» Nigerian Politicians Most Difficult – Jega «

Former INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, has described
Nigerian politicians as the “most difficult to deal with in
the world”.
Jega made the remarks at Chatham House in London
yesterday in an interactive session after delivering a
lecture titled: ‘Challenges of Modernising Election
Processes: the Nigerian Experience’.
“ When I was vice-chancellor, I thought students were the
most difficult to deal with”, he said, but added that at
INEC, he found out that politicians in Nigeria were the
most difficult to relate with.
He said despite efforts aimed at “carrying the politicians
along” by keeping them abreast with INEC activities and
initiatives, the politicians would later turn round to reject
what they approved or accused the commission of trying
to favour rival parties if things were not going the way
they wanted.
He said both the former government and the National
Assembly approved funds for smart card readers and
permanent voters cards, among others, after being
convinced of their necessity in ensuring credible elections,
but when it dawned on them that they would not be able to
manipulate elections as they did in the past, they strongly
opposed the initiatives.
Describing Nigerian politicians as dogged and adept at
pursuing their interests by “hook or crook”, Prof. Jega said
the politicians could easily change tunes and cry foul when
they realise that issues do not favour them or they could
not manipulate them for their personal gains.
He attributed the huge success of the 2015 general
elections to the adoption of technology in both the
planning, management and conduct of the elections, and
expressed optimism that “transparent and credible
elections have come to stay in Nigeria”.
He listed funding, people’s suspicion of technology and
aversion to changes by politicians, security of data,
qualified manpower, among others, as some of the
challenges of using technology in the conduct of
transparent and acceptable elections.
He recommended partnerships between nascent African
democracies with donor and development partners to
make the necessary technological tools affordable, ICT
capacity building, quality assurance, specification and
standardisation of facilities to make them adaptable by
electoral bodies in Africa