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As the nation prepares for the 2015 general elections, Maurice Iwu, former national chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, at Realnews second year anniversary celebration, warns against five major threats that may mar the credibility of the elections
| By Olu Ojewale | Dec. 1, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT |
IT WAS celebration time on Wednesday, November 19, when Realnews magazine, an online publication, rolled out the drums to mark its second anniversary in a grand style. The occasion which held at Sheraton Hotel, Lagos, was marked with twin events – a lecture and the launch of Paragon of Journalism, a book on the stable of the newsmagazine.
The two-in-one event, which attracted prominent Nigerians and captains of industries, provided a platform for Nigerians to discuss 2015 elections year. It all started with a lecture on “Nigerian Democracy: Getting it Right in 2015.
Maurice Iwu, former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, who delivered the lecture identified five major issues that could mar the election year. According to Iwu, in order to create a conducive atmosphere to usher in good conduct of elections in 2015, the five issues that must be handled carefully include curbing violence before, during and after elections; reducing the pervasive influence of money in politics and elections; correcting the mindset of Nigerians on elections; promoting internal democracy in political parties, and enhancing women participation in elections. He argued: “If we make progress in addressing these crucial issues in our politics – and we have no choice but to address them effectively – then we must have taken a definitive step in upturning major aspects of the handicaps of our electoral process. It is important that Nigerians appreciate the link between these retarding factors and the impairment of their electoral process.”
These five major factors are intertwined and often engendered numerous other problems that could make the conduct of elections in Africa a complex undertaking. For instance, Iwu said there was so much money in the 2007 elections in Nigeria, that what ordinarily should have been a national election, became internationalised, “with foreign institutions, agencies and individuals hired at very exorbitant price, simply to aid the ascendance of the candidates and interest that hired them.” During the period, he disclosed that Nigerian politicians bought everything that could enhance their chances of winning election including the press.
Sadly, he said the 2015 elections would not be different. “Even before we cast a single ballot in the 2015 elections, external forces have already taken positions at various angles to subtly and not so subtly promote the candidates of their preference and to battle the Nigerian state on any policy that did not seem to favour them or their clients,” he said. The situation if not changed would hinder the nation from getting the best in its democracy. According to the former INEC boss, money politics “is corrosive; it does so much harm you will not even imagine the damage it does to the environment even after the election is conducted.”
Another factor that could militate against the success of 2015 elections is the menace of violence before, during and after elections. “Indeed, violence in its various forms and manifestations negate the spirit and principles of democracy. There is hardly any room for the two – democracy and violence – to thrive simultaneously. One finds expression in the freedom of individuals to make decisions and choices freely and without hindrance. The other rudely seeks in its various disruptive forms to undermine that primary right of citizens to decide for themselves what is best for them and who they consider best suited to represent their interest in governance,” Iwu said.
That notwithstanding, the former INEC boss expressed disgust that for a long time the electoral process in Nigeria had been held hostage and distorted by all sorts of acts of violence, often initiated and promoted by a small percentage of people who stand to benefit from the unpleasant situation. Perhaps, as a mark of self-adulation, Iwu remarked that Nigeria marked a watershed in its political development when it succeeded for the very first time to transit from one elected government that completed two terms in office to another in 2007. Besides, he said the 2007 election remained one of the most peaceful elections to date and urged the government to imbibe the policy of zero tolerance for electoral violence in elections of 2015. “There can be no greater untruth than the belief by some individuals and groups that political contest cannot go without violence. Indeed, political contest should be more of a game than a war. As with all contests in all realms of human endeavours, elections must have winners and losers. This is unavoidable. To turn electoral contests and the campaigns that precede them into blood sports and mortal engagements, as has become the case in the Nigerian political system, is neither healthy nor acceptable,” Iwu said.
Indeed, one of the reasons why elections usually turn violent in the country is lack of internal democracy. This, Iwu claimed, had been made so by party politics which has increasingly been made the exclusive preserve of a select few. This has raised the question on the primary role of citizens in the context of elections and democratic governance. Hence, the question of whether they have become primarily onlookers in a game, which the outcome affects various facets of their lives and occasional judges among the contestants or are they to be active participants and partisans with the final say on who should represent or govern them? Electoral democracy should in a fundamental sense be about self-government and not just about government that claim to act in the public’s interest.
Iwu, therefore, warned: “If we don’t have internal democracy in political parties we will always have less than the ideal candidates coming out for elections.” Besides, he deciphered that most of the quarrels, bickering and killings in politics could be traced to lack of internal democracy because those who believed they had been short-changed could go up in arms to avenge themselves. “That is why we always have animosity after elections have taken place. That is why people move from one party to the other looking for justice,” he said.
“We cannot seek to promote democracy by imposing the whims of a few over the will of the majority. The absence of internal democracy within the political parties constitutes a threat to the sustenance of true democracy in Nigeria. The leadership of the political parties should reflect on the potential impact of the imposition of otherwise unpopular candidates to represent their parties at the forthcoming elections,” he said. Many Nigerians, especially those who have no affiliation with any political party, will by Iwu’s postulation ask whether the adoption and endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan has not violated such a dictum.
