By Rahman Owokoniran

Distinguished members of the Senate and honorable members of the House of Representatives, our freedom as a people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria can no longer be compromised at this point in time of our history.

We have come a long way from our independence as a nation. We experimented on a number of systems of government, starting with the First Republic when parliamentary form of government was introduced. This was short-lived because the death of that era brought about a review of the 1979 constitution that gave birth to presidential system of government.

So the Second Republic adopted the presidential system of government. Again this administration did not last but the presidential system of government outlived the second democratic experiment. By the Third Republic it became clear that had the military institution been more patient, our founding fathers could have learned from their mistakes and developed robust democratic institutions.

The Third Republic, like the first and second, was hurriedly terminated only this time it was daylight robbery. On June 12, 1993, the best election ever conducted in the history of this country was truncated. Voting was recorded by head count on the queue by polling agents. It was called Option A4 introduced by the military. This was a time in the life of our nation when Muslim MKO Abiola presidential candidate and Muslim Baba Gana Kingibe his running mate contested and won the election.

That was Nigeria when we were human beings first before our connection with our various communities. During that period religion, culture and tribal affinity majorly influenced the way we voted. But 1993 was a significant leap away from the old order. Apart from voters’ indifference to religious affinity, they also broke the tribal barrier by voting for the better men for the job.

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Without the vote of Southwest, MKO Abiola still won the election. Rather than discovering a new Nigeria (a shining city on the hill top) where nothing is impossible, the exposure was too much for the conservative to bear, the adventure was too risky to be undertaken.

Should our successes have been recorded and the gains measured over time, definitely we will not be killing ourselves today. Our democracy might have become the envy of the world. Imagine the state of our Nation today, where communities are being set against one another. Muslims are slaughtering fellow Muslims because of ethnic cleansing and religious bigots killing fellow citizens who practice other faiths.

This is the seed of hate that was planted over time to defend the indefensible. All these because it was tough for them to swallow their pride in the interest of the nation they fought to keep together. This is the nation that has the biggest population of the black race in the world. With visionary leaders, this nation could have been the pride of the black race.

No sacrifice should have been too much to save our democracy. 28 years after, they finally agreed to recognise the result of the 1993 election by accepting MKO Abiola as the true winner of that election under the presidency of President Muhammadu Buhari. MKO Abiola was given a posthumous award and June 12 was declared Democracy Day and a national public holiday in honour of the significance of the day.

My God! this is huge considering the number of life sacrificed and economic loss to the nation at the time. But this recognition shall remain mere symbolism unless our democracy is jealously preserved. The President has done a bit to acknowledge the deep wound suffered by a nation in crisis.

There is still much more to be done to steady the wheel of our democracy. But the President alone cannot accomplish this mission. Whilst the President carries out his duties as the executive arm of government, the legislature has its constitutional role to play.

At this point in time, the Senate and the House of Representatives has a date with history. So far, all elections conducted by INEC throughout this fourth republic have been compromised. The results have been unacceptable to the citizens.

I urge you, our National Assembly members, to randomly sample public opinion on the issue. Election after election, members of the public witness first hand in broad daylight INEC officials thumb printing multiple ballot papers and dumping them in the ballot boxes. They see ballot boxes stuffed up with ballots at voting points. They see ballot boxes being stuffed with ballots at hidden voting points. They witness ballot boxes being snatched from officials and later resurface for counting at the collation centres.

They witness figures returned by INEC returning officers not reflecting true records of voters’ turnout at the polling units. They also witness the dumping of officially cast ballot papers in drainage. They see returning officers and other government functionaries compromise the integrity of the poll results by refusing to declare election results collated in the full glare of TV coverage.

Lastly, it is a joke to imagine that millions of ad hoc staffers are given the full responsibilities to take charge of our election processes at the unit level and ward collation centres. By the time the results get to the local government council for tabulation the worst would have happened.

These ad hoc staffers are no longer traceable which makes any punitive laws enacted difficult to serve its purpose. The citizens see enough to reject the process, resulting in voter apathy in election after election since the beginning of this Fourth Republic.

Distinguished members of Senate and honourable members of House of Representatives, I urge you to look at the records of our national elections since 1999. It will be apparent to you that the citizenry has rejected this process of delivering our democracy through the ballots. They will tell you point-blank if you ask that “there is no point voting because their votes do not count”.

What would be the point to continue with this process if it has been rejected by the people? This is why I join other well meaning Nigerians to urge you to pass the bill for the electronic transmission of results.

The passage of this bill will make the conduct of our election credible and respectable worldwide. It will install the confidence of our people in the election process. Thus, we can begin to nourish our democracy through citizen participation.

Save our democracy, pass the bill: electronic transmission of election results now.

Rahman Owokoniran is the General Secretary, PDP, South-West Zone

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