DEMOCRACY- ‘government of the people, by the people and for the people’- has generally been accepted as the best instrument of perfect governance all over the world. The challenge is that; it has so many shades. It can be manipulated for good and for evil. For example; a perfect democracy demands that every voice be heard, be the minority. The views or sentiments  of the minority must be heard and noted, even if they do not conform to that of the majority.

What we have witnessed so many times in our case is the tyranny of the majority or, if you like, tyranny of those who have been fortunate to be in control of government. A perfect democracy assumes that the three arms of government- Executive, Legislature and Judiciary- must operate independently and without bias. It must also be seen by all to be so. Is this playing out in our present government? I do not think so.

When President Muhammadu Buhari was reading out his speech on the day of swearing-in, May 29, 2015, he talked about improving and strengthening the electoral process, highlighting the fact that he had been a victim and therefore will not allow the abuse to continue. Ten months after, has the electoral process improved? I do not think so.

Everyone- including the international community- agreed that the country made progress in terms of the conduct of its elections under the government of President Goodluck Jonathan. He gave INEC under Professor Jega a free reign to operate, even if the decisions by INEC do not seem to favour his or party’s interests. To the displeasure of his party’s position, Jonathan allowed Jega to run INEC the way he deemed fit.

Some say because he is soft, but the softness was good for our democracy, as the opposition was allowed a field day, with all sorts/kinds of propaganda and the nation’s democracy was enriched. Freedom of speech, freedom to demonstrate and freedom to insult the President at will by the opposition. Does this atmosphere exist today? I do not think so. The opposition is being hounded left and right by the EFCC and DSS and those who were shouting then in the opposition are now quiet.

We shouted Ekitigate, in an election that Ayo Fayose won clean and square and till date, then gentleman has not been allowed to concentrate on governance to the general good of his state. If the Fayose governorship election was a fluke, how do you account for an election conducted under the  present regime. After Buhari’s election was over, the PDP swept the whole House of Assembly seats in Ekiti state. It must clearly be noted that in a democracy, it is not every time that the best man wins but the ability to mobilise the grass root and check mate the opposition. That is why a George Bush became the President of the United States.

A good democracy exists when the opposition accepts the results in good faith. Even in its own government, the APC is acting as if it is still in opposition. They have supervised three elections in ten months and all three were  inconclusive. It is like the country has taken a step forward with change and three steps backwards in terms of our democratic advancement.

Why was Kogi election declared inconclusive? Why was so much violence and intimidation by official security men allowed in the election of Bayelsa state? And, why was Rivers state allowed to burn, even with the presence of the army, police and other security personnel? Do we take recourse to blaming Jonathan again for all of these? I think it all about ego. Some people believe that it is not possible for them or their candidates to lose when they are in control of the security aparatus and this is very injurious to our democratic process.

We can never fight corruption effectively if our electoral process are fraught with fraud. A leader who comes in by imposition or through other fraudulent means cannot rule transparently. The beginning of a transparent government is a free and fair election and if President Buhari cannot guarantee that, he might as well forget his corruption fight. It is what the people see that they will react to. You cannot be shouting corruption and be seen to be doing the opposite and you expect the people to take you seriously.

By now, with the good standard left behind by Goodluck Jonathan, free and fair election should be the norm in this country, unfortunately, we are regressing deeper and deeper into the pit of infamy and we say we are making progress.

INEC has not been able to conduct elections successfully in one state since this government came in, how are they going to cope when the general elections come up in 2019. Incidentally, this failure was foretold by many critics in the manner the present government choose to handle INEC at inception; first by appointing an acting INEC head that was tainted with controversy, who was allowed to hold sway despite the many protest by concerned citizens and the hurried manner the present head was appointed.

The question that I am putting forth here is; where are all of those concerned human rights critics who were so vocal under the Jonathan administration? All have gone to sleep or are waiting for appointments as compensation for their efforts in bringing the present administration to be. It is also important for all of us to note that what happened in the house of the chicken is equally applicable to the goat.

If we do not institutionalize justice and fair play today, it will haunt the generations of tomorrow the present government cannot be there for ever- maximum for Buhari is seven years from today- so they can choose to hound the opposition as they like but they should note that it will be their turn one day. Nobody expected the PDP to disintegrate so quickly but their downfall started with the display of such arrogance as we are witnessing now. Elected officials should respect and have regards for the citizens and not to lord it over them, not when the citizens have risked their lives, comforts and all to ensure that the change take place.

The conduct of the present regime towards democratic change has not been impressive, they should look into the mirror and ask themselves, what has gone wrong?

Mr. Sunny Ikhioya, a commentator on national issues, wrote from Lagos.