By Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Former president Olusegun Obasanjo, recently stirred up fresh political controversy when he bluntly demanded a total overhaul of the electoral system in Nigeria.
He was explicitly categorical in also requesting the outright sack of the incumbent chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu, and some of the commission’s leadership.
For him, the electoral umpire has performed far below expectations and going forward, should be vetted thoroughly to produce dispassionate, non-partisan actors with impeccable reputations.
The retired military General equally advocated that INEC officials should perhaps be rigorously screened before being given shorter tenures to prevent the appointment of partisan individuals, bluntly emphasising that; “as a matter of urgency, we must ensure the INEC Chairperson and their staff are thoroughly vetted.”
“The scrutinising exercise should produce dispassionate, non-partisan actors with impeccable reputations. Nigeria must ensure the appointment of new credible INEC leadership at the federal, state, local government, and municipal – city, town, and village – levels, with short tenures to prevent undesirable political influence, and corruption, and to re-establish trust in the electoral system by its citizens.
“The INEC Chairperson must not only be absolutely above board but must also be transparently independent and incorruptible.”
For many politically conscious Nigerians and even the international community, Obasanjo was both right and wrong. Right because elections in the country have really become a source of concern to many, having gone down to an all-time low, with the participants barefacedly threatening fire and brimstone to condemn the irregularities perpetrated during the conduct of every major election.
He was, however, wrong because he didn’t implement such comprehensive overhaul and reforms he is demanding now while he held sway as the president.
Those with such an impression is understandable because for many Nigerians, Obasanjo, who supervised and spearheaded many flawed, fraudulent, and brutally questionable elections across Nigeria, lacks the moral authority to criticise those currently behind the prosecution of elections.
However, by prioritising the message above the messenger, a critical appraisal of the country’s electoral system will confirm the validity of the claim on whether there has been any marginal improvement so far or not.
Despite the commendable efforts of the Yakubu-led electoral commission to strenuously introduce technological reforms to convince Nigerians of its genuine determination to conduct transparent and credible elections, protests and endless litigations that always trailed most elections with the candidates, their supporters, and the majority of the electorate, to register their anger over the shoddy contest that produced the winners have proved otherwise.
Beyond the complaints, factors like the highest bidder vote buying and vote selling, brazen alterations of election results, fragrant disregard of the game changer, the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal, malfunctioning of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), prefilled result sheets, intimidation of voters by both the security agencies and government/political party-sponsored miscreants, in addition to other election malfeasance, have become the major decider of the outcome of elections in Nigeria.
In extremely bizarre circumstances, according to many political watchers and election observers, a particular political party may have allegedly scaled up the game by buying over the electoral umpire, the security agencies, and the judiciary, making election victory very seamless to its candidates.
The popular mantra of go to court may be as old as the fourth republic, however, the impunity with which it was derogatorily used, after every election conducted in the recent past has become a source of worry to many.
It won’t therefore come as a surprise that many pundits received the agitations for electoral reforms from former president Obasanjo with shock, remembering certain remarks like do-or-die election, credited to him while he was in charge.
There is no doubt that issues like ballot box snatching and stuffing, intimidation of voters, deliberate disruption of elections at the opponent’s strongholds, and brazen manipulation and outright rewriting of election results were rampant during the previous republics.
In retrospect, when the PDP was in power at the centre, it was apparently easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the opposition political parties to win any major election.
Not even various erudite electoral reforms like Option A4, the brainchild of Humphrey Nwosu which changed election dynamics then, and the Smart Card Reader machine, a laudable but problematic technology introduced by Attahiru Jega, could authenticate the credibility of elections and make it acceptable to many in the country.
In defence of the myriads of criticisms trailing its conduct of elections in the country, especially in recent times, the electoral umpire has maintained that it has always delivered transparent, free, fair, and credible polls, boasting that INEC Chairman, Yakubu, is even on the threshold and trajectory of making the commission one of the best election management institutions in the world.
For example, National Commissioner, Kunle Ajayi, who defended the commission while presenting certificates of return to Ondo State governor-elect and deputy governor-elect, had argued that the electoral umpire has always acted on its core values of independence, impartiality, neutrality, and transparency.
Hear him; “INEC remains steadfast in its commitment to ensuring free, fair, credible and conclusive elections. The recently concluded Ondo State election represents a testament to our dedication to delivering a transparent election.
“INEC Chairman, Yakubu, is consistent in achieving a situation to become one of the best election management bodies in the world. He is acting on our core values of independence, impartiality, neutrality, and transparency. The strides made in the development of technology, the meticulous planning, and execution of the election all highlight the commission’s resolve to continuously improve electoral process.”
Unfortunately, not even its claims to have perfected and made its conduct of elections top-notch could convince doubters that most elections conducted recently were not clinically rigged in favour of the winners that would stoutly boast of their readiness to successfully defend their victory in the law courts.
To lay more credence that recent elections where stakeholders have even gone beyond the deployment of crude rigging methods to ensure victory are not limited to one political party, the outcome of the recently concluded Local Government Area (LGA) elections would also bear eloquent testimony.
Nigerians would definitely not forget in a hurry that during the conduct of the LG polls across the country, every party in power whether PDP, APC, LP, or NNPP won landslide all the available vacant chairmanship and councillorship positions in their states.
In fact, cases were replete where many electoral officers would arrive at various polling stations and units without result sheets and in defence claimed to be obeying instructions from above.
The conducted LGA elections were so bad, according to many observers, that the opposition parties in the states usually pulled out of the election weeks and days before the election day, citing sundry issues like lack of trust in the state-controlled electoral management body, intimidation, and insecurity.
