Buhari, Jonathan,et al; What the Peace Pact entails

At least two dispensations associated with the forthcoming elections offer the hope of better days ahead. These developments if allowed to play out fully, remain the change catalysts that offer the promise that the forthcoming polls may live up to the expectations of promoting amity in the polity, which the February 14 date ordinarily conjures […]

At least two dispensations associated with the forthcoming elections offer the hope of better days ahead. These developments if allowed to play out fully, remain the change catalysts that offer the promise that the forthcoming polls may live up to the expectations of promoting amity in the polity, which the February 14 date ordinarily conjures as Saint Valentine’s Day.
Firstly is the welcome insistence of, and hopefully commitment by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)to use the Permanent Voters Card (PVC) exclusively to conduct the polls.This feature is more significant than may be casually appreciated as it strikes at the demons that had kept elections in Nigeria in chains.
Courtesy of the PVC initiative, for the first time ever the country will conduct its general polls with the assistance of high tech which will ensure that only accredited voters participate in the exercise. It will be interesting to see how election results go when voting on the basis of one man one vote becomes operational in Nigeria. Clearly many present day political potentates and juggernauts who have been scaling through political victories through the back door, will prove to be mere paper tigers, who have only been propped up by illegality.
Besides the fore going, the PVC will facilitate the constitutional recall of non performing elected political office holders whose constituencies want out of office. Given that this provision is the sole constitutional provision for dissatisfied constituents to check non performing elected representatives, its utility in this regard remains invaluable. A pointer to the advantage of the PVC is the avalanche of complaints by constituents which  flows regularly on the Daily Trust ‘Talk to your Representatives’ page.
It had long been established that the bane of the nation’s democracyremains the incapacity of the electorate to bring on board through elections, credible leaders whose performance in office will match public expectations.Unscrupulous power seekers who believe in taking power by any means, devise ways and means to emasculate the electorate by corruptingthe ballot process through manipulation of votes. All the instances of ballot box snatching and stuffing of same with fake ballot papers, allocation of ghost votes on election results collation forms, as well as all other vices associated with manipulation of voters are driven by the craze for power. With political power firmly in their control they proceed with the air of omnipotence to dictate terms for the very public they ascended into office to serve.
By actualizing the use of PVCs in elections INEC would have broken the jinx of electoral crises in the country, and set her on a new path to political rediscovery. Hence the mantra for all who love Nigeria is – no PVCs no 2015 elections.
The second factor is the peace accord entered into by 14 presidential candidates including the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan who represented the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and General Muhamadu Buhari, the candidate of the main opposition party –  the All Progressives Congress (APC). The accord which was initiated by the patriotic enterprise of the Interparty Advisory Council working along with other development partners, has provided a framework for gauging decorous conduct by key political actors on the soap box. The participation in the exercise by an  international icons of decorum such as Chief Emeka Anyaoku, former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, testifies to the premium this nation places on changing our electoral character for good. We need to change the way the world sees us and this election offers a golden chance to demonstrate change even if pretentiously.
The electoral history of this country records that in all general elections from 1956 to date, the incidence of violence had remained a common denominator, with succeeding ones outmatching earlier dispensations in scale of turbulence and attendant crisis. Electoral violence in Nigeria manifests at three stages namely pre, during and post elections. At the pre elections stage the aim is to soften or eliminate would be rivals or their agents. Violence during elections is aimed at intimidating opponents to concede victory while at the post-election stage it is intended to seal all dissensions or settle scores that electoral results may have raised.
Why would elections which are the world’s most reliable mechanism for identifying and recruiting  leaders and public officers on the basis of popularity, prove to be problem ventures in Nigeria? The answer is simple – the syndrome of hijack of the voters franchise, which is represented by the voters card.
The PVC era offers interesting turn of events. While the outcomes of some elections may differfrom the expectations of the status quo, the reactions by losers may also feature untoward actions, especially at political flashpoints where the tinder of acrimony may have been building up over time, and the do-or-die posture rules.
This is where the pact signed by the presidential candidates comes in. In signing the pact the signatories have offered themselves as the drivers of the new era where non violence, indecorous conduct and zero tolerance for impunity will prevail.
Yet nobody should indulge in the delusion that the mere signing of a peace accord by presidential candidates will guarantee nationwide civility. Given the traditional disposition of some of our major political actors to engage in gragrapolitics it is expected that there will be tendencies of anomic conduct by some who do not subscribe to the nicety of politics without bitterness as displayed by the presidential candidates.
The onus now lies on the party leaders to demonstrate commitment to the peace of the country by internalizing the message of the pact they willingly signed in their various manifestos, and strive to take same down to the state, local government ward levels, where the real sensitization is required.
It should not be out of the reach of any aspiring or serving leader to avail Nigerians their yearnings, if all they are asking for is give peace a chance.