By Comrade Gbenga Olowoyo fcia fipma JP
The emergence of democracy in Nigeria dates back to pre-colonial era was characterized with political jibes , conferences both in Nigeria and internationally between 1950s and 1960 when Nigeria secured independence.
The attainment of political independence in Nigeria was not on a platter of Gold because Nigerians began agitations for political representation since 1920s not untill 1922 under British rule when new constitution was created and colonial legislative election took place in 1923.
Throughout these periods there were agitations spanning 1920 to 1936 by different interest groups; Aba women’s riots, National Youth movement etc.
It is very fundamental to bring to fore that in 1950s new constitution paved the way for Nigeria Federal Government structure. The 1959 general election saw a victory for the Northern People’s Congress which formed coalition with Southern Eastern National Council of Nigeria and Cameroons, this opened floodgate of Nigeria led first self government and a precursor to the nation’s self independence in 1960.
There was a regional system of government in the first instance when we have Chief Obafemi Awolowo as a premier in South West, Sir Ahmadu Bello ( Sardauna of Sokoto) as premier in the North and both Michael Okpara (1951-1953) and Nnamdi Azikiwe (1954-1959) were premieres in East respectively can not be underestimated because it was equally a political watershed in the democratic history of Nigeria.
Also, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa served as first and only Prime Minister in Nigeria while Nnamdi Azikiwe became Governor General for the first Three years until 1963 when Nigeria became Republic whereas queen Elizabeth was the Head of Government.
Nigeria became a Republic with Nnamdi Azikiwe as the First President and Head of State while Tafawa Balewa as the Prime Minister and Head of Government.
Fast forward,
elections took place in 1964 but there were resentment which was triggered by multidimensional reasons which thereafter culminated into bloody Military coup and eventual assassination of some political leaders in 1966 this coup eventually brought Major General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyii lronsi but he only ruled for six months, these developments marked the beginning of military intervention in Nigeria political space.
History will not be justified if names like Yakubu Gowon, ( there was Civil war during his reign) Muritala Mohammed and Olusegun Obasanjo who eventually midwived second Republic elections in July and August 1979 and handed over to Alhaji Sheu Shagari as the first Democratically elected President in Nigeria are not mentioned.
Another set of military adventurists came in persons of Major General Mohammodu Buhari, Ibrahim Babangida, Ibrahim Abacha and Abdulsalam Abubakar who eventually handed over to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo on May 29th 1999 as another Democratically elected President of Nigeria.
Since 1999 the Nigeria democracy has been sustainable and not without hiccups of full blown corruption, security challenges, unemployment, self serving politicians, hyper inflation among other challenges that would have been surmounted but due to lack of political will of our leaders Leaders at different levels we are stagnated.
It is an established fact that democracy has remained over the years the only form of government that can uplift the standard of living of Nigerans but not yet achieved because the elected leaders see their positions as birthright.
Whereas, democracy from history, is the only government that can bring about fairness without relapsing to oppression or alienation of considerable parts of the population unfortunately, in Nigeria the opposite is the situation.
The forthcoming 2023 general elections in Nigeria should not be an exception as we match towards another political expedition , the voting pattern should be guided by the convictions of voters to enthrone leaders that possess unblemish attributes, very credible and versatile leadership with conscience.
I am very sure that Nigerians should not look at the party affiliation but good and credible personalities that can deliver dividends of democracy and provide clear cut political leadership in Nigeria because of the serious political , social and economic woes we are experiencing in Nigeria today
Political re-engineering and mental revolution
The political developments in Nigeria has continue to brew bad blood , ethnic chuvinism, political upheaval , economic , health sector , petroleum scarcity and life expectancy uncertainty and other unpredictable phenomenons.
The phenomenal trajectory is seen from the angle of political intolerance and vote buying which to large extent are new things that do not portray Nigerians as men of integrity and strong will.
