Yiaga Africa accuses politicians of undermining democracy

By Musa Baba Adamu

Yiaga Africa has accused Nigerian politicians of subverting democracy and electoral values.
The Executive Director of the Group , Samson Itodo, who stated this in an interview yesterday in Abuja, added that attitudinal change among politicians is critical to achieving credible elections in the country, urging them to respect the will of the people.
He said: “Attitudinal change among politicians is the most critical electoral reform Nigeria needs. There should be a fundamental shift in the behaviour of politicians toward politics and this will radically deepen the integrity of elections.
“The zero-sum nature of politics and the do-or-die attitude drives Nigerian politicians to undermine and capture democratic institutions and circumvent electoral rules with disdain.
“Politicians should demonstrate commitment to democratic values and respect the will of the people as an act of patriotism and dedication to nation-building,” Mr Itodo said.
He urged the judiciary not to succumb to such politicians’ which could lead to miscarriage of justice and subversion of people’s will.
The Yiaga chief said that the successful introduction of the BVAS meant that the Electoral Act should be amended to permit other legally acceptable means of identification.
Mr Itodo said, “They should apply to voter verification in addition to the already produced Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs), and other means of identification can be incorporated.
“This includes a driver’s licence, passport, national identity card, electronically downloadable voters’ card from INEC website and any other means of identification as may be determined by INEC.”
Mr Itodo also advocated reducing the timeframe for the disposal of appeals on pre-election and election petitions from 60 days to 30 days.
He advanced that appeals on pre-election matters related to national and state assemblies should terminate at the Court of Appeal.