Unarguably, the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections held recently across Nigeria didn’t meet the expectations of the majority of Nigerians. We had thought that the March 18 election would be an improvement on the presidential and National Assembly elections held on February 25. But that was not to be. As it turned out, the presidential election impacted dangerously on the conduct of the governorship election.
Although the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) improved a bit on logistics and early deployment of materials, many voters were still denied the right to vote. In some states, suppression, harassment, intimidation of voters, violence, ethnic labelling and thuggery held sway. In Lagos, for instance, political thugs attacked voters in some parts of the state. They snatched ballot boxes, inflicted injuries on some innocent voters and threatened non-indigenes in some areas not to bother coming to vote if they would not vote for the All Progressives Congress (APC). Violence and attacks on voters were also recorded in Rivers, Enugu and some other states. This, coupled with the experiences of the presidential election, resulted in voter apathy during the March 18 exercise.
For democracy to thrive, there must be clear choices. These choices were denied the majority of Nigerians in the last election. The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), which was touted to be the game changer in the election, did not work at its optimum either due to genuine or contrived glitches. There were clear manipulations of results in some states as the real time electronic transmission of results was not strictly followed. The question is: have the politicians found a way to circumvent the BVAS?
It is shameful that it was not until late Wednesday, March 22, that INEC announced the results of the election in Abia and Enugu states. If there was no attempt to manipulate the process, the outcome of the poll would have been known the following day after the election. Adamawa was even declared inconclusive.
It is lamentable that after 24 years of practising democracy, we are yet to learn some valuable lessons. In the last general election, for instance, people’s choices didn’t really count. What we complained about in the previous elections appeared to have worsened.
The Chief Observer of the European Union Observation Mission (EU EOM), Barry Andrews, put it succinctly: “Many Nigerians were so disappointed with the electoral process of the February 25; then on Saturday (March 18), they decided to stay at home. The voter apathy that we witnessed is, in part, a clear consequence of failures by political elites, added also by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).”
The United States (US) Mission in Nigeria said it was deeply troubled by the disturbing acts of violent voter intimidation and suppression that took place during the polls in Lagos, Kano and other states. “The use of ethnically charged rhetoric before, during, and after the gubernatorial election in Lagos was particularly concerning,” it said. The United Kingdom also expressed concern over voter suppression, vote buying, ethno-religious language by some public and political figures and violence that characterised the March 18 elections across many states.
We decry the violence, vote buying, ethnic slurs and thuggery these politicians engineered in Lagos, Rivers, Enugu, and parts of the North. No doubt, our democracy is seriously threatened if we don’t find urgent solutions to many of these electoral infractions. There must be a holistic review of the elections with a view to making corrections in the areas we have been found wanting.
Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, was right when he asked the international community to adopt a policy of visa denial to Nigerians who committed or advocated violence or rigging of election. Good enough, the US has threatened to impose visa restrictions on those found to be undermining the democratic process in Nigeria. The UK said it was also on the trail of those who caused electoral mayhem in the country and would take action to sanction such people.
Election ought to be a celebration of democracy. But what Nigerians saw in the general election was totally different. We demand electoral reforms that will make INEC truly independent; that will compel our politicians to change their attitude about elections. We also suggest holding all the elections – presidential, NASS, governorship and state assembly elections – in one day. This is to avoid having the result of any one election influencing the outcome of the other.
There should also be voter education. The electorate need to be educated on the dangers of selling their votes, engaging in thuggery or violence and even not coming out to vote at all.
The judiciary also has a major role to play. In Nigeria today, many people have lost hope. Many others have aversion to the judiciary. It behoves on the third arm of the government to redeem itself and restore the hope of millions of Nigerians. In other words, election cases must be adjudicated dispassionately. Justice must not just be served but must be seen to have been served.