Again, the two off-cycle governorship elections had their ugly tales with the opposition parties crying foul that their agents were not allowed into some Local Government collation centres where results were allegedly rewritten or falsified to favour the winners.
However, whether real or imagined, there may be some elements of truth in the claim that rigging has graduated to vote buying at the polling units and consolidation on the victories with the rewriting of the results at the collation centres, usually under the alleged protection by the security agencies and the commission’s ad-hoc and real staff.
For instance, in the recent Edo governorship election, Yiaga Africa and some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), had expressed concerns that the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC’s guidelines on collation process appeared to have been compromised, adding that; “as with previous elections, the collation process in this election is again a weak link. Our observation showed that it was not transparent nor open to representatives of the various candidates in some cases.”
Many key actors had expressed anger over the outcome of the elections recently, describing the dimension of the manipulations as frightening and disturbing.
Secretary of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), High Chief Peter Ameh, weighing in on the magnitude of election riggings, claimed that there is overwhelming evidence to suggest that manipulation and interference by the election management officials have undermined the integrity of the country’s elections.
Ameh, in a chat with Daily Sun, argued that; “the overwhelming evidence has led to widespread scepticism and mistrust in the electoral process. One of the primary concerns is the lack of neutrality and autonomy of the electoral body.”
“Election management officials have been accused of being partial and incompetent, which has compromised the fairness and transparency of the electoral process. This has also resulted in electoral corruption and manipulations, which have had a profound impact on the outcome of elections.
“Furthermore, the role of election observers has been compromised due to their limited presence and compromised positions. This has made it difficult for them to effectively monitor the electoral process and prevent manipulation.”
Aligning with Ameh, Obasanjo equally regretted the commission’s failure to utilize cutting-edge technologies, particularly the BVAS and IReV, particularly during the 2023 presidential election, despite promises the electoral umpire boss, Yakubu made prior to the poll.
According to Obasanjo, the refusal of the commission to use the IReV, which it blamed on glitches, led to widespread voting irregularities and the conclusion that it was rigged in favour of the winners.
He argued that; “The BVAS and IReV are two technological innovations that, before the 2023 election, were celebrated for their potential to enhance the accuracy and transparency of our election results, eliminate the threat of election rigging, and boost public trust in electoral outcomes.
“These technologies were touted by the INEC chairman himself, in the end, these technologies did not fail. INEC wilfully failed to use or implement them, which resulted in widespread voting irregularities. It was a case of inviting the fox into the henhouse.”
The duo of Ameh and Obasanjo were not alone in the critical appraisal of the flawed electoral system in the country, as former President Goodluck Jonathan equally expressed reservations over the impossibility of the electoral commission achieving neutrality in its conduct of elections.
Reacting officially to the outcome of the recent governorship election held in Edo State, Jonathan argued that the election had shown that technology would not solve Nigeria’s electoral challenges.
He has argued that the human mindset was the key to the resolution of the electoral problems, regretting that many Nigerians had a dirty attitude to politics. He equally stressed that there was little technology could do to make right a fraudulent electoral process, as it could still be manipulated by corrupt human minds.
“In Nigeria, we talk about technology. Without the human mind ready to do what is right, if we bring the technology, they will manipulate it,” he said, adding: “People say politics is a dirty game. The way we play our politics is the way we want to play it.
“Remember Obasanjo recently made a statement that politics is not dirty but the people that play politics come into it with their dirty minds, dirty hearts, and dirty characters. And that is why people say politics is dirty. And in that case, we must all begin to think differently. We must cultivate a culture of peace.”
The long and short of the clamour for a sound credible electoral system in the country, according to many concerned Nigerians, would be to ensure the neutrality and autonomy of the electoral body.
Aligning with it, former National Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Ameh, claimed that; “this can be achieved by implementing reforms that promote transparency and accountability in the electoral process.
“Additionally, measures should also be taken to ensure that the electoral commission does not interfere and work to favour one party over another, such as implementing robust security protocols and regulating the activities of his officials and security agencies on Election Day.”
Still weighing in on the way forward, especially on the role of the security agencies, Ameh also noted that; “the role of security agencies, particularly the police, has been highly criticized. The police, whose primary responsibility is safeguarding the public interest, have often been accused of acting in the interest of the party in power. This has led to a lack of trust in the ability of the police to provide a secure and neutral environment for elections.
“During elections, the police have been known to disrupt opposition rallies and events and allowed those of the ruling party to proceed uninterrupted. They have been known for arresting opposition supporters on trumped-up charges, thereby intimidating them and suppressing their ability to participate in the electoral process.
“The police have also been accused of providing security for ruling party agents, who often use the protection to intimidate and harass opposition supporters. The negative impact on our electoral process is serious and unacceptable.
“The biased role of security agencies, particularly the police, has profoundly impacted the electoral process. It has undermined public trust, suppressed voter turnout, and compromised election outcomes.”
While summarising its observation, the Situation Room of the CSOs noted that; “the State governorship elections 2024, failed to fulfill the requirement for the conduct of credible elections. And again, it raised questions about election credibility in Nigeria. “As with recent elections, INEC’s ability and willingness to conduct credible elections in Nigeria remains questionable.”
And responding to the damning verdict, Ameh noted that; “the general impressions about Nigeria’s election outcomes are indeed frightening and disturbing. The manipulation and interference by election management officials, coupled with the biased role of security agencies, have undermined the integrity of the country’s elections.
“To restore trust and confidence in the electoral process, it is essential to implement reforms that promote transparency, accountability, and security. The commission must be unbundled: divide INEC into distinct units to promote effective management of the electoral process and political parties.”