The recent developments in our political space are enough to bastardize and destroy the hard earned political independence in Nigeria.
It is not a good reference point to state that vote buying and political violence has been part of our political life but the new emerging political trends across the world are enough to guide our operational template so that Nigeria political activities can serve as a reference point to guide our poignant focus in our political sojourn.
Vote-buying is a direct sabotage and wicked compromise to the conduct of free and fair elections in the country by politicians and voters alike.
However, nobody can rule out money and politics because of mobilisation and organisation of political events and activities but a strong referral to what the laws say on electoral spending should be encouraged by all without eyes blinking.
“Honestly and without mincing words , vote-buying took another dimension after the return to democracy in May 1999, from voters, who without any reservation taking pictures and making videos showing themselves while they collected money and food from aspirants and party candidates, and publicly demanding that their right(bribes) be paid before voting.”
It is high time we give adequate publicity to available law against vote-buying in Nigeria as provided for in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The prohibition of vote buying is adequately provided in the article 130 of the Electoral Act 2010, as amended, which states that:
A person who — (a) corruptly by himself or by any other person at any time after the date of an election has been announced, directly or indirectly gives or provides or pays money to or for any person for the purpose of corruptly influencing that person or any other person to vote or refrain from voting at such election, or on account of such person or any other person having voted or refrained from voting at such election, or (b) being a voter, corruptly accepts or takes money or any other inducement during any of the period stated in paragraph (a) of this section, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N100,000 or 12 months imprisonment or both.
It is regrettable and heart aching that Voters and vote buyers despite the aforementioned, have failed to refrain from buying and selling votes.
One of the implications of vote-buying is that it legitimizes corruption and embezzlement of government funds which, in turn, result in the people living in abject poverty and deplorable conditions.
A very strong point of reference is the National Bureau of Statistics research findings which disloced that 133 million multidimensional poor Nigerians are living below poverty level should not be seen as an isolated case but rather stimulated by the aftermath effect of vote buying and other evil machinations of political gladiators in Nigeria. How can Nigerians opt for as low as N1,000, N5,000, N 15,000 or more as a bribe before he or she can decides to vote for his preffered candidates?
Honestly, vote buying in Nigeria political process is a modern day slavery and political colonialism.
It is an open secret that any political office holder who paid his way through to office cannot afford not to recoup all the money invested during the nomination of candidates, party-primary elections and campaigns. It is a business after all and the primary aim of any businessman is to make a profit, which on the other hand, hinders good governance and dividends of democracy.
Vote-buying is a cankerworm that has eaten deep into the fabric of the Nigerian polity making the illegal look legal. The electoral spending law could not stop political parties from spending more than the stipulated money .
As the 2023 presidential election approaches, there is strong need for us to sensitise the public, especially at the moment, to desist from selling their votes for money or food.
Flowing from the above, the media , Civil Society Organisations and other stakeholders should join forces together and intensify voter education and enlightenment campaigns on the negative impact of vote-buying, especially on how it promotes political corruption and undermines good governance. Although vote-buying and selling in Nigeria are prohibited, the business goes on unchallenged.
Federal, State and Local Governments should strengthen the police and other law enforcement agencies so that they will be able to arrest lawbreaker(s) and take them to court if found guilty.
The Federal Government should also sensitise the police and the other law enforcement agencies about the negative effects of allowing party supporters share money at polling stations.
The police should be aware that electoral corruption is not limited to only when an individual snatches ballot box(es), but also buying and selling of votes at the polling stations is frowned at by the Nigerian electoral law and it is punishable by law.
From my own point of view , l want to commend
INEC for providing good template for credible election as 2023 General elections draw nearer.
For instance,It is a reassuring confidence going by the revelation made by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that politicians are doing everything possible to get into the Commission’s server or manufacture BVAS (Bimodal Voter Accreditation System).
BVAS is an electronic device designed to read Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and authenticate voters.
