By Kehinde Okeowo
Election is a process for effecting peaceful transition in government all over the world. This process, in most developing countries, however comes with a lot of challenges when compared with what is obtainable in advanced democracies. It was against that backdrop that analysts predicted a chaotic election in the recently concluded Edo state governorship poll. However, it has come and gone without much incident. In its place, are rather, lessons to be learnt While laud the people of the state for conducting themselves others extend commendations to Oba of Benin, His Royal Highness, Oba Eheneden Erediauwa, who like a true father, brokered a truce among the political gladiators before the election. Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is also extolled for maintaining the role of a neutral umpire.
INEC and Elections
Despite the seemingly impressive display by INEC in the Edo election, all the elections that have been conducted since the establishment of INEC in 1999 when civilian rule was re-introduced to the polity till date are yet to increase the confidence of the electorate in the process. Nigerians have largely remained skeptical and continued to express lack of confidence in election results because of allegations of collusion by INEC to manipulate elections, thereby subverting the will of the people. The active connivance of some members of the judiciary in flouting and eroding the tenets of democracy is not helping matters either. As it is today, a general consensus on election outcome in Nigeria is rare; it is at best a function of which side of the divide one belongs.
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Democracy as a concept
While democracy is the rule of majority, its major trust is that the sovereignty that men surrendered to the state is jealously guided, so that the society does not return to the dark era of state of nature when lawlessness was the order of the day. Any electoral system that subverts the will of the people will ultimately lead to anarchy.
In Nigeria, three major factors are responsible for theft of electoral mandates; one is when political parties bungle the act of selecting candidates to represent them by trampling on the constitution while conducting their primaries or putting forward candidates whose credentials are questionable. The second is election rigging either perpetrated by political actors alone or in connivance with the electoral umpire or government agencies. The last is the ignoble role of judiciary. A lot of times some judges enable politicians of questionable character to abuse the court processes and exploit the lacuna in the electoral laws after losing election.
The Courts and stolen mandates
The Appeal Court rulings that sacked Dr. Chris Ngige as governor of Anambra state in 2006, Prof. Oserheimen Osunbor of Edo state in 2008 and Dr. Olusegun Agagu of Ondo state in 2009 and installed Mr. Peter Obi, Comrade Adams Oshiomole and Dr. Olusegun Mimiko respectively could be said to have restored people’s mandate after they were stolen by the then Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) –led federal government. However, in 2019 the Supreme Court invalidated the participation of APC in the Governorship, National Assembly and State Assembly elections in Zamfara State for failing to hold credible primary elections in accordance with party constitution, the electoral act and the 1999 constitution. It also sacked David Lyon who won Bayelsa State gubernatorial election barely 24 hours to his Inauguration on the ground that his deputy presented false information to INEC in 2020. In Imo state, a controversial decision by the Court saw the winner removed and replaced by the candidate who came fourth. On all these occasions, the court enthroned men who did not win the election and denied the people of these states their mandates.
Electoral law versus the people
Legal luminaries who commented on these judgments argued that the apex Court only adjudicated over matters that were brought before it. According to them, politicians are the ones who approached the courts and preyed on the loopholes in our electoral law. In the case of APC in Zamfara and Bayelsa states, they saw the party as the architect of its own misfortune because it did not play by its own rule and presented a candidate that is not qualified. They went further to commend the judiciary for reclaiming the mandate of the people in Anambra, Edo and Ondo states, at the time. However, while they may be justified in putting the blame on politicians, the inconvenient truth is that the judgments only saw politicians as the sole beneficiary of election in a democratic setting but failed to realize that the main essence of democracy, which is to protect the will of the people, was trampled upon.
The way forward
Since democracy is the government of the people by the people and for the people, observers have argued that the electoral law and constitution must seek to guarantee this right. They add that to rebuild the fragile confidence of the electorates in the system, the system must stop politicians from winning elections through the back doors and using legal technicalities to subvert the will of the people. “We must ensure our constitution stipulates that all matters relating to candidate’s eligibility and participation are settled and affirmed by the courts before the elections are held, and disqualification of candidates after elections should no longer be admissible. Furthermore, electoral malpractices should be brought to the barest minimum by drastically reducing human participation and opting for the deployment of technology. While this may not be a full proof against rigging, it will unquestionably reduce corruption and human influence on the outcome our elections; it will also increase speed and efficiency, save cost on the long run and most importantly, guarantee the will of the people, Babsfem Micheal, a human resource expert, stated.