The Progressive Governors Forum( PGF) has berated the former chairman Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) Professor Attahiru Jega over his recent comment that the two major parties in the country has failed Nigerians.
The Director-General of PGF, Dr Salihu Lukman, said this on Monday in a statement in Abuja.
TheFact Recalled that the Professor had on August 2, in a BBC Hausa Service interview said that the two parties- the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party had failed Nigerians and should not be trusted again.
However, Lukman said Jega had no evidence to support his submission.
“He had submitted that the two big parties had failed to engender good governance and development in the country; consequently, he called on Nigerians not to give their trust to the parties again.
“Coming from Jega, the claim that both the PDP and APC are the same and had failed Nigerians should not be taken lightly,’’ he said.
Lukman said this was especially because Jega wasn’t just INEC`s former chairman, but a respected political scientist internationally, a theoretician and practitioner whose commitment to Nigeria’s development could not be faulted.
He said that Jega grew through the ranks of radical activism to become the leader, both intellectually and in the practical field of politics.
Lukman said that the former INEC chairman was able to inspire and influence the emergence of generation of both activists and leaders in the country.
Lukman said as a former INEC chairman, it could not be disputed that Jega successfully led the reform of electoral management in the country.
He noted that as expected, both the PDP and APC dismissed Jega’s submission, arguing that he was wrong to conclude that the parties had failed Nigerians.
He added that such allegations should be proven beyond the opinion of people, stressing that Jega did not present any specific validation on his conclusion.
“Both listening and reading the script of the interview, one is tempted to conclude that Jega spoke more as a politician in that interview than the thorough scholar he is.
“Being a Peoples` Redemption Party (PRP) member, it was more about justifying his choice of PRP as opposed to any of the so-called big parties.
“In many respects, it wasn’t necessary at all, he doesn’t need to justify his political choice with reference to other parties.
“In many respects, it wasn’t necessary at all, he doesn’t need to justify his political choice with reference to other parties.
