The Burden Of Questioning Political Aspirants’ Integrity -By Isaac Asabor

There is no denying the fact that prior to the present stage in the ongoing political dispensation that not a few Nigerians threw support behind Journalists and activists affiliated with various civil society groups committed to the attainment of good governance, and making recommendations that were put forward in calling for people-focused leadership from politicians seeking to participate in upcoming general and presidential elections scheduled to hold in February 2023. The general consensus was that aspiring candidates must possess the necessary qualifications to hold high offices in government.

Against the foregoing backdrop, not a few Nigerians were unanimous in their views that something was critically wrong with the notion that Journalists, lawyers, bankers, and other professionals holding sway in diverse sectors of the economy are held to higher minimum standards than aspiring politicians. For the politicians, even wayward and miscreants are considered to be leaders as long as they are popular among those at the grassroots. That is populism for you!

Without a doubt, the forgoing retrogressive political trend is censoriously seen to be an aberration and paradox as politicians who will be in diverse political positions to write laws, conduct the nation’s businesses, approve the nation’s budget and expenditure, and make bills of the highest moral fiber, and who are expected to be appreciably sound; intelligently and morally, are left to contest for leadership positions that have direct bearings on the collective destiny of the people, without being held to a higher standard.

In fact, it is not as if they were not called out to tell the people about what made them qualify for the positions they are contesting for, they were called to do so. Unfortunately, we are in a country where such calls are seen by political supporters and followers to be campaigns of calumny. In fact, when they are reminded of their Achilles heels or flaws, they will say they are being made objects of a campaign of calumny or being denigrated without being realistic or objectively facing the issue at stake. We have had the issue of questioning the propriety of presenting an ailing candidate for an elective position only for his or her supporters to resort to emotional appeal by saying that such a candidate was been mocked, rather than being realistic and admitting the fact that the present state of the Nigerian economy is too complicated for anyone that is battling with ill-health to revive.

It is sad to say that what people call a campaign of calumny in this part of the world is what people in other climes consider to be a democratic ideal that calls political parties to engender systems that turn out politicians of a high standard to put themselves up for election in their constituencies.

On a personal note, the fact that we are misconstruing what a campaign of calumny means should not make us collectively become blind to the fact that honesty and integrity are the two key elements politicians aspiring to political positions or public offices must have.

Given the foregoing, it is equally advisory for any aspiring politician that was charged or implicated in or by other jurisdictions such as in the United States and Europe to recuse himself or herself from further involvement in politics until the circumstances are fully resolved.

In fact, Nigeria’s democracy has reached the point where the people must demand that political parties stop putting forward candidates of questionable character. Nigeria’s politics has reached the stage where criminals and corrupt politicians must be shielded from participating in elections that will see them being voted into critical political offices, and it must start with those who are representing us in government. As for politicians of questionable character who seek elective positions in parliament, they should be made to realize that being the people that represent us in law-making chambers they must be made to show the example of the laws they would be busy making, while those in the executive arm of government should be made to demonstrate the character that would portray them to be leaders that are of impeccable integrity and trust when successfully elected to various political offices.

The reason for the foregoing cannot be farfetched as it is no more news that the key requirements of political candidates should be honesty, good moral values, qualification in their respective constituencies, proper education, and a clear vision and mission for the direction of Nigeria.

In fact, this writer subscribes to the political thought that political candidates must live in the constituencies they represent, and condemn the situations where politicians of questionable credentials and characters emerge as political aspirants in a society where not a few professions require qualifications and impeccable ethical disposition to be admitted into. The rationale for expressing this viewpoint cannot be farfetched as politics deals with the most complex national problems, so persons who call themselves politicians should be well-behaved and educated.

Of more unsatisfactory is that politicians that allegedly have questionable characters and credentials are left to have their way by contesting for various political positions. Whenever they are called to question based on the deficiencies found in them, particularly as to their characters and credentials, they will hide under the cloak of being maligned and calumniated. Worse still, the people have for the umpteenth time been rebuffed as this category of politicians keeps turning down invitations offered to them by an assembled team of prominent thinkers committed to issues that political parties should address in the lead-up to the general and presidential elections that are scheduled to hold in February in 2023, and in the immediate aftermath of forming the Government.

Against the foregoing backdrop, it is expedient to urge Nigerians to vote for candidates who are clean, after asking themselves critical questions about the aspiring candidates in their constituencies.