Former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega has stated that US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) prediction on the disintegration of Nigeria might come to pass if not taken seriously.
Speaking at the Tell Magazine’s 20 years of democracy conference in Abuja on Wednesday October 23, Jega said there has been some reversals on the progress the country made during the 2015 election and the INEC’s integrity must be worked on ahead of the 2023 election.
“The CIA thought that 2015 was the do or die period for Nigeria, that there would not be a Nigeria in the way you know after the 2015 general election – that has come to pass, but I think if we do not take care, a lot of these predictions will come to pass that is why we need to do quite a lot, much more than we have ever done in order to protect the integrity of the electoral process before 2023,” he said.
“The clearest evidence of this loss of trust and confidence is declining voter turnout in elections since 1999.
“For example, people have argued that in 2015 the generalised insecurity was a result of the activities of Boko Haram have been responsible for the low voter turnout regardless of the improvement in the electoral process.
“The postponement of elections both in 2015 and 2019 may be some explanations as to why there was voter turnout” he added.
