The PDP Governorship Candidate for Lagos State, Dr Abdul-Azeez Adediran (a.k.a Jandor), has said that lack of commitment to election processes by the elite constituted a huge problem to Nigeria’s democracy.
Adediran said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that many members of the elite were not voting at elections.
He added that they were reluctant to interrogate candidates to ensure that only the qualified would be voted for.
Assessing Nigeria’s 24 years of unbroken democratic rule, Adediran said that the elite had left voting and many other processes of election in the hands of the uneducated.
According to the PDP candidate, failure to vote for qualified candidates gives room for the less qualified ones to rule.
“I still see the elite as the problem of our democracy because we, for over two decades, have deliberately left for those in the informal sectors and the grassroots to decide who and who govern us.
“All of us, with our education, sit back and allow the less qualified to be in charge. We are still the problem,” he said.
He called on the elite to get more involved in election processes.
Adediran said that Nigeria needed leaders who would build sustainable institutions and rule with the fear of God to address challenges facing the people.
He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for signing the amended Electoral Bill into law.
Adediran said that the assent had given hope to many election candidates that votes would count, especially with the provision of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and electronic transmission of results.
He expressed the hope that the innovations would stand the test of time when deployed across the country.
On destruction of some INEC offices by suspected arsonists, Adediran said that the perpetrators would not stop the 2023 polls.
“They are just wasting their time because their actions will not stop the elections.
“All information about voters are already uploaded on INEC’s server. I don’t see their actions threatening 2023 elections,” he said.
He said that in spite of challenges, Nigeria had recorded successes in its 24 years of democracy.
“We have made a whole lot of successes; that is why I am able to join the process. We are getting there.” (NAN)
