Free And Fair Elections In Independent Nigeria

Posted by admin Headlines, INEC Politics Tuesday, December 21st, 2010

I must state as a prelude to my comments on post-independence elections in Nigeriathat I have never taken part in partisan politics and I do not aspire to do so, even now that I am in retirement.

I have been a public servant virtually all my career. Partisan politics never appeals to me. Additionally, at this point in time, I am not inclined to take any fulltime employment in the public service. It is pertinent to further state that unlike some of my school mates at that time, I did not participate in student unionism. The nearest I got involved in was when I organised my House team’s boycott of a football match. That was during my secondary school days in Maiduguri in 1962. I felt strongly that the expatriate referee, Mr. Wood, was biased and so we successfully refused to turn up for the match. He was left with only one team on the field, thus aborting the match. The other unionist activism in which I participated was at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1966. The famous Bongos Ikwue and his co-activist mobilised us to protest against the introduction of ‘mature’ student programme. Under the programme, workers were to be admitted to various disciplines in the university. It was our feeling then that the scheme would limit opportunities for younger prospective students, coming directly from secondary schools. Consequently, the institution was closed down for a while and the ring leaders expelled. The scheme took off nonetheless as the Northern Region Government was determined to implement its manpower development programme.

Given my background, I can only comment from the standpoint of an observer whose level of political involvement in partisan political activities did not go beyond superficial and occasional private exchange of views with colleagues and associates, some of whom admittedly, are active politicians. Other factors which have shaped my opinion about elections in independent Nigeria include accounts of ordinary voters, historical materials, current media reports, legal luminaries, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), etc.

It is an understatement to say that although Nigerians yearn for ‘democracy’ we have not been fortunate to have a settled political structure and system in the last 50 years for which Nigerians and well wishers could be proud of. Instead, we continue to tinker with the Constitution while ‘electoral transparency’ eludes Nigeria. The level of transparency and integrity in elections in Nigeria peaked during the 1993 elections, and from there it kept declining to the present stage whereby citizens fear that the 2011 elections could spell doom for democracy in our fatherland.

Going by what happened in the past elections conducted since 1993, there is skepticism and despondency about the prospects for transparent elections in 2011. It is to forestall all this that President Yar’Adua set up the Uwais panel whose report informed the reconstitution of INEC, the review of the electoral laws and adequate funding of INEC by President Jonathan’s administration to provide the necessary logistics. After much protest almost amounting to blackmail, the government, with the approval of the National Assembly, provided INEC with the sum of N87bn for the 2011 elections. The ball is thus squarely put in the court of INEC; as it said, to whom much is given much is expected. What needs to be seen is where all these efforts would lead Nigeria to in 2011, and beyond.

The nation’s dilemma today is whether the reforms made in the electoral laws and the repositioning of INEC in terms of staffing and the provision of logistic requirements will lead to free and fair elections in the country. Although there is a reasonable appreciation of some of the steps taken, there is the need to ponder over the comments of some prominent individuals as to whether what has befallen the electoral system since independence lies with the ‘law’ or ‘human frailty.’ The arguments are forceful and persuasive on both sides, but the weight of opinion seems to tilt towards the latter as comments by Justice Alfa Belgore, the former Chief Justice of Nigeria revealed. He said the electoral system had failed, attributing it to the lack of fundamental acceptance of the rules of the electoral process by all stakeholders, including the citizens, candidates and umpires. According to him, the rot in the system is bad to the extent that all aspirants in an election develop a mindset of disputing all and any electoral contest, preferring to subvert the process for selfish reasons.

Dr. Lateef Adegbite, secretary-general of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and an erudite lawyer commenting in a press interview on whether our electoral problem lies with the law or politicians remarks: “…Well, substantially it is correct to say with politicians but that appears to be a weak excuse for poor arrangement. The starting point is credible rules and system before attitudinal changes from the politicians. This is because where the rules give too many loopholes they make it easier for bad politicians to exploit the situation, so the starting point is that there must be strong electoral laws. And such laws must be strictly enforced…”

Bashir Tofa, the current All Nigeria Peoples Party’s Elders Committee chairman and former presidential candidate in a press interview reflecting on the ongoing electoral reforms said: in “…In electoral reforms, you have all the law, but if politicians are not reformed, including stakeholders in the business of elections, they will continue to break the law. That is why I say the political reforms required should be the reform of the mind. Politicians and officials of the various security agencies need to be reformed. We have the laws, but they are not followed. We have laws against theft, yet we have thieves, laws against smuggling, yet smuggling still strives. There are laws against electoral fraud, yet we see worse things in every election. So politicians who are calling for such reform must first of all reform themselves. ..”

These testimonies by statesmen, prominent judicial experts, practising politicians and notable columnists who have seen it all, give us food for thought.

wp_posts