2019: Now it’s time for the promised change
After coping with the diversion of a re-election campaign President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) can now concentrate on delivering the promised change for the better which has proved so elusive in the past four years. Since Independence Nigeria’s struggles to turn the nation into a functioning democracy have been far from successful as justice and national […]
After coping with the diversion of a re-election campaign President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) can now concentrate on delivering the promised change for the better which has proved so elusive in the past four years. Since Independence Nigeria’s struggles to turn the nation into a functioning democracy have been far from successful as justice and national integration are yet to be firmly entrenched in our society. The recent Presidential election stands out amongst others because for the first time ever both the winning and losing Parties objected to the manner in which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducted the election. The numbers just don’t add up and all sorts of evidence and allegations of collusion, intimidation and malpractice by INEC full-time and ad-hoc staff, as well as security forces are coming to light.
It’s normal in Nigeria for the losing party in any election to blame rigging and other vices for their loss, and Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) falls into this category. However the major casualty of the election was not the PDP but INEC’s integrity and efficiency. Out of the 75 Million Permanent Voters Cards issued only approximately one-third (about 25 million) were used to vote. Despite this, it took an eternity to produce the result. One can only imagine the mess if all eligible Nigerians had cast their vote! Indisputably INEC needs overhauling. Although Atiku is exercising his right to challenge the result in Court, he shouldn’t really expect to succeed. Every Presidential election since 1999 has been fraught with irregularities, but the result has never been overturned.
The reason is quite simple. With over 170,000 polling booths nationwide, proving that an election didn’t substantially comply with the electoral law is almost a legal impossibility. This time round the case may just be different because the Atiku appears not to be complaining about the conduct of the election, but rather the tampering with results. The issues he raises and the figures he claims are genuine will be adjudicated upon by the Supreme Court which quite naturally takes time. Meanwhile PMB will be duly sworn in for a second term. Now that it’s all over bar the litigation, the question remains as to whether or not a President, who has no opportunity of returning for a third term, will have the incentive to improve on the performance of his government.
Fortunately PMB has let it be known that he will dissolve his Cabinet. Truth be told, their performance was sub-standard. PMB won the election in spite of them not because of them. The perception of him as a man of integrity is what tipped the scales for APC rather than any superlative performance. From a Minister of Budget and Planning who failed to adequately implement a single budget and had no idea of how much the national debt was, to a Minister for Power who was known only for making excuses, to Certificate forgers, NYSC dodgers, ineffective Sports Minister, Attorney-General who ignored Court Orders, all the way to an Information Minister who most people find it hard to believe, the performance of the 2015 – 2019 Federal Executive Council’s which took so long to assemble was nothing to write home about.
Since the election was fought and won without any real manifesto, no one can be really sure whether or not the government will address the issues of restructuring, the massive poverty in the nation, the number of children out of school, the virtually paralyzed health sector, the over-bloated and inefficient civil service, and the greed of the political class especially the National Assembly. The fact that the results as declared by INEC did not show any overwhelming victory leads to only one conclusion – the nation is deeply divided. The All Progressives Congress (APC) won in the North and South-West, and the PDP won in the South-South and South-East. This clearly indicates the division along ethnic and religious lines. There is no disputing that PMB’s victory did not command the levels of nationwide celebration which accompanied his first win in 2015.
The inability to curb mass unemployment, ethnic killings, kidnappings, extreme poverty, political chicanery, and ongoing corruption has impacted negatively upon the nation and the re-emergence of the totally discredited PDP is an indication how disenchanted a vast section of the population is. Unfortunately PMB’s “I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody” didn’t find expression in his attitudes and actions during his first term. This second time around he has promised to run a more inclusive government. Hopefully this means an end to parochialism, ethnicity, nepotism and the policy of exclusion which alienated almost half of the nation. Now that APC is taking over from itself it is expected that the era of blaming the PDP for the Nation’s woes has ended and the promised change for the better will manifest itself.