Electoral reforms or electorates reform(4)
By Alfa Belgore
The report again vested the power on the NJC which shall recommend to the Senate with the requirement of two third voting including at least ten votes from the minority. d. Funding of INEC for election, also, capital and recurrent (salaries and allowances for chairman/Board members) expenditure to be from a consolidated revenue fund of the federation. e. Dates of Elections, The report sought the amendment of sections 132(2) and 178()2) of the Constitution to fix a single date for the Presidential and Gubernatorial elections with at least six months before the expiration of the current holders
Election Tribunals
I. The report sought the increase of Tribunals by reducing the number of Judges to three from five who can sit to hear petitions. It is targeted at increasing the total number sitting in a state. II. To check unmeritorious and frivolous petitions, the report recommended an amendment of the Electoral Act, 2006 to the effect that a party who loses at the Tribunal should completely refund the other party the cost incurred for prosecuting the case. g. Period for determination of Petition-The report recommended the amendment of the 1999 Constitution to include, ‘The determination of cases by tribunals should take four months and appeals should take a further two months, a total of six months’. The Election Reform Committee Report is considered to have proposed many fundamental changes for the electoral framework of Nigeria. Which aspects of the proposed changes are eventually implemented by the government remains to be seen.
Political behavior-politicians and state actors, To get a feel of the endemic nature of the situation, let us return to some facts already in the public domain. According to Governor Donald Duke all manner of top government functionaries first port of call is the state governor’s office to complain about sundry problems and seek assistance which otherwise ought to have been provided. The Commissioner of Police will come with his own stories all to show that he is ready to do the governor’s bidding; then the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) will show up at his own time. All these people know the Governor is seeking to be re-elected and has several candidates he is supporting in the state in the upcoming election. According to Duke, the REC wants accommodation and befitting cars, which he has come to plead with the governor to provide. He is quickly provided a first class accommodation in the Presidential Lodge, smart government cars and other perquisites to make his stay very comfortable. With all that a good mutually beneficial relationship has started.
Some weeks to the election, the same REC shows up again saying he wants to train some people as presiding officers. The governor will ask ‘how much would that cost? The REC replies ‘N25 million for the first batch, we may have about three batches’ then the Governor orders his Chief of Staff to make provision of the total N75million delivered if he wants in installments and this money is from the security vote. This is followed by Ghana-must-go bags to be delivered to the REC. After this, every other series of events begin to play-out, culminating on the election day and afterwards.
Now, you ask yourselves: What kind of a credible election can be conducted in such a state? Can you say there is a level playing field from the scenario panted thus? So a situation is already brewing in this collaboration between the umpire, the government of the day, a possible candidate. You can see then the seriousness of the problem at hand
In addition to the picture painted above, at the very root of the electoral problems in Nigeria, we can quickly identify the following, a. Lack of fundamental acceptance of the rules of the electoral process by all stakeholders- citizens, candidates, umpires. There is a basic non-acceptance of the efficacy or functionality of rules in Nigeria, which is a larger problem in our society. This has found itself in our electoral culture where people devote their productive time in finding better ways to defeat the rules. Here the candidates recruit the people he can find or trust for the purpose and gets a willing electoral officer ready to play along.
b. Candidates mindset to dispute all and any electoral contest, The political culture of disputing each and every election; of refusing to acknowledge defeat by preferring to subvert a process for selfish reasons. There is an ingrained spirit of sportsmanship in the electoral processes and democratic governance of, for example, the United States of America or the United Kingdom. The obligation to be graceful in defeat, to quickly congratulate the winner so that society can move on.
c. General citizen’s mindset against election- scepticism, pessimism, apathy. The average Nigerian have grown through the years not to believe anything about government programmes. Elections are seen as already concluded in some hidden places before voting starts and so they have no intrinsic belief in the entire electoral process which for the most part looks like the elites exclusive business. The people doubt that their votes will count and so do not need to bother about coming out to vote.
d. Vast majority have no idea about purpose of elections, They want to be told who to vote for and vote out of material promptings such as monetary inducements, bags of rice etc. They do not quite appreciate the voting power they possess, or that it is the exercise of that power in the process that leads to the emergence of the government.
e. Lack of local ownership of the electoral process, Unlike for example the United States and other democracies, Nigerian communities have no sense of ownership of the process through which they can follow through. There is no national electoral body in America. Every state and locality defines and decides the objective mechanism of conducting a free, fair and transparent election. The process rests of voting, counting the votes and declaring the result. f. Absence of internal democracy in political parties fosters abuse of the electoral process- Lack of internal democracy impacts negatively on the electoral process. How do the candidates emerge in the various political; are they products of a transparent democratic process? When this is not the case, we all know very well the likely consequences on the election proper as all the disaffection generated from a tainted party nomination exercises begin to distort the process.
g. Pervasive influence and the growing phenomenon of godfathers. In addition, the increasing influence of the so called ‘godfathers’ who decide who goes forward, who is nominated or voted for, who can or cannot contest; what happens in government, etc.
Which way forward?
In order to begin to get things right we must do the following immediately_
1. Prepare a fresh Voters Register so as to have a comprehensive and credible voters list and register that can restore some confidence. This is extremely important to have as it will form the very foundation. 2. Fund INEC adequately. The body need not be incapacitated by poor funding so that a credible election can be organised this time. Let there be no room for any excuses for poor performance.
3. Embark on voter education and mobilisation- Set up an arrangement educate the people about the need for participating in the electoral process and vigilance to defend their votes.
4. Entrench internal democracy in political parties- Political parties must have internal democracy so that candidates will have some electoral credibility before the actual voting exercise. Political parties have a lot of role to play to ensure the success of the next elections.
5. Review existing Court Procedure Rules. This is very important from our experience as the review of the court procedure will also affect the speeding up electoral matters. The whole idea here is to enhance judicial service delivery. For example the use of frontloading of all material necessary for prosecuting a matter and allotting time for oral submissions.
Our Constitution or Borrowed Constitution?
The Constitution of any country will only be relevant document if it fully embraces the norms, cultures and historical background of the country’s citizens. Does the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 reflect all these conditions? We are a Republic and a Federal country. But what type of Republic is ours? We have Oba of Benin, Asagba of Asaba, Obi of Onitsha, Emirs, Sultan, Shehu of Borno, Alaafin of Oyo, Ooni of Ife, all traditional rulers.
