High levels of poverty, illiteracy, and unemployment will continue to pose threats to democratic elections in the country, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said.
The Chief Administration Officer of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mr. Tony Ezenmo stated this known, yesterday, during the Zonal Training for Electoral Security Personnel for Kogi 2019 Governorship Election which took place in Idah, Kogi State.
Ezenmo, however, noted that elections have become more regular, more competitive because of strong opposition parties and the integrity of the electoral process has improved.
“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 incident 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.”
He said as long as the members of the political class continue to mobilize on the basis of ethno-religious and communal sentiments and not on the basis of the programmes and vision of society they represent, political conflict and violence will remain enduring features of the country’s political system.