Countdown to April polls: Prospects, comments and reservations

Thus far, all the registered political parties have intensified campaigns across the country, selling their manifestoes to prospective voters. “Only a handful of the parties are really active, while many others exist just in names, without any showing on the ground,’’ says Alhaji Ahmed Jinadu, a prospective voter in Abuja. “I believe that some of […]

Thus far, all the registered political parties have intensified campaigns across the country, selling their manifestoes to prospective voters.

“Only a handful of the parties are really active, while many others exist just in names, without any showing on the ground,’’ says Alhaji Ahmed Jinadu, a prospective voter in Abuja.

“I believe that some of them are just there to horse-trade,” he adds.

No doubt, Nigerians are looking up to the forthcoming polls with a lot of enthusiasm and Jinadu’s viewpoints aptly reflect this optimism.

“After all the anxieties, doubts and fears, it’s gladdening that the much awaited general elections are now by the corner,” he says.

Political observers say that since the Fourth Republic came on stream in 1999, several challenges have surfaced in the polity, especially those relating to the electoral process.

They note that such challenges necessitated the clamour for political reforms and the subsequent amendment of the Electoral Act, among others.

The observers point out that through many court decisions, some fundamental political issues had been resolved, while many others are still being grilled in the judicial crucible of the courts.

“The political times have been trying since 1999. We have stumbled, wