FOR a country where crookedness and cheating in public life has become a norm, Nigerians are busy passing off  Professor Attahiru Jega’s hollow ritual as a great success and a testimonial of credibility and  integrity in conducting national and state elections, where virtually all the elements of fraud that have characterised general elections in Nigeria since independence, were present and in no diminishing order.

But to show the civilised world that we are not really behind in democratic practice, some commentators and analysts would want Nigerians,  and indeed the world to believe that we are on the right track in democratic practice after 50 years of our nation hood.

Yet, if the truth were to be told both the winners and the losers know that there is no truth in us if we claim that we allowed the forces of democracy to play the role of authoritative allocation of values. It was a grand deceit in which the politicians and their impoverished followers would acknowledge that victory went to the brigands, exterminators of lives, impersonators, cheats and liars.

It is therefore important to set the record correctly in the annals of history; that the 2011 general election was in no way different from the previous efforts as the election results, can hardly be regarded as a true test of the popular wishes and expression of the people’s choice or indeed, a true test of acceptability.

Rather, it can be simply described as a crafty manipulation of the process of public auditing of our leaders, without being caught in the act or manifestation of our ability to exploit the loopholes in the system to bail out the crooks whom they apprehended in the act of committing crimes.
Jega’s inconsistency

The test case for Jega’s hollow ritual is exemplified by his inconsistencies in treatment of glaring cases of electoral violence and malpractices that were recorded in Delta State and other states like Anambra, Imo and Nasarawa states.

While it was obvious that what happened in some parts of Delta State during the National Assembly elections on April 9, 2011 made the result obtained a conspicuous fraud, Prof Jega has remained consistently inconsistent to the point that some of the contestants are openly voicing their concern that the professor and some top INEC staff in Asaba were seriously compromised.

For instance, in the case of Anambra Central senatorial election where the returning officer could not announce the result and another person declared a winner, Professor Jega promptly ordered for a re-run which was an administrative decision that saved the people costly litigations.

In the case of Imo State where the result of four local governments and a ward in Owerri North were in dispute, Prof. Jega has ordered for conclusive elections on May 6,2011.

In the case of Delta State, there were problems in Ika North East where a returning officer was abducted and forced at gun point to declare results for the House of Representatives in Ika Federal Constituency.

There  were criminal cases during which the Police arrested nine persons, including those who were personal staff of contestants in the April 9, 2011 elections; there were cases of impersonation of NYSC members by relatives of contestants; there were reported cases of massive thumb printing and prepared result figures.

Apart from Ika North East, there were massive rigging in Aniocha North wards 3 and 4, Oshimili South wards 1 and 2, 10 and 11. There were allegations of bribing of returning officers to declare winners of the elections to force the other contestants to go to court. During the governorship  election in Delta State, there were reported cases of disenfranchisement of voters in Warri North and South. Contrary to sections 73 and 74 of the 2006 Electoral Act which was amended in 2010 as the new Electoral Act,(2010).

There were cases of denial of voting materials, non-accreditation of voters and no form of voting, yet results were collated and declared. It is a mark of sportsmanship for the vanquished to congratulate the victor, especially where the contest has been based on the rules of the game and there was no attempt whatsoever to sway the battle against the loser. While Prof. Jega intervened promptly in the cases of Anambra and Imo, his incompetent staff in Asaba have been citing section133 to cover their misdeeds, to deny people their rights to elect leaders of their choice.

Electoral fraud as  a coup

We want to use this opportunity to call on Dr. Gabriel Ada, to uphold the ethos of transparency and integrity as we have seen with his boss Prof. Attahiru Jega who has braved all odds to remain on the path of honour.

It must be stated here that the Delta State the Resident Electoral Commissioner rather than leave a legacy of how to organise elections that fulfill the charge of credibility and integrity standards, only succeeded in  setting a record of infamy where the umpire calls for time out or introduces half time mid-way into the releasing of elections results when the opposition is leading.

Results from some sections of the state are kept to monitor how the opposition is performing in its areas and by the time the REC resumes from his 24 hours break, the result takes an incredulous shape. This rigging by time- space contraction has marred the entire claims to credibility and has painted Dr. Ada in a less glorious light in election management in Nigeria.

Dr. Ada has organised two controversial elections that produced results that were nothing but an exercise in distortion of demographic and sociological realities, where the population of remote villages like Oko, Okwe, Obomkpa, Ubulubu, Ozanogogo, with little basic amenities and other life sustainers, far out strips the  population in urban areas and cities, thereby disproving the theory of city-light attraction.  Delta State has one of the geo-political units where the culture of impunity and militancy has become a way of life and the leadership of the state has become so brazen that it has no respect for the rule of law or the rules of engagement in any competitive process.

Funkekeme Solomon brazenly displayed these qualities in the manner he challenged all those who disagreed with the election result to go to court.  He knows the futility of such effort given the way all the election-related litigations in the state have been frustrated. The cost of rigging election has been too heavy on the resources of Delta State which has spent billions of naira in prosecuting election-related litigations.

One can recall that in March this year, there was a leaked text message instructing one of the distressed second generation banks to facilitate the release of the sum of N2.6 billion that was to be used to bribe election managers at the national and state levels and the judicial officers handling vital election cases arising from the January 6 re-run election.

Unlike the case of Osun State where the ACN used such compromising information to expose corruption, the opposition in Delta State overlooked this because it could do the same if it were in power.

The truth is that such fund ought to have been usefully channelled into development of much needed infrastructures and basic life sustainers. Instead, it has been used to pay legal fees or to compromise judicial officers or sacred institutions like the NYSC, where corps members are routinely impersonated to rig votes.

Elections in Delta State since 1999 have become organised scam and a test of political roguery, rather than a test of popularity of the candidates and acceptance by the populace. It is a shame that such manifestation of the evil genius by political actors is accepted as acts of political sagacity. Electoral fraud is coup d’état by political means and should be treated as a crime against humanity. This is because it thrives  to the detriment of the growth and development of the state.

What is the essence of holding elections to audit public officers when the results are already fixed and figures allocated to preferred candidates? It makes mockery of democracy as defined by enlightened   minds.

Mr. IFEANYI ODOH, a commentator on national issues, wrote from  Kaduna.