Deliver Us from this Evil!

As the news filtered through last night that Mr Segun Oni of the Peoples Democratic Party has been declared the winner of the Ekiti Governorship election re-run, my heart sank. It was a night of disasters, which was made worse for me by the defeat of my beloved Arsenal team. My heart sank not because PDP or Segun Oni won the elections, but because the little hope I had for our nascent democracy was shattered. As they say, democracy is a journey and not a destination. Political commentators often say that our democratic principles need time to mature and that it will be foolish to compare ourselves to the other western democracies, some of which have been in existence prior to our independence. Yes I agree it is a journey, but a journey that is on a road to ‘perdition’ is not worth embarking on in the first place.

I’m neither a supporter of Kayode Fayemi of Action Congress nor am I a card carrying member of the PDP. For me, I can only describe the current set of political parties in Nigeria as mediocre. Although it is an aside issue, most will agree that these parties lack any form of ideology or focus. Whatever be the case, I believe in the spirit of fair play. We need a level playing field in order to foster democratic maturity. However, our political system is a sham to say the least.

The Ekiti election has demonstrated that there is really no democracy in Nigeria. It was a clear reflection of the larger society. The situation in Ekiti was only accentuated because its perceived isolation. But it is a reflection of what goes on in the 36 states of the federation during the general elections. So can anyone imagine that! The Ekiti elections was doomed for failure from the word go. The election campaigns were marred with violence and intimidation, the federal government continuously threatened to deploy armed soldiers (in a democratic society!), the election was also suspended midway, and the most interesting part was the disappearance/resignation of the resident electoral officer. There was no way that any of the political parties would have accepted defeat.

The actions of federal government and INEC only brings back the memory of June 12 elections. People of Ekiti have been robbed of their mandate in broad daylight. I believe the ghost of June 12 is still very much in our midst. Two weeks ago, there were allegations the results from three wards in Ido-Osi local govt were collated at a Police station. However INEC has neither confirmed nor denied this allegation, which suggests to me that there might be elements of truth in it. So we need to ask Prof Iwu and his cohorts that, when did the police station become an election collation centre? When did Divisional Police Officers (DPO) become INEC Returning Officers? If these allegations are true, it is fraudulent for INEC to validate such results. Are these not the same results the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mrs Ayoka refused to accept two weeks ago? Have the results suddenly aligned with her Christian faith?

When I read Mrs Ayoka’s letter of resignation on the internet about two weeks ago, I acknowledged with sceptism. She claimed in the letter that the turn of events in Ekiti electoral process were against her Christian faith (!). And thus she cannot continue as the REC. It gets to me when people use religion to justify every action. Although, I’m a Christian, certain things are just morally wrong. I’m sorry to say this, but people who use religion to justify every action are mostly hypocrites. When you are engaged to do a job, you are guided by ethics and code of conduct. If your belief does not align with the ethics of your profession, then you shouldn’t be in the profession in the first place. For goodness sake, what has Christianity got to do with morals? People should learn to take responsible for their actions and stop hiding under the pretence of religion. Do you need to read the Bible to know that electoral fraud is a crime against humanity? Unfortunately, she now has to justify how the Ido-Osi local government has changed some much within two weeks to be acceptable from her Christian viewpoint.

The REC was even bold enough to say “any aggrieved party should go to the tribunal”. I don’t actually understand what she means by this statement. Does she have an understanding of the cost of litigation at all? It is suffice to say that the legal profession has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of Nigeria fraudulent electoral process. And this is no disrespect to my learned friends, of all whom I hold in high esteem. But as soon as elections are lost, the candidates head straight to court to contest the election. They will agree with me that if the electoral Commission has done its work properly, they wouldn’t be any reason to go to court or tribunal. We need not to be naïve about slow the legal process can be. As an example, it took AC two years to get a judicial reprieve.

My concern is that Nigeria is gradually drifting into oblivion. People are continuously losing faith in the system. The emergence of separatist group such as MEND did not start overnight. The current belief in certain quarters is that the government cannot be engaged in any constructive discussion. And when this happens, the MEND style attacks could start to spread across the nation. You can only force the will of the minority on the majority for a while.

