The Archbishop of Sokoto Diocese of the ‎Catholic Church, Mathew Hassan Kukah, has warned President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and state governors against imposing candidates on political parties and the electorates, pointing out that such impositions would heat up the polity and compromise efforts at engendering a free, fair and credible polls in 2015.

Speaking in Abuja at a National Stakeholders’ Forum on Elections organized in Abuja by the Civil Society Situation Room on Achieving the Implementation of Credible 2015 general elections‎, Kukah said unless Nigerians themselves want credible election in 2015, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) cannot conduct one.

Kukah lamented that Nigeria had yet to develop a culture of succession, pointing out that this had resulted in what he described as, “a system of government by the corrosive poison of anointing,” which he said promoted rent seeking.

He regretted that presidents and governors are all determined to instal their own favourite wives (as in Zimbabwe), their sons (as in Meseveni) or their godsons and daughters as we see in the land.

“By forcing candidates, sitting presidents or governors simply heat up the system and frustrate outcomes in elections by contriving outcomes‎,” Kukah stated.

He said a situation where people hurriedly resigned their appointments to go and seek elective posts implied that there would be no level playing ground for all candidates.

The firebrand cleric advocated a structure that will bar political office holders from leaving office and venturing immediately into politics. “What chances do new comers have to win elections if they are competing with those who have had access to state resources by virtue of the positions they held before they left office?” he retorted.

Kukah noted that “since political office is the domain of patronage and privilege, the country was caught in the predicament of the men and women in the fortified city: those inside can not get out and those outside can’t enter.

“It is this convoluted logic that produces the violence and the humiliating culture of accumulation and theft‎ in the land,” he added.

Also speaking at the event‎, INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, said even though the commission was faced with the big challenge of getting politicians to play by the rules, he was certain the electoral body will deliver a betting outing in 2015.

He said adequate resources were being deployed to put everything in place towards a successful 2015 general elections. He said: ‎”Attitude of the political class is the greatest challenge. They want to intimidate, harass and induce.

He observed that investigation conducted by the electoral body revealed that members of the National Youth Service Corps who compromised during their electoral duties were threatened by politicians to either collect gratification or be killed.

Consequently, he urged politicians to play by the rules of the game during the 2015 elections.

Jega said that the commission had identified and blocked many of the loopholes exploited in the past by politicians to rig elections‎.

He said: “I'm confident that 2015 will be better operationally and logistically.”

He said that a better voters register had been produced and that all ballot boxes were being numbered serially. This, he said was not so when he was appointed in 2010.

Jega said: “In ‎ 2010 when I was inaugurated as chairman INEC, we discovered that there was abandonment of doing the basic things that allow election to be credible such as keeping voters register. A good register is fundamental to the success of an election.”

He conceded that security remained a challenge even as he said all security agencies had come together to address this challenge.

According to the INEC Chairman, “Security is also a challenge, especially in the three states in northeast. We cannot put our men and resources at risk. But we are having an inter-agencies security meetings going on frequently. “

•Adapted from a Guardian On Saturday report. Photo shows Archbishop Kukah.

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