The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Abdullahi Ganduje has pointed fingers at poor Nigerians, INEC, and other institutions for perpetuating corruption in Nigeria.
Speaking at a high-level meeting with national executives of political parties and other stakeholders in Abuja, Ganduje said that blaming politicians and public officeholders alone would not solve the problem of weak institutions in Nigeria.
Instead, he stressed the need to strengthen institutions, citing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as an example.
Ganduje, who has a corruption case to answer in Kano, stated, “The major problem we have in Nigeria is that of weak institutions because we are just going on an atrocious circle. Unless we break that circle and make our institutions strong, we are just blaming the politicians. Political parties are also weak and because of that weakness, corruption thrives.”
He added, “Let us not be blaming the politicians, officeholders, those who win elections. Yes, we blame them, but let us look at the security system, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that oversees the election.”
The comments by the APC Chairman were echoed by Bishop Matthew Kukah, founder of The Kukah Centre (TKC), who moderated a panel session.
He called on Nigerians to learn from past mistakes and build stronger institutions and democracy in the country.
He said, “Whether it is the judiciary or bureaucracy, all is a work in progress, and the most important thing is for us to learn the mistakes of the past and then develop the mechanism for ensuring that things don’t continue to repeat themselves.
“So, if you ask who built institutions? Institutions are supposed to be a mirror reflecting the aspirations, the fears, the hopes and the anxieties of an entire people. That means that for the police to become an institution and for the bureaucracy to become an institution, Nigerians must collectively and individually learn to say no to things going contrary to the principles of that institution.
“So, I think it is everybody’s business really for Nigeria to have stronger institutions.’’
