Matthew Kukah, Catholic bishop of Sokoto, says violence has become synonymous with Nigerian politics because the system rewards it.
The outspoken clergy said the political system in the country is lucrative, which is the reason why candidates want to win elections at all costs.
Speaking on Wednesday during a programme on Channels Television, Kukah said electoral violence is largely spurred by the reward system associated with politics.
“It is the reward system in the political system that encourages violence because if you see the almost automatic change in quality of life and the opportunities that come to people who are holding public office or who win elections, you realise that the rewards are a zero-sum game. To be out, like somebody said, you lose elections, you could actually lose your life,” he said.
Why
“So, to the extent that we have a political system that rewards you directly, for example, if you voted for the wrong candidate, you may not have a road to your village; you may not have light to your village; you may not have drinking water.
“So, the consequences on this create the desperation among Nigerians that ‘our man or our woman must win at all costs’.
“Otherwise, if politics were just for service, we wouldn’t have needed to fight about service. So, all these people who are telling you ‘vote for us, we will work for you’, the history suggests something different.”