Former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC), Attahiru Jega, has said if care is not taken, the prediction
of US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on the disintegration of
Nigeria will come to pass.
Jega said this yesterday while speaking at Tell Magazine’s 20 years of
democracy conference in Abuja.
In the build up to the 2015 election, the CIA had predicted that
Nigeria would disintegrate.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan accepted his loss to President
Muhammadu Buhari, a move many said averted anarchy.
Speaking at the conference, the former INEC chairman said the country
has witnessed some “reversals” in the progress it made during the 2015
elections.
Jega said more work needed to be done to protect the integrity of the
country’s electoral process before 2023.
“The CIA thought that 2015 was the do or die period for Nigeria, that
there would not be a Nigeria in the way you know after the 2015
general election – that has come to pass, but I think if we do not
take care, a lot of these predictions will come to pass that is why we
need to do quite a lot, much more than we have ever done in order to
protect the integrity of the electoral process before 2023,” he said.
Jega said there is “remarkable” trust deficit by the electorate in the
electoral process.
“The clearest evidence of this loss of trust and confidence is
declining voter turnout in elections since 1999,” he said.
“For example, people have argued that in 2015 the generalised
insecurity was result of the activities of Boko Haram have been
responsible for the low voter turnout regardless of the improvement in
the electoral process.
“The postponement of elections both in 2015 and 2019 may be some
explanations as to why there was voter turnout.”
