#NigeriaDecides2023: Ethnicity, poverty influenced electoral process, says CDD

Jinadu Adele, chairperson of the election analysis centre of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), says factors such as underdevelopment and ethnic differences influenced the general election.

Speaking on Sunday at a media briefing in Abuja, Adele said poverty and insecurity were also major players, thus making money a tool in the electoral process.

“The first one is of course, identity and our findings are basically this – ethnicity either in the form of specific ethnicities, Igbo, Hausa, Fulani or what have you, has played a very, very important role in the unfolding of the electoral process,” he said.

“But in doing so, the question of ethnicity also assumed another definition, the whole emphasis on rotational presidency, but defined on a north-south axis. This was also a very, very important driving factor.

“And to just give one example, the identity question, either you define it in the presidency factor or the geopolitical factor, north and south, was also a major cause of intra-party and inter-party conflict that has happened in terms of the effect on the politics of the electoral process.”

Adele also said INEC’s infrastructure and the proliferation of hate speech on social media platforms were also important determinants for how the elections played out.

“One is the logistic issue that is posed by our own undevelopment and it is not under the control of INEC,” the CDD official said.

“Take for example, how many vehicles do you need for the process? INEC has to subcontract the delivery of vehicles to somebody. In other countries, it is the government agencies that provide this. Then you give out to contractors and on election day, they want to get more money, the battery has broken down, flat tires; you cannot monitor the drivers.

“So that’s the issue. If you had a good transport system in the country, you could send these things out before the day but it has to be done because the postal service is not efficient. There are problems with the development.”

Speaking about the performance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Adele said the commission recorded improvement, but that is room for growth in terms of its mode of operations.