Chief Olu Falae, a former National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and one-time Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) has said honest and principled Nigerians will find it very difficult to attaining political power, especially the presidency because the country is still practicing jungle politics.

Speaking in an interview with INDEPENDENT, Falae, a former presidential candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in the 1999 presidential election said competition for power in Nigeria is usually in in favour of unscrupulous and unprincipled politicians who are prepared to do anything to achieve power.

He said given the nature of politics in Nigeria, which is dirty and brutal, any politician who wants to play by the rule will find it difficult to achieve political power.

“It’s apparent that the competition for power in this world often goes in favour of the unscrupulous. The unscrupulous has no constraint. If you are going to the box, there are rules and regulations.

He said given the nature of politics in Nigeria, which is dirty and brutal, any politician who wants to play by the rule will find it difficult to achieve political power.

“It’s apparent that the competition for power in this world often goes in favour of the unscrupulous. The unscrupulous has no constraint. If you are going to the box, there are rules and regulations.

“Those rules are the constraints. It means as a boxer, I cannot hit my opponent below the belt. But for the unscrupulous, he can hit you anywhere and so, he wins.

“The decent, honest candidate has self-imposed constraints; which are rules and regulations made by himself in order to regulate his actions and conducts so that he can be a decent person in all places at all times. That is a handicap when it comes to competition for power, particularly in a jungle such as Nigeria.