Former INEC boss Jega lectures Nigerians on the kind of leaders to choose

Former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, has described the kind of leaders Nigeria needs in order to make head way.

According to him, the country does not need a leader who is strong, has power but lacks competent and the ability to take decision and be assertive to ensure that decisions are implemented.

Jega, who stated this at the 58th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association in Abuja on Monday, explained that an incompetent leader who is only strong but lacked competence will only end up destroying institutions.

“What we require most are the competence and capacity of leaders to take decisions and be assertive in ensuring that those decisions are actually implemented. So, we have to be very careful in thinking that a strong leader can really help.

“Just like a weak leader can wreck an institution, a strong leader, who has just that power and courage, but lacks the capacity, ability and competence to lead, can also wreck strong institutions.

“Competence of leadership is a very important variable in bringing about the stable political transition, good governance and deepening of democracy,” he said.

The former INEC boss, who recalled how an erstwhile leader, once said that elections must be do-or-die, urged Nigerian politicians to stop seeing elections as such. He added that agencies of government must shun partisanship because it weakens institutions and erodes public confidence.

“We must emphasise professionalism, impartiality and non-partisanship. This is because quite too often, you have good and strong institutions, but once partisanship is introduced and partiality become the norm, as many public institutions in this country, then those institutions would not be able to deliver effectively on their mandates,” he said.

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Jega, who also hammered on the need for law enforcement agencies and judiciary to be alive to their responsibilities in order to preserve the integrity of the electoral process, added, “From my experience, I am convinced that electoral integrity is key to stable political transition and to ensuring that there is a framework for good governance and societal development. Electoral integrity is not just about the integrity of the election management body. It is also the integrity with which the key stakeholders engage with the electoral process.”

Speaking also at the event, a former military head of state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, regretted the kind of violence always recorded during elections in Africa.

Noting that the recently concluded NBA election was not without its own controversies, he said, “The genesis of Africa’s political problems is the action of sit-tight leaders who do all they can to amend the constitutions in order to perpetuate themselves forever.”

 

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