By Boluwaji Obahopo

Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, yesterday in Lokoja, Kogi State, said high-level poverty, illiteracy and unemployment would continue to threaten participatory democracy in Nigeria.

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)

INEC’s Chief Administration Officer, Mr. Tony Ezenmo stated this during the Zonal Training for Electoral Security Personnel for Kogi 2019 Governorship Election.

Mr. Ezenmo of INEC, however, noted that elections had become more regular, and competitive because of strong opposition and improved integrity of the electoral process.

According to him, “The implication of this is that the culture of election is beginning to take roots in the country as we saw in the victory of the opposition in the 2015 Presidential Election and the acceptance of defeat by an incumbent president. Sometimes, the challenge of electoral insecurity comes largely from undue exploitation of ethnic, religious and communal differences by the political elite. Political elites who deliberately exploit existing social cleavages and fault lines for political advantage are often referred to as conflict entrepreneurs.”

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He said as long as the members of the political class continued to mobilize on the basis of ethnoreligious and communal sentiments and not on the basis of issues, programmes and vision of a society, political conflict and violence would remain enduring features of the country’s political system.

Ezenmo added that “Security agencies are mandated by law to harness and deploy their human and material resources to provide a conducive environment for all activities of the Election Managers Boards, EMB, political parties, politicians, the electorate and other stakeholders in all phases of the electoral process.

“It is imperative that all security agencies consider the threats and risk factors peculiar to each phase, plan sufficiently and deploy personnel and resources to ensure that all related activities of the electoral process are successful.” INEC says

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