Muiz Banire, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has criticized Nigeria’s leadership recruitment process and urged Nigerians, particularly the elite, to find a solution before the 2023 general elections.
Banire claimed that the majority of Nigerians at all levels of government do not understand the difference between right and wrong, but criticized the election process for electing them from the electorate to the electoral commission.
This was stated by the Senior Advocate of Nigeria during a seminar on “The Nigerian State Structure and the 2023 Elections,” which was hosted by Fountain University Osogbo’s College of Management and Social Sciences.
He stated that the electorate are the Nigerians who are eligible to cast votes and presented themselves for voting in each successive general election. He said that Nigerians who registered to vote but failed, refused to vote; and those that are eligible to register to vote but failed “affect the success or otherwise of the electoral process.”
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He cited, “As at the 11th day of March 2019, the electorate population in Nigeria electorate, however, fail to exercise their franchise, thereby availing the 200,962,417 estimated population of Nigerians. Majority of the was estimated to be about 84,004,084 which represented 49.78% of the politicians the opportunity to manipulate the process.”
He claims that elections in Nigeria have always been rigged. “The causes of this can be found in the main characters, who are characterized by rigging, violence, manipulations, and bloodshed” use of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials to manipulate elections and buy votes from the vulnerable and weak – defenseless people who are not only denied their democratic rights of choice but also put in danger in the process.
He chastised the elite’s electoral mindset and urged them to step up to educate the vulnerable Nigerians – the needy – the weak to be more cautious and willing to sacrifice their immediate comfort for the long-term goal of effective governance.
