The success of the recent Edo gubernatorial election notwithstanding, it is just as well that the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, has read the riot act to INEC officials ahead of the October 10 governorship election in Ondo State where the incumbent Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is facing a battle on two fronts; first against his deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi, who is running on the platform of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) and Eyitayo Jegede, of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). If there is any comfort to draw from the Edo election, it is probably that amid all the doomsday scenarios with allegations of plots of rigging and threats of violence; and after putting the nation on edge, INEC acquitted itself honorably and transparently and announced Godwin Obaseki as the winner, triggering a gale of congratulatory messages, including, surprisingly, from President Muhammadu Buhari whose message and subsequent comments had the sinister inference of self-congratulations, “for ordering the IGP to ensure the Edo poll was free in order to protect democracy.” The President’s comments were both comforting and distressing, given the increasing militarization of the electoral process which has now gone beyond the bounds of impartiality and decency.
Against a history of recurring electoral fraud and consequent credibility and legitimacy crisis in Nigeria, it is not surprising that Prof Yakubu has lent an exasperated voice to the need for a proper electoral process in Nigeria. He admonished INEC staff charged with organizing the Ondo polls never to compromise their integrity and to act with honor and impartiality because coming after the Edo elections, adjudged to be free, fair and credible, Yakubu insists INEC should build on the success of the Edo exercise and deliver better results for Ondo. He vowed that henceforth, outcomes of all elections would be determined by voters, not by manipulation, stating that the era of ballot box snatching in Nigerian elections, is over because such practices will render the votes of erring political parties invalid.
Yakubu also identified the overzealousness of security operatives during elections as a challenge for the electoral process and advocated continued training to build the capacity of security operatives being deployed for election duties.
It may be argued, of course, that security agents are needed to avert crisis, and that they have always been part of Nigeria’s elections. But 21 years after the return to democracy in 1999, the expectation is that elections should be dominated by civil authorities and not combat-ready soldiers and riot-gear police officers whose presence tend to convey more fear and less confidence to the electorate. Edo was under siege and the standing view was that the state was under emergency rule. Edo was in complete locked down with security agents of every hue and ilk – DSS, police, civil defence corps, soldiers and others, all armed to the teeth. There were at least 31,000 police officers deployed to Edo during the election. It looked as if the nation was preparing for war and not elections.
Whereas the nation’s peculiar democratic deficits demand some measures to guarantee the security of the electoral process, taking it to the level of saber-rattling and partisanship casts an indelible slur on the process in ways that undermine its legitimacy. It is in the interest of the country to insulate security agents, especially soldiers from partisan inclination, especially in the electoral process, because it might signal the death of civil values and the entrenchment of tyranny with all too familiar consequences.
The key message INEC is sending with its stellar performance in the Edo elections when the electoral umpire introduced technology to announce the results on its website on record time as the results trickled in; is that the voter is key to electoral fortune or misfortune. Politicians can no longer rely on INEC officials to manipulate votes. To win elections, politicians must get voters to come out and cast their votes. Political thugs and INEC officials cannot make them win elections.
This is a self-fulfilling prophesy that reeks of self-righteous indignation like the President’s patronizing self-congratulatory admonition over the Edo election. The expectation is that Nigeria ought to have gotten to a stage of development as would make democracy assume its true meaning with elections as its most potent tool. Keen observers of the Nigerian political process are unanimous that the prospect of any election in Nigeria often engenders an aerie feeling of the impossibility of a transparent and violent-free exercise. This may not be unconnected with a tainted political past signposted by electoral fiascoes and gross failure of leadership.
Even as the President and the INEC chief have been giving reassurances of favorable expectations at the conduct of the Edo and Ondo 2020 elections, the bile and vitriol and inflammatory and violent clashes during campaigns which usually costs the lives of innocent Nigerians still reeks of “do-or-die” politics and adds little value to the credibility of the electoral umpire, let alone, put the nation in better international standing. With the introduction of technology and the digitization of the results collation process, the heightened insecurity, and the rising carnage by destabilizing forces, and the utter state of national perplexity, shows no signs of abating. It makes no sense for the political parties to deploy material and financial resources to state elections; to the extent that a governor from another state is appointed the chairman for another governor’s campaign. Let state party officials who know their states and the voters manage the process; after all, don’t we say all politics is local?
It bears repeating, and with emphasis that democracy lives or dies on the altar of the electoral process. It is a majestic ideal that must never be trifled with in style and in substance. All of democracy’s processes – from voter registration to actual voting and counting must bear the signature of integrity. There will always be winners and losers in any election, but it is victory for Nigeria and Nigerians when the process is not only free, fair, transparent and credible, but is seen to be so. The President cast himself in the mold of a benevolent despot and does himself no favors by his self-admonition that he directed the IGP to ensure free and fair elections in Edo, as though a free and fair election is a political favor to be dispensed to the Nigerian people. It was an indictment of the country’s leadership that, 21 years into the fourth republic, something as basic as free elections cannot take place in Nigeria. Having gained accolades and high ratings for the conduct of the Edo 2020 elections, Prof Yakubu’s personal reputation for integrity has raised public expectations and trust that finally, the electoral umpire is in good hands. He dare not betray this trust.
