Former Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Attairu Jega, has said the country is suffering from bad leadership because those in power, (not exempting President Muhammadu Buhari), were elected through corrupt processes.
Jega made the statement at the maiden inaugural lecture of Kwaravisioners Network for Rural Development, in Ilorin the Kwara State capital, on Saturday.
Speaking on the theme: “Politics, Governance and Leadership Recruitment in 21st Century Democracy” Professor Jega, who described Nigeria as a failing state, urged Nigerians to work hard to change our ways for the country to move forward.
“From the local, state and federal government levels, we have clueless leadership because of the way they got into power,” he declared.
He warned that unless their is a people-oriented party structure that will be accountable to the people, Nigeria may run aground.
He however, distances himself from speculation about presidential ambition, saying “I have no presidential ambition, all I am doing is to contribute to a credible, reliable and acceptable process of election and leadership recruitment in the country.”
Jega who oversaw Buhari’s election as president back in 2015, while serving as INEC Chairman at the time, has expressed regret that those who ended up in power, have made things much worse for Nigerians than the way it was before 2015.
In a bid to make amends for his role in the enthronement of those he now describes as ‘clueless leaders’, he along some prominent leaders in the country, recently formed a new party known as Rescue Nigeria Project (RNP).
While speaking in Abuja, he said the country needs serious political cleansing which would also require every Nigerian to not repeat past mistakes.
“I believe that all Nigerians can no longer sit on the fence as everybody needs to contribute to the cleansing of politics in Nigeria. There should be no fence-sitters; our future is at stake. We cannot allow bad people to continue to govern us or misgovern us and continue to wreck our country and its future,” he said.