Apart from that, Iwu said that the electoral environment of 2015 would also have “to accommodate the menace of externally organised and funded aggression against the Nigerian State. Including the Jihadist war waged in North East States of Nigeria.” The situation, he said, would require unity and patriotism of all Nigerians and the political players to eliminate. Quoting Antonio Codevilla, a scholar of liberal democracy, who once postulated that “it depends on the character of the people” and “the people’s character depends so substantially on how they freely choose to mold it.” That, he interpreted to mean that the character of Nigeria’s democracy would depend essentially on what Nigerians would want it to be. “The pretension by some that the character of the present democracy in Nigeria is different from the character of the society or that a select few super humans and self-styled messiahs have the capacity to twist the character of the Nigerian democracy is at best an attempt to avoid the reality and proffer appropriate solutions,” he argued.
The former INEC boss also spoke extensively on how the commission under his administration tried to gravitate to electronic voting system, which he said aroused suspicion that he wanted to perpetuate himself in office. “The year 2015 seemed like an unreachable and unrealistic date when in 2008 I had proposed that after the limited use of electronic platform for the conduct of 2007 and 2011 elections that by 2015 we should be able to have a full electronic voting system in Nigeria and reduce to a large extent most of the problems plaguing electoral democracy.” But instead of embracing his plans, he said: “The National Assembly opposed the use of the Electronic Voting Machine, EVM, a component of the Electronic Voting System, EVS, and it was prohibited in the 2006 Electoral Act. The full scale use of EVM for voting was abandoned. With an eye on the future though, the Commission procured and tested three prototypes machines and established their relative quality, so that in future Nigerians can be introduced to the voting machine. The report of that evaluation is still in INEC and may become useful when the nation considers it appropriate to deploy EVS.” He also recalled that at a forum in February 2007, he stated that with the successful introduction of the electronic voters register, Nigerians would no longer have to queue up again in long lines to register to vote in elections. And from then on, “any citizen who turns 18 years of age will simply go into a registration office within his or her local government area and get registered. The exercise goes on round the year.”
He said if the nation had stayed the course and stopped its destructive culture of discarding already laid foundation for a new one, the electoral process would have drawn tremendous stability. In any case, he said it was important that continuous voters registration be allowed as a ‘continuous’ and not periodic exercise.
That notwithstanding, he said the prospects for future elections in Nigeria were remarkably bright. “Let us keep the faith and have confidence in ourselves. It bears stating at once though, that it is up to Nigerians what to make of the future of their electoral process. 2015 represents a good opportunity to consolidate the gains made since 1999. Above all, let us trust in God and do the right things. We will surely get there,” Iwu said.
Much of what Iwu said in a variant form rhymed with the thoughts of Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra whose address centred on “Nigerian Democracy: Getting it Right in 2015.” Obiano said it was noteworthy that after 16 years of uninterrupted military rule, Nigeria has had 15 years of uninterrupted democracy. To strengthen the democracy, Obiano, who was represented by Tony Onyima, commissioner for information in Anambra State, expressed the belief that the year 2015 would offer the nation “another opportunity towards building a more inclusive democracy that would ensure a stronger, safer, more prosperous and more united country.”
He, however, noted that the current security situation in the country especially the act of terrorism, in some parts of the North was seriously eroding some of the gains made by the country. “For genuine democracy to thrive we have to ensure some semblance of stability across all parts of Nigeria. Thankfully our military and the various security agencies are fast adapting to the demands of containing the new challenges and it is expected that the Nigerian version of the global phenomenon would be resolved soon thereby allowing the authorities to concentrate on the task of building a more equitable society,” the governor said.
To strengthen the nation’s democratic culture, he said, it was imperative that policies should be made “to encourage the practice of internal democracy by political parties, building of strong civil society and tolerance of divergent opinions and ideas, respect for multiplicity of political associations and parties where the big and strong avoids swallowing the weak, respect for the rule of law and above all a strong and independent media.”
For Nigeria to get it right in 2015, he said certain actions must be taken, which should include early preparation by the INEC for elections; voter education; inclusive approach to governance; commitment to allow electoral votes count at all levels and collective funding of political parties instead of allowing a few money bags to own the parties and strengthening of internal democracy within the parties.
“Finally, I wish to state that one way of starting to right the perceived wrongs and whittle down public pessimism is such a platform for group interaction and frank discussion like what Realnews offered us today,” Obiano said.
Many other contributors also spoke on the need for the nation to get it right in 2015 so that the Nigerian democracy could be strengthened. Besides, it was generally agreed that Iwu’s lecture was timely and should serve as an early warning to Attahiru Jega, INEC chairman, federal government and political parties to avoid the booby traps inherent in Nigerian elections. But whether the warning would serve as a wakeup call to all stakeholders is left to be seen.
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