Just before the polls
By Ochereome Nnanna
Two days from today, Nigerians will go to the polls to elect members of the legislature at state and national levels. Apart from the usual heightening of political violence, which has been the constant feature of our elections since 1952, the atmosphere has generally been conducive towards an election that, many prognoses have opined, will determine whether Nigeria will survive to hold another election in 2015.
For instance, it is generally believed that these impending elections, though they would not be flawless, will significantly improve on the ones of 2007. The 2007 polls were rated the worst in our history for the mere reason that the government in power at the Centre defined it clearly, from the onset, to fail the litmus of best practices. The leader at that time, President Olusegun Obasanjo, declared that for his ruling party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) the elections were going to be a “do-or-die” affair.
It was not an empty threat. He delayed the release of funds to INEC till the last moments. He also activated agencies of state to go after his political opponents.
Malam Nuhu Ribadu, who is now the presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) drew up a list of exposed politicians which a Federal Administrative Panel of Inquiry headed by Professor Ignatius Ayua “indicted” with a view to keeping them out of the political contests. One of the victims of that impunity was former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who fought for his right to contest in courts and won. This season is bereft of such cheap acts of sabotage against opponents by the presidency. If anything, it is some sinister forces that have been conjuring a regional gang-up to stop the President from contesting or winning.
President Jonathan, in words and deeds, has set the tone for elections that will be more credible and acceptable than the ones of 2007. Apart from his well-mannered campaigns, he went out of his way to appoint a new helmsman for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) whom, many vouched, was above board in character and service records. This was a sharp departure form his predecessor, Professor Maurice Iwu, whom many had seen, from the day he was appointed, as a political tool in the hands of vested interests within the ruling party. In fact, during the PDP convention that brought the late President Umaru Yar’ Adua to power, a National Commissioner, in front of his guests in his office, put through a call to Prof Iwu telling him the INEC team was now ready to go and monitor the convention of “our party”!
Since the appointment of Jega, institutions authorised to facilitate the INEC’s jobs have, unlike in the past, done their jobs with despatch. The National Assembly and the Presidency provided all the funds demanded by INEC and also went the extra mile to amend the Constitution and the Electoral Act of 2010 (even if shoddily) to move the process along smoothly. A passably credible new voter’s register was compiled. There are those who now say that the coming polls will not be easy to rig as before.
However, just because the INEC appears to be much better disposed towards a better electoral outcome does not mean that other stakeholders are similarly inclined. The various political parties, especially the major ones, are still fully consumed by their collective suicidal resolve to win all costs. Frustration boiled over in Akwa Ibom state with the wanton destruction of public property. There have been killings in parts of the country.
Nothing more has been heard of the data capturing machines that were stolen on arrival at the Murtala Muhammad International Airport, Lagos . To our horror, we recently read Newspaper reports about some electoral officers who were caught tampering with INEC data capturing machines and materials in Ibadan ! Politicians are sewing NYSC vests and procuring military and police uniforms for their thugs.
At the just-concluded workshop organised for journalists by the Nigerian Press Council (NPC) and the International Republican Institute (IRI) at Owerri, in which yours sincerely presented a paper, the National Coordinator of the Independent Election Monitoring Group (IEMG), Barrister Festus Okoye, disclosed that many fake versions of the Electoral Act 2010 are in circulation.
A scandalised Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has already approached the National Assembly and the office of the Attorney General of the Federation to release the authentic version of the Act passed by the Assembly and assented to by the President to enable lawyers face the impending task at the election petition tribunals.
This confusion has already shown its ugly side, as INEC recently reported an alarming, unprecedented rise in the number of pre-election suits. This factor alone is liable to produce an astronomically high number of post-election petitions, especially in states like Ogun, where it is impossible to be sure whether the list of candidates that the PDP is taking to the polls will stand after the court suits. Many who will be elected as candidates of their political parties will be withdrawn when it is proved that they were wrongly picked based on their use of fake versions of the Electoral Act.
Most importantly, the INEC under Professor Jega has, curiously, failed to educate the voters on the exact process of voting. All we were told was that after investing over 87 billion naira to create an electronic database, we will not even use the data capturing machines to authenticate the voters before they cast their votes. INEC’s inability to educate the public on how to vote is liable to create great confusion on polling day, especially among the illiterate voters who may not find it easy to adapt to whatever the electoral body comes up with on that day.
However, we plead with Nigerians to show the same level of patience and patriotism they exhibited during the registration exercise. That way we shall overcome.
