interested in knowing how the taxes they paid were utilized, and that will reduce the level of the corruption perpetuated by those in government."
“We need to careful with what the frustrations of democracy can lead us into. Militarianism should never again be an option for us. Democracy may not be the only game but it is a major game in town,” he added.
