"Electoral process in Nigeria is still wobbling. With manual voting we have a problem, electronic, we have a problem, where is the problem coming from?..., INEC has to sit up so that they will not throw this country into conflagration one day"-Dr. Goodluck Jonathan , Nigeria's Ex-President. Photo: Google.
Our blog post on Nigeria's illusive democracy was simply to raise awareness of the state of democracy in Nigeria despite acquiring democratic institutions, due to 'traps' of inherited authoritarian political system. The quality of democracy and the quality of elections in particular, still fall short of good standards and there is nothing to suggest it will change overnight, unless the political system is overhauled. The dysfunctional political system was structured to serve vested interests especially the incumbent and the ruling party, 'preserving the incumbent's grip' on power through the widespread use of fraud and intimidation; win at all costs for the incumbent's sake. Perhaps, the only exception was former President Goodluck Jonathan and we all know the reason. Flawed political system produces flawed electoral system, that's the whole point unless something is done about it.
The last February 2023 presidential elections is a constant reminder of the sad reality of the trap and the urgent need to do something about it. The time to act is now. International election observers declared, "there was no election to observe , rather they witnessed a crime scene"
Restructuring the country and overhauling the dictatorship era constitution is one sure way to guarantee prospects of credible and transparent, free and fair elections that will reflect the genuine will of the people, not routine flawed elections every four years . The monstrous political system is the root of the crisis , everything depends on it. It still tilts towards authoritarian regimes whose leaders do not enjoy 'legitimate authority and instead' rule through 'fear and terror' .
Of course, electoral outcome of a flawed system is electoral disaster. How else can we describe abominable scenes at the last presidential election in Nigeria, where the electoral management body and the security agencies turned blind eye to irregularities and electoral malpractices. According to Mr Julius Abure, Nigeria Labour Party National chairman; "votes lawfully cast for the labour party candidate were changed and reduced and added to increase votes casted for the presidential candidate of the ruling APC party..., after counting of votes, a dark cloud engulfed the nation. It became clear that the correct password to transmit the presidential election results electronically and instantly from the BVAS to the INEC IREV had been criminally withheld, contrary to specifications of the law and contrary to repeated emphasis, directives and promises to the nation and it's citizens by Professor Mahmood Yakubu and INEC officials"
Today , all eyes are on the judiciary for election
'dispute and resolution', which ought to have taken place before official announcement of election results, but the judiciary is dependent on the monstrous system which has already installed a president without resolving the election dispute.
In the words of Mr Peter Obi, the Labour Party Presidential candidate widely believed to be the winner of the 25 February 2023 Presidential elections in Nigeria , "We stand at that critical moment in time when as a people, we must collectively come to grips with the reality of our injured destiny as well as the reasons for that injury"
Indeed, the time has come to restructure the country and reform 'out of date institutions and practices' that do not match the needs of the 21st century. This requires public education and awareness to put pressure on the power holders to do the right thing. Pressure works.
Ebenezer Obadare said , "The Nigerian State is the greatest threat to Nigerian Democracy", Ofcourse , this does not require further evidence.
Uche Okeke , My view .
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