{"id":152808,"date":"2025-02-25T23:11:44","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T22:11:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/political-leaders-exploiting-elections-to-stay-in-power-jega"},"modified":"2025-02-27T22:52:46","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T21:52:46","slug":"political-leaders-exploiting-elections-to-stay-in-power-jega","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/political-leaders-exploiting-elections-to-stay-in-power-jega","title":{"rendered":"Political leaders exploiting elections to stay in power \u2013 Jega"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega, has warned that democracy in West Africa is deteriorating due to poor governance and ineffective leadership.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday as the keynote speaker at the \u201cReflection Conference on Democratic Elections in West Africa,\u201d organized by Yiaga Africa, a civil society organization (CSO), Jega linked governance failures to the resurgence of military coups across the region.<\/p>\n<p>He cited recent coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Niger as evidence of growing public dissatisfaction, attributing this unrest to the actions of political leaders who have prioritized personal gain over public service.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe so-called elected representatives of the people have essentially converted public resources into personal fortunes at the expense of citizens\u2019 needs and aspirations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Jega warned that democratic setbacks caused by governance failures have provided justification for military interventions, posing a significant threat to the region\u2019s stability.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese persistent challenges have given coupists the excuses needed to stage a comeback\u2014a dangerous phenomenon that could engulf the region and accelerate democratic backsliding unless addressed decisively and urgently,\u201d he cautioned.<\/p>\n<p>He criticized political leaders for using elections as a means to retain power rather than to deepen democracy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cElections became largely farcical rituals designed to ensure the retention of the incumbent president and party,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n<p>Jega also highlighted the dangers of identity politics, arguing that ethnic and religious divisions have been weaponized by politicians to maintain control, further destabilizing the region. \u201cMultiparty politics, circumscribed by negative identity mobilization, has been fractious, conflict-ridden, often violent, and divisive, rather than accommodative or unifying,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Calling for urgent reforms, he emphasized the need to strengthen democratic institutions, enhance accountability, and ensure that elections genuinely reflect the people\u2019s will.<\/p>\n<p>Jega urged civil society organizations to resist democratic decline, stating that \u201ccitizens and credible CSOs must continue to mobilize effectively for credible and sustainable democratic development.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Nigeria<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. Former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega, has warned that democracy in West Africa is deteriorating due to poor governance and ineffective leadership. Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday as the keynote speaker at the \u201cReflection Conference on Democratic Elections in West Africa,\u201d organized by Yiaga Africa, a civil [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":152807,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[3600,254,16035],"class_list":["post-152808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-csos","tag-nigeria","tag-professor-jega"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Political leaders exploiting elections to stay in power \u2013 Jega - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega, has warned that democracy in Wes ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/political-leaders-exploiting-elections-to-stay-in-power-jega\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Political leaders exploiting elections to stay in power \u2013 Jega\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega, has warned that democracy in Wes ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/political-leaders-exploiting-elections-to-stay-in-power-jega\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-25T22:11:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-27T21:52:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/02\/sm_1740512620.48322.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"843\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/political-leaders-exploiting-elections-to-stay-in-power-jega#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/political-leaders-exploiting-elections-to-stay-in-power-jega\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Political leaders exploiting elections to stay in power \u2013 Jega\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-25T22:11:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-27T21:52:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/political-leaders-exploiting-elections-to-stay-in-power-jega\"},\"wordCount\":338,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/political-leaders-exploiting-elections-to-stay-in-power-jega#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/02\/sm_1740512620.48322.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"CSOs\",\"Nigeria\",\"Professor Jega\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/political-leaders-exploiting-elections-to-stay-in-power-jega#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/political-leaders-exploiting-elections-to-stay-in-power-jega\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/political-leaders-exploiting-elections-to-stay-in-power-jega\",\"name\":\"Political leaders exploiting elections to stay in power \u2013 Jega - 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