Watching the Steven Spielberg epic movie ‘Lincoln’, showcasing a period in Abraham Lincoln’s life, specifically his efforts at emancipating slaves, I was touched when a congressman shouted rhetorically “… after giving equal legal rights to the slaves what next? Women voting!” At this the House erupted in a roar of maniacal laughter. Contrasting that with now, such a question becomes totally out of place. However, the important lesson there is that the present universal franchise we are enjoying today did not always start that way. In England the right to vote slowly descended from the ranks of fiefdom to men who owned a certain value in properties. It was not until after the first World War that voting powers was extended to the ordinary men who did not complain when asked to go and fight for the Crown.
It has always been said that Nigerians got her independence on a platter of gold, by extension it can also be said that we got our universal suffrage on a platter of gold. That nonetheless should not make us to lose sight of and become apathetic to the value of what we have today. Since pre-Independence our elections have never truly reflected the will of the people.
Never! Only two cases come close. The first was the June 12, 1993 election, which was due to the fact that IBB had earlier disqualified the heavyweights leaving behind the nationally popular MKO and a relatively obscure Bashir Tofa. The choice was simple, even though the election was sadly truncated. The other case worthy of mention is the just concluded 2015 elections. Have we finally arrived at the utopic eldorado where elections are free and fair in the truest sense of it? The answer is a very far NO. Why then am I listing it as part of our election success stories. I do because of the outcome. For the first time in Nigeria, an incumbent, not just the ruling party looses an election and we are looking forward to handing over the reins of power to opposition for the first time in Africa.
From inception President Jonathan made his commitment towards free and fair elections known to all. Although we never really took him by his words, (haven’t we heard that before). Until CNN announced that he has called to congratulate Buhari on his victory, a lot of people were still expecting Jonathan to play his trump card. For him loosing in a free and fair election was democratic victory in its own right. But for a lot of watchers, given the entire conduct of the electoral process, the democratic victory of a free and fair election is more pyrrhic than real.
Before I continue let me state for the records that this is not an exercise in name calling, but a fact-finding mission aimed at guiding our next step in this direction. Also let us agree on some things; firstly, the words free and fair are universal both in semantics and in cognizance. Secondly that the job of an umpire is to avoid not just bias but any likelihood of bias, in other words the umpire must not only be fair to all sides but must also be seen to be fair to all sides. Very important.
Prof Attahiru Jega is the umpire here. His reputation as a fair man that brooks no nonsense preceded him, and that was enough qualification for President Jonathan to put him at the helm of INEC. Hoping that with Jega’s appointment INEC would attain the blindfolded woman image of justice, which Obasanjo and Maurice Iwu had hitherto desecrated. Jega commenced his job with gusto and shortly afterwards requested for N86billion for voter registration and PVC production. The Federal Government approved and disbursed this without question, as a show of commitment. After the 2011 elections INEC was the first to apologize to Nigerians citing inadequate preparation they had and promising bliss in 2015. Four years later INEC’s electoral conduct is still far from where it should be. Let us put a magnifying glass at some of the dust raised by INEC in the hailed 2015 elections;
1. Why was the contract for production of PVCs and card readers awarded in secrecy? For such a sensitive job the bidding and award should have been done in the open, and the identities of the winners disclosed in full. Besides, the bidders should be globally recognized brands whose quality and reputation are not in doubt. All we know is that they were being printed by ‘one Chinese company’. Equity should be seen to have been done. You may think this is of no consequence, but I have already heard rumors that the ‘Chinese company’ is a front for one prominent politician with vested interest in the elections. Moreover a more reputable company would have delivered the cards in good time for them to be fully distributed ahead of the election, and card reader failures would not have been so rampant. Now there are also rumors that the late delivery was part of INEC’s gimmicks in their allegedly biased officiating. My take is that these rumors would have been prevented if INEC took time to ensure that they are seen to be fair.
2. Why did INEC attempt to create additional 30,000 polling units, distributed 21,600 to the North and 8,400 to the South? That move just prior to the elections was ill-timed and ill-advised. Moreover, if it was an attempt at bias, there was no effort to hide it. Let us zoom into that distribution. North-West 7,906; North-Central 6,318; North-East 5,291; South-West 4,160; South-South 3,087; FCT 1,200; South-East 1,167. I am yet to understand the basis for this distribution or the attendant undisguised denigration of Southern geo-political blocs with an obvious disdain for the South-East in particular. Had this not been nipped in the bud I shudder to think of what it would have portended thereafter. Yes I know, the idea was jettisoned but the very proposal of it speaks volumes in the flagrant display of bias from an expectedly independent umpire. It is akin to a referee allowing 22 players against 11 in a football match. I agree there is need for more polling units in Nigeria given the advances we have made in population and habited land areas, but the suggested distribution does not in any way reflect fairness or equity.
3. Why was only 65% of PVC distributed as at February and why were most of the undistributed cards from the south? The principles of fairness demand a level playing field which means all eligible voters should be equipped with their PVCs. Every one that has a RIGHT to vote should be ABLE to vote. Yes, I recognize that a NO decision vote is in itself a decision, but such a decision should be voluntary and not because the authorities have somehow devised a devious means to deny citizens of their right to vote. That was part of the apartheid system of government. And we must not tolerate it. INEC argued that 100% distribution is impossible, agreed but 35% failure is unacceptable! That is from their own records, disenfranchising over 23 million Nigerians in fell swoop! And afterwards you want to beat your chest that you have presented the collective decision of all Nigerians?
