Ahead of the February general elections, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has warned politicians against seeing the process as a do-or-die affair, urging them to see the polls as a means to an end and not an end in itself. 

INEC National Commissioner and chairperson of its Election and Party Monitoring Committee, Prof. Antonia Okoosi-Simbine, gave the charge  at a workshop on Leadership and Conflict Management Skills for Electoral Stakeholders organised by European Centre for Electoral Support, ECES, in Abuja yesterday.

She said: “elections and electoral processes are by nature conflicting, fraught with several challenges that often test the skills of staff of Election Management Bodies, EMBs. This is particularly so in developing democracies where elections are at times perceived as warfare that must be won at all costs. Indeed, a cursory examination of the typical electoral cycle reveals that every phase is fraught with both potential and real dangers“.

“Election which is supposed to be a means to an end, that is, good governance is often seen as an end in itself. So much contestation surrounds our elections with little or scant respect for rule of law and due process” she said.