Politics
AS Nigerians await the verdict of the election petitions tribunals and that of the Appeal and Supreme Courts as the case may be, it is imperative for the nation to commence the healing process from the wounds inflicted by 2023 elections, which have once more exposed how fragile and divided a nation we have been nurturing for decades. But this cannot be achieved if the begging issues of equity and fairness are once again ignored.
By Goddy Ikeh
ALTHOUGH the final phase of the 2023 elections has moved to the judicial arm of the government for adjudication. Incidentally, the 2023 polls have aptly been described by some analysts and politicians as a war and Nigerians should now be thinking of how to mend the broken fences and forge ahead as usual as if nothing serious has befallen the nation. Apart from the flawed presidential and general elections of February 25 and March 18, 2023, conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, many chattering columnists, analysts and politicians are totally in agreement that some frontline politicians employed every available arsenal at their disposal to execute this electoral war, including flaunting the ugly and divisive fault lines of the country.
Unfortunately, the tension created by the politicians before, during and after the polls has not been doused. For instance, in Lagos where the elections were characterised by widespread violence, intimidation and exclusion of non-indigenes, especially Igbos from voting the candidates of their choice. There were also reported cases of fire outbreaks in some markets in Lagos state and another market locked on the orders of the chairman of the local government as well as alleged attacks on non-indigenes by some hoodlums in some estates in the state after the elections. There were also reported cases of protests in many states across the country against the results declared by INEC, while killings in Benue and Kaduna states have not stopped after the polls.
In addition, the nation was traumatized by the implementation of the Naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, before and after the elections. Reacting to the chaos caused by cash scarcity, which emanated from the policy, the organised private sector raised the alarm that the crisis had grounded the economy. According to the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Nigerian Employers Consultative Forum, Nigerian Economy Summit Group, Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises and the Nigerian Association of Small-Scale Industrialists, which are members of the organised private sector, the cash scarcity sparked violence in Ogun State, Oyo, Delta and a few other states, resulting in the razing of some banks and the destruction of the local government council secretariats. Local media reports stated that apart from the attacks on banks, there were cases of massive disruptions in the flow of transactions and failure of e-payment channels. Some economists also warned that the disruptions caused by the policy could drive the economy to slip into another recession. However, the role played by the organized Labour in ameliorating the suffering of Nigerians over the Naira redesign policy cannot be ignored as their threat to embark of national strike forced the CBN to perform their duties and save the nation from impending financial crisis.
Until recently, the crisis raging in the three leading political parties, the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and the Labour Party, LP, and the ongoing court cases and the various injunctions and counter injunctions is quite worrisome in the face of rising tensions in the country. And it is ironical that the pronounced winners of the elections and their supporters are now crying more than the perceived losers in the elections.
Worried by these developments, former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his post- election appeal to Nigerians, called for national reconciliation. Lamenting on the deteriorating state of the nation, Obasanjo noted that Nigeria “is presently more divided and corroded than what leaders of thought had in mind”.
Speaking at a public lecture series tagged, “From Elections to Governance and Performance” recently in Abuja, Obasanjo said that with the current situation on ground, it would not be out of place for a national reconciliation, which would assuage the feelings of aggrieved Nigerians, particularly the youth population.
He criticised the growing debt profile and spending spree of government at all tiers, especially those at the helm of affairs currently, likening the situation to “spending like a drunken sailor”. While assuring the audience that he was now too old to keep quiet over unfolding events in the country, Obasanjo advised that for reforms to take root, there must be political will and concerted effort to drive it by all the stakeholders in Nigeria.
According to him, the trend of thinking has become inevitable for Nigeria in the face of dwindling fortunes in oil revenue, huge foreign indebtedness and the urgency of diversifying the country’s neo-cultural economy. He, however, suggested the following:
On the worsening divisiveness of the country, he suggested that the new administration should urgently facilitate the process of national moral rearmament and national reconciliation that will assuage the youths of the country.
This, according to him, must be done in sync with the imperative of national value orientation that Nigeria requires to build a collective sense of enduring and local values and national belonging.
He stated that governance in Nigeria now calls for thinking outside the box, in terms of development financing, this has become inevitable in the face of Nigeria’s dwindling fortune, in oil revenue, Nigeria’s huge foreign indebtedness and the urgency of diversifying Nigeria’s neo cultural economy. Obasanjo added that “Political will, political action and administrative efforts must be invested in reforming the public service into a capability-ready institution that could enable Nigeria’s development agenda beyond 2023.
“All of these and more are necessary to correct and not to repeat the sickening and painful show of shame that the elections of 2023 generated.”
In the same vein, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, said that the tension in the polity would reduce if the Presidential Election Petition Court could give judgment before the inauguration of a new president on May 29, 2023.
According to him, Agbakoba, the tension around the touted call for interim government was built around the fear that the judgment could drag on for months.
“The tension around the call for an interim government is that the presidential election petition may not conclude before the inauguration of a new president on May 29, 2023. But it’s very possible to conclude these petitions, provided that the court systems are very proactive,” Agbakoba said in a statement.
He stated that under arbitration matters, procedural orders and or directions issue peremptorily to resolve sometimes very complex jurisdictional and procedural issues. “The presidential election tribunals are urged to adapt the procedures very familiar with speedy conclusion of arbitration matters,” he said.
“I set out three issues in the Presidential Election Petitions that are resolvable by application of procedural orders and or directions which may peremptorily decide some of the Jurisdictional and procedural issues, stated in the petition as follows:
“Interpretation of Section 134 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as to whether securing 25 (percent) of votes in Federal Capital Territory Abuja is compulsory to be president.
“Is a candidate permitted to stand for presidential or vice presidential election when he is at the same time a senatorial candidate?
“Issues relating to qualification of candidates to stand for presidential election,” he added.
And for the retired director of the Department of State Security, DSS, Mike Ejiofor, who aired his views on “Citizenship versus Ethnicity”, a programme by Arise Television, stated that Nigeria has never been so divided along the faulty line of ethnicity, “This is not good for us,” Ejiofor said. He urged the 10th National Assembly to tackle this ugly development in the country.
Ejiofor suggested that the issue of state of origin should be deemphasized in the country so that any Nigerian, who is born or live in any state of the country for many years can contest for any elective position irrespective of the state he hails from.
Speaking on the call for healing in the nation, Ejiofor, who frowned at the ethnic profiling in Lagos state, cautioned that healing would not work unless it was based on “equity and fairness”.
In one of his few speeches after the elections, President Muhammadu Buhari, said that he joined Christians in Nigeria and around the world to celebrate Easter, which commemorates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, signposting his victory over death.
“At the heart of Easter, is the triumph of light over darkness. It is a season that reminds us that the Almighty can turn an unpleasant situation round for good.
“Recognising that Easter is about renewed hope and a glorious future, I urge all Nigerians to continue to be confident and believe strongly in our country for better seasons ahead. As a nation, we have gone through an election that has produced the next set of leaders at the federal and State levels.
“I commend Nigerians for believing in the process. While I congratulate those that have been elected, I acknowledge that it is the right of those who feel dissatisfied with the outcome to seek redress. I expect them to wait patiently and allow our legal system run its course,” he said.
According to him, he has been guided by the vows he took to keep Nigeria united, prosperous and secure.
“Our successes on security, economy, infrastructure, new oil frontier basins, landmark legal reforms as well as food sufficiency, among others, were possible because of the support of Nigerians.
“As we celebrate this season with our families, neighbors and communities, let us do so in love, compassion, kindness, resilience and forgiveness,” Buhari said while wishing Nigerians Happy Easter.
Perhaps, Nigerians should heed the advice of the elder statesman, Obasanjo and other patriots and ensure that this country of over 200 million people does not explode. And should it do so, the shock would be felt far beyond its borders.
A.
Tags: CBN INEC President Olusegun Obasanjo