Another puzzle is INEC’s insistence that temporary voter’s card would not be accepted where PVC has not been collected. Is INEC bent on disenfranchising some people? It is even harder to comprehend that INEC was pushing to hold the election despite these shortcomings. It was the Federal Government’s insistence that they cannot recall troops advancing against Boko Haram for elections that necessitated the postponement, not consideration for the disenfranchised millions.
In fact, weeks after the postponement, Jega told the Senate that about one million cards were yet to be produced! There he accepted that the postponement was a blessing in disguise. The other question for Jega is what was done to ensure faster collection of the PVCs before the rescheduled election. Were the list of outstanding cards published in National Dailies with instruction on where to collect them? Moreover, Jega's insistence that registration and collection of PVCs for 2015 exercise must be circumscribed to Wards rather than polling units is a fraud! That policy statement unravels how much Jega desires to see the people truly vote. One is tempted to ask, was it this method that was adopted in some certain part of the country were 'impressive' registration and collection of PVCs were recorded.
4. Why were there so many underage voters? Had there been pockets of isolated incidents I’m quite sure it would not have gotten the attention it did. The striking thing about these underage voters is that they all have PVCs meaning they were registered four years ago. If it is obvious that they are underage now, how bad was it four years ago at the point of registration. While I am not insinuating that this is INEC’s making, the onus is on them to ensure that we all play by the same rules. Because if this is allowed to degenerate, may be next elections might see cows and goats queuing up to vote.
5. Why was it not possible for PVC holders to vote from anywhere? Technological advancements today have the added advantage of being mobile, except our own PVC technology. The card reader should be able to validate information on a card, and the cardholder accredited instantly, it is that simple. INEC declaring that people cannot vote outside their registration points does disenfranchise a lot of people given the high mobility of persons in the Nigerian society. Besides this is the 21st century your location should no longer be a problem. Add this to the fact that huge numbers moved away from their places of abode before the election due to legitimate fears of post-electoral violence. The Federal Government is complicit here, as they never bothered to assure people of their security during and after the elections. Again fairness would have ensured that this group of people get to vote.
The issues raised here are by no means exhaustive, I believe INEC and the Federal Government would do Nigerians a favor by holding an extensive retreat on the successes and failures of the last elections with a view to drastically improving on the next one. It is not enough for one party to be willing and ready to accept any outcome in the spirit of statesmanship. Our elections should be fair and be seen to be fair, that is only when results would not only be acceptable but also unquestionable. That is when we can beat our chest and say “Nigerians have decided!”
JEGA HAS NOT DENOUNCED THE PARTICIPATION OF THE UNDERAGE VOTERS IN 2015 ELECTIONS.
1. If out of the 15,424,921 votes scored by the APC, 6,100,000 were those of underage voters from 10 northern states; can that result be such that can be said to be the wish of Nigerians? At least, none of the PDP’s 12,853,162 votes was that of an underage, be it in the south or in the north.
2. If Jega’s INEC deliberately and technically disenfranchised voters from the southern region from getting their voter’s card, thereby prohibiting them from expressing their rights to choose their leaders, yet deliberately devised means of massively providing Cards for people in the northern region even in their absence just for the purpose of technically rigging the elections, I doubt if the wishes of the masses was the result of the elections.
3. If Jega’s INEC has not made provisions to correct its evil for future elections, I doubt if the wishes of Nigerians will be suppressed for too long. I wonder how this time bomb will be averted in the nearest future when Goodluck Ebele Jonathan will not be in a position to avert it as he did.
4. If the incoming government only emerge as a result of LIES, BETRAYALS AND BLOODSHED, who knows what it will take to reconcile the players or to build trust in the face of the masses.
5. If it had to take the blood of over 18,000 Nigerians in the Northeast, Thisday building bomb blast victims, UN Building bomb blast victims, Abuja Shopping Mall Bomb blast, Nyanya Bomb Blast Building, Kano Motor park bomb blast victims, Kano Mosque Bomb Blast victims, the blood of the Damaturu Unity College boys, the Blood of other bomb blast victims in Gombe, The Blood of the Nigerian soldiers in the avoidable treacherous war , the blood of those young Nigerians hypnotized to fight for Boko haram to provide PROVE OF INSECURITY IN NIGERIA, for the incoming government to have a better reason to come in, then the blod of these innocent ones will wage a war against those that used them as sacrificial lambs.
6. If the incoming government was built on a foundation of THE BETRAYALS FROM STRANGE BED-FELLOWS, I wonder how it will deal with the storms when Karma shows up.
7. If Jega’s Kano state INEC Electoral Commissioner was burnt alive with his family because his heart bled for the sins he committed against GEJ and humanity, then his blood and that of his family shall seek vengeance on their killers and conspirators.
8. If those that went on the streets of Lagos, Abuja and Kano to call President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan “EVIL” for trying to remove the Fuel Subsidy scam, (the mother of all corruption) are the same people asking that the fuel subsidy be removed now, then their death shall be worse than that of Judas Iscariot.
9. If those that said Goodluck Jonathan should have weighed Nigeria’s 50 year old decay before embarking on solving them are the same ones asking that Buhari should be given a chance to solve Nigeria’s 16 year problems, then they must be trying to redefine the definition of MALICIOUS HYPOCRISY. – Karma is still doing preparatory press-up for them
10. If Professor Attahiru Muhammadu Jega does not come out publicly to seek forgiveness from Nigerian, especially those he maliciously disenfranchised their rights to vote, then the evil that befalls Nigeria in years to come shall be upon him, his family and his generations to come.
We will wait, and we will watch and we will observe, except the law of karma is a figment of our Imagination, a house built upon that sandy soil of lies will not stand. ……it shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. Matthew 7:26-27
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