By Simon Ebegbulem, Benin City
It was vintage Governor Adams Oshiomhole on Wednesday during the occasion of Nigeria ’s Independence Golden jubilee lecture organized by Correspondent Chapel of the Edo state chapter of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), in Benin City, when he spoke extempore for close to three hours, discussing Nigeria and its journey into democracy.

While pedicting doom as the 2011 general elections approaches, Oshiomhole accused the National Assembly of attempt to turn the nation into a one party state, and usurping the powers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

He reviewed the activities of Presidential aspirants so far, and regretted that none of the aspirants had shown any seriousness in discussing how to improve the economy of the nation, rather they engage in ethnic politics which he warned poses grave danger for the nation’s democracy. He also spoke on Edo state politics and other national issues.Excerpts:

Appointment of Professor Attahiru Jega as Chairman of INEC

First, I want to salute President Jonathan for recognising that in a contest, perception is extremely important. Nigerians and the International community were unanimous to say that Iwu’s INEC was a fraud that he ought to be replaced.

But for reasons best known to the executive and the legislative arm, they kept Iwu as long as they kept him. Whether we like it or not, it is to Jonathan’s credit that the first decision he took he found the courage to relief Iwu of his job even if his tenure has almost elapsed. So, I think he was delaying with the word perception.

Adams Oshiomhole

The appointment of Jega was one of the most outstanding judgments that President Jonathan has made and we must continue to commend him. Those who know Jega knows that he is a man of will principles and he is not the one you will buy in a market place. I am also happy that Jega’s INEC recognises that the foundation for free and fair election is the voters’ register and therefore its decision to carry out a complete new voters’ register should be commended.

When INEC asked for extension, I thought every well meaning Nigerian ought to support that request by INEC. And I believe by special Grace of God the National Assembly seems in principle to have bought into that.

And we Governors were unanimous in our meeting that INEC should be given extension.

Usurping the powers of INEC by the National Assembly
However, there are already some attempts to encroach on those matters that should be the exclusive preserve of an Independent electoral umpire. The attempt by the National Assembly to put in the electoral act matters that ought to be within the discretion of political parties as well as matters that ought to be within the discretion of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

And because the National Assembly is dominated by the ruling party, its decisions are bound to be seen as decisions  of the ruling party that is going to be a key competitor in the next general election. The first is the attempt through an act of parliament to dictate to parties how they should conduct their primaries. Coming from the Trade Union Movement, I know that when the state   uses state legislation to regulate the internal matters of a party, they reduce the party to an agency of government and if it becomes an agency of government, it seizes to be a free and voluntary political party.

Therefore, to the extent that the National Assembly has evolved rules which seem to dictate to parties how they should run their internal affairs, they are reducing the parties to an agency of government and if they are agencies of government, it is not a proper association to call a political party.

The second danger signal that I see is the attempt by the National Assembly, through legislation, to interfere with the independent of INEC its right to decide which election should be held before the other.

In deciding that Nigeria should climb the tree from the top and not from the bottom, they have already put the logic on its head. And Nigerians should condemn it and rise against it. Because you do not have to wait for the final rigging to take place before you begin to fight.

So, we must begin to comment on some of these things that points to some level of desperation on the part of the ruling class by using the law to dictate that senatorial elections and the Presidential election must be held before the state House of Assembly election and the governorship election. That is clearly an attempt to rig the next election and the time to cry out is now, because what they are trying to do is to turn Nigeria to a one party state and if Nigeria becomes a one party state, then you cannot have democracy.

The reason is that once anybody can proclaim a president, either through rigging or through proper electioneering, a lot of Nigerians will ask, why am I voting opposition party if the President is coming from this party I will rather vote that party, let me not waste my vote. That will be unhelpful. So, I think NUJ, you have a duty to point out these signals that suggest some desperation to manipulate the process.

My final point on this is that the logic of an Independent Electoral Commission implies that because they are Independent, only they alone can formulate rules for the conduct of an election. If the government formulates those rules for them, it seizes to be an independent electoral commission because the decisions they ought to make are now being made for them by people who are interested in the process. So, there are dangerous signals and we need to point them out.

Presidential aspirants have failed to impress me.

The third element I want to raise is what I call the rhetorics, the language of electoral campaign. Already, I have seen that the language has not been particularly democratic. I do not hear much about those issues that will affect the quality of lives of the average Nigerians. What I hear is the elevation of ethnicity to some level that can become very dysfunctional.

The subtle appeal to religious sentiments and the attempt to remind us of what divides us rather than what unites us. I don’t see much rhetorics about the education system. I don’t see much rhetorics about the health care delivering system. I do not see much rhetorics about returning Nigerians to work. Right now, what is happening is that even the things we have achieved at the level of industrialization, we are losing them back.

We have lost about 90 per cent of the textile plant. We have several shoe making companies in the past but they have all gone. Right now, Nestle and others are relocating to Ghana. I have not heard any of those who wants to preside talking about how to bring these industries back so that our children will be employed.

The last time I heard a comment, and I have to be very frank about it, was that President Jonathan was celebrating the fact that they are able to import enough Petroleum product such that there is no scarcity.

That was one of the things I read in the Presidential declaration. And to be honest for few minutes I was worried. Nothing more illustrates our backwardness and nothing more for me shows how irresponsible we are as a people.

That God in his powers gave us so much mineral deposits for us to exploit, create jobs, general prosperity, we choose in the 21st century to exploit these products without adding value, and in the process exporting jobs to Europe and importing unemployment to Nigeria. Deepening our poverty and creating such level of hopelessness that our young thinkers who should manipulate these situations to attain excellence now devote it to planning how to perfect kidnapping, including kidnapping of school children.

So, if the parties are not offering competing programmes, what is the basis for our people to sit down to say we prefer this party rather than this one. We are not getting that and therefore the foundation around which the issue of one man one vote will revolve is still lacking even as we speak. But the danger that this poses is that if we cannot choose a candidate on the basis of what we think, he will do for us as a people.

The only option left for us is to choose a candidate on the basis of where he comes from because there has to be a basis of choice. And when Nigeria resorts to ethnic politics, that will be the beginning of the end.

Reforming the Electoral process

Why are we helpless in this country, as it is argued that in a democracy, people get the kind of government that they want whereas that in a dictatorship, people get the kind of government that is imposed on them. Because in a dictatorship, you have no input to the formation of the government. But in a democracy, you choose from competing political parties and certain individuals who you trust to preside over the affairs of state and who you are willing to entrust our commonwealth to his hands.