A former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, believes the 2023 general elections were “credible in many substantial aspects,” though he says blame should be apportioned “appropriately”.
The elections, their results, the associated legal disputes, and some rulings by electoral petition tribunals and the Court of Appeal have all been met with differing opinions.
In a live appearance on Politics Today on Channels Television, Jega, on Monday, clarified that his positive analysis of the polls did not necessarily support Prof. Yakubu Mahmood, the INEC chairman who succeeds him.
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“I would say that, in many substantial aspects, it was credible,” he said.
“In areas where we have seen serious challenges that are avoidable and should have been avoided, I believe that to a large extent — and you asked me to be very frank with you — we have a tendency to heap blame on the leadership of an electoral management body and I have had my own fair share of those kinds of blames.”
Declaring that “we should apportion blame appropriately,” the professor of political science argued that in a lot of the areas where there were “very serious challenges,” politicians played a direct role.
According to him, such influence “more or less circumscribed the powers” of INEC and its chairman.
“So, to my mind, really, it’s unfortunate it has happened on the watch of Yakubu Mahmood but it has happened not because — to my mind, I have no evidence that he is complicit in these things,” Jega added.