The Commission reiterated its resolve to make the 2023 general election free and fair, adding that there would be simultaneous accreditation and voting on election days.
According to the INEC’s Head of Department, Voter Education and Publicity, Achumie Chuka Rex, who stated this at a two-day workshop for Civil Society Organisations on Voter Education, organised by Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) supported by USAID.
Mr Achumie Chuka Rex said while fielding questions from participants, shortly after delivering a paper titled: “Technology And 2023 Election Commission”, Achumie revealed that INEC is working round the clock to ensure that the integrity of its server is maintained during and after the elections.
“There is no room to hack into INEC server,” adding that “politicians are doing everything possible to get into INEC server or even to manufacture BVAS (Bimodal Voter Accreditation System) but unfortunately for them, INEC is three steps ahead of their plots”.he said
Allaying fears of a network problem that would make BVAS work effectively in rural areas, he said that BVAS was built on a dual basis – “online and offline”.
It is commendable to me when l realized that INEC has so far conducted 105 elections using the IREV, while it has uploaded 32,985 (99.13%) out of a possible 33,275 results, having recorded 100% upload rate in the just concluded Ekiti and Osun governorship elections.
“Apart from voting, results management is easily the most critical aspect of election administration. While voting is an open and public activity, result management is usually run by a few elected officials, mostly outside the glare of the public. Thus, there is a need to promote transparency in this in the best possible way.
“Other innovations that seem to have enhanced the system include biometric voter registration, computer-based registration of voters, online pre-registration, the Permanent Voter Card (PVC) with chips, creating online portals for candidates, observers and political party agents, amongst others, which have all gone a long way in standardising Nigeria’s election management system,” he said.
In the same vein, in a bid to curb vote buying in next year’s general election, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has said all government accounts would be sealed up early January, leaving only money enough for the payment of workers’ salaries and for day-to-day running of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
According to the NFIU boss, “Due to the consistent devaluation of the naira and the introduction of a new naira policy, Section 1 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act is automatically activated.”
Tukur further stated that most cash withdrawals from government accounts including payments were often in excess of the cash withdrawal limit provided by the Money Laundering Act.
He added that the NFIU would send an advisory to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, all Governors and Local Governments Council Chairmen, directing all Public Servants to open domiciliary and naira accounts ahead of the commencement of the policy which becomes compulsory by law.
This proactive measure was disloced at a summit held recently in Abuja, which was organised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in conjunction with the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and the Advertising Practitioners Regulations Council of Nigeria (APRCON), which was organized to address the influence of money on the 2023 general election.
Director General of the NFIU Modibbo Turkur, said that most people who engage in vote buying do so because of free funds at their disposal.
President Mohammodu Buhari of Nigeria has given Nigerians his words that he was going to ensure credible election in 2023 , this is very strong and memorable assurance coming from Mr President
He made this declaration when playing host to West African Leaders forum on the pre Elections mediation mission in Abuja led by the former Sierra Leonean Vice President , Dr Mohammed Chambas, Special Representatives of Secretary General of United Nations and other special envoys in attendance.
He said ” 2023 General elections in Nigeria will be free, fair and credible as manipulation of the processes will not be allowed so as to ensure that the results will not be subjected to litigations and outright rejections.
I am very sure that the forthcoming 2023 General elections should be a re-defining process for a political stability that will usher in leaders that will believe in stewardship approach,feedback mechanism and promote economic stability devoid of trial and error Policy formulation, implementation and evaluation in Nigeria corporate governance system.
There is urgent need to step up advocacy that Nigerian voters should go and collect their Permanent Voters Card ( PVC ) so that Nigerians can elect their choiced leaders.
Let us be patriotic!!!
God bless Nigeria and all of us in the new year 2023 as we round up year 2022.
Comrade Gbenga Olowoyo fcia fipma JP,
Trade Unionist and industrial relationselations practitioner gbengaolowoyo3@gmail.com
08033570338