A Professor of Political Science and member, Governing Board, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Jibrin Ibrahim, has said the next president of Nigeria is likely to fail like former President Goodluck Jonathan and incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari.
Speaking at the 20th Media Trust Dialogue with the theme, “Interrogating the 2023 presidential agenda” on Thursday in Abuja, Prof Ibrahim said while the presidential candidates have unveiled well-articulated and detailed manifestos on what they want to do if elected, they have failed to explain how they would do it.
He also said those manifestos were not written by them with inputs from party leaders and members, but written by highly intellectual professionals who would not be part of their government.
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He said, “The manifestos for this elections are of extremely high quality, the analysis of the economy and society is very thorough, the propositions are very good, and the three key issues being addressed are issues that have been with us since the Jonathan administration.
“Addressing insecurity in the land, combating corruption in public service, and diversifying the economy, all the manifestos are focused on these three issues.
“But that really is not the point. Which of these parties has a rare vision? I happened to know how these manifestos are written. Jonathan came into power, promised a lot of fresh air, but failed totally. President Buhari came to power with these same issues, promised a rare change this time, and we are worst than when he came to power.
“The public service in this country is very dysfunctional; it is corrupt and the structure of its operations is to deepen corruption. None of these manifestos speak on how to address issues in the public service to deliver the promises they make.
“We know the leading members of political parties are there for political patronage; they are there to make money. So if you are going into government with who have their eyes on looting the public treasury, then it is not convincing for instance, that you will combat corruption.
“What is the integrity factor among some of the leading candidates? Our task as citizens is to learn from their promises, investigate and get our findings and take decisions that will guide our choice.”