The Ekiti Crisis

Why has the nation ‘fountain of knowledge’ turned ‘fountain of anarchy’? Can we ever conduct a credible election in Nigeria? And if yes, how can it be done? Are we actually practising democracy in a true sense? And perhaps, is democracy the answer? Or should we explore alternative governance process? These are the questions been asked in the last few days following last Saturday Gubernatorial election re-run in Ekiti State. We may probably just need to remind ourselves that the election re-run was only to be conducted in 68 electoral wards (!). So why on earth has an election with only 25,000 votes for grabs turned into a ‘free-for-all’ violence? There has been report of widespread violence with political thugs are having a filled day. Journalists have also been attacked with machetes. We now understand that State Resident Electoral Commissioner has gone AWOL. We have also heard allegations and counter-allegations among the political parties of fraud. And as of Tuesday 28 April, elections are yet to commence in Oye-Ekiti, and therefore the gubernatorial election remains inconclusive.

The current situation is not an isolated case. These events are just a sad reminder of the ‘wild wild west’ of the second republic. Some of the older generation may remember the bloodshed caused by the political rivalry between the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN). It is right to say that some of the victims of the mayhem have since not recovered. But the question remains, can there ever be a free and fair election in Nigeria?

The conduct of ‘free and fair’ elections is a collective responsibility of everyone. The government must ensure that it promotes an environment that will encourage a fair electoral process. And when I say ‘environment’, I mean the ‘electoral system’ in its entirety. Legislations and processes that support the electoral system must also be fair. The nation’s citizens and politicians are also charged with the responsibility of complying with the ‘rules of engagement’.

In Nigeria, what we have is a political system that is at odds with the principles of democracy. Our electoral process is devoid of any form of transparency. We have a democratic structure that is riddled with inherent conflict of interests. Our law enforcement agents have been compromised. The system grants enormous power to the incumbent. The electoral commission is not in anyway ‘independent’. How can an elected President be responsible for appointment of the INEC Chairman? The President is also responsible for the appointment of heads of law enforcement agencies. Now tell me, how can you unseat an incumbent who has all the state machinery at his disposal? We have seen situations in the past when law enforcements have been used to harass opponents of the ruling party. I remember Ex-President Obasanjo accused of using the EFCC to intimidate and harass opponents of his ‘third term’ agenda. I also need not to remind you of how ‘men in uniforms’ have colluded with the ruling party to snatch and stuff ballot boxes.

The effect of this obvious imbalance in our political system and democratic structure has rendered the opposition helpless. And that is why most of the opposition parties engage in thuggery, rigging and so on. The fact is, every political party in Nigeria is engaged in one form of electoral fraud or the other. The only difference between is that the ruling party is normally aided by other state agencies. The winner of an election is mostly determined by how much resources you have at your disposal to rig the election.

So how can we begin to address these problems? Until the principles underlying our electoral and democratic system is addressed, free and fair elections will only be a mirage. After 10 years of continuous democratic rule, I’m beginning to support the idea of a sovereign national conference. I used to believe that those clamouring for a sovereign national conference were doing so for selfish reasons. However, I have now come to realise that it is important that we start to redefine the structure of our existence as a nation. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not agitating for the break up of Nigeria. In fact, I believe our diversity, which is often seen as a challenge, is one of our greatest strength. However, the ‘bolts and nuts’ of our constitution needs to be re-engineered. We need to engage in serious discussions about on our style of governance. If we want to practice Federalism, let us practice true Federalism. The current Federal structure does not make any sense. There is too much power vested on the President. We do not have clear separation of powers within our governance structure. Our electoral process needs serious overhaul. We need a genuine electoral reform. Not the one currently being proposed by the current government. It is unlikely that any ruling party will support such a true electoral reform. And that is why these issues have to be discussed at a non-partisan level.

Until these fundamental issues are resolved, the Ekiti crisis will be a child’s play. With 2011 elections around the corner, how this crisis will pan out over the next few weeks will of course be a matter of interest to everyone.