Nigeria’s vice president, Yemi Osinbajo has charged politicians in the country on proper conduct during elections.
According to a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, on Monday, Osinbajo made the call at the maiden Policy Making and Good Governance Lecture Series held at the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies in Kuru, Plateau State.
While warning politicians against the use of ethnic sentiments to divide Nigerians, he also condemned the intimidation of voters by armed thugs during the last elections.
He said: “The leadership elites have a duty to conduct themselves with a high sense of responsibility even as they prosecute their contest for power.
“One of such lines is the willful exploitation of sectional sentiments and the invocation of ethnic antipathies to mobilise a political constituency.
“It is dangerous because it is an attempt that seeks to mobilize by fostering division and hatred.
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“These elections witnessed the exploitation by political actors of the fears and anxieties of people about so-called outsiders.
“Any attempts to deny people the right to vote in any locality on the basis that they do not belong in that place are condemnable in the strongest possible terms.
“We must ennoble and validate Nigeria that our young people are consciously or unconsciously building. This is the future we want.
“The only thing that grows in a climate of tribal hatred is poverty. This is why justice, healing and a stronger commitment to the ideals of integration are so important.
“Let us never forget that although we may speak different languages, belong to different tribes and profess diverse creeds; we are bound, above all else, by the language of a shared hope, by our common humanity as Nigerians, and a supreme faith in the possibility of our country.”
