Jonathan Meant Well For Democracy -Jega

The former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Attahiru Jega has said that former President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan meant well for the democracy of Nigeria.
In an interview with a policy researcher at Africa Research Institute, Jamie Hitchen, Jega, who presided over the conduct of the 2015 general elections, said Jonathan granted all the financial requests of INEC and did not try to personally interfere with the commission’s work.
He told the not-for-profit group, founded in 2007, that “the administration of Goodluck Jonathan, President from 2010 to 2015, never gave any reason to suspect that there was a deliberate and wilful attempt to emasculate the funding of INEC”.
According to him, “for this, they should be applauded. No situation arose where we had to go cap-in-hand to the executive looking for funding, and I must add that when supplementary funding was needed, it was nearly always forthcoming”.
Jega explained that, “for most of the time during our tenure, Jonathan tried not to personally interfere with the commission’s work. Only in the run-up to the 2015 election did his government and ruling political party seek to interfere with the decision of INEC to use electronic card readers.
“We were able to remind them that they had supported the idea and funded it. Overall, I think that Jonathan meant well for democracy in our country, a view strengthened by the gracious way he conceded electoral defeat in 2015”, Jega added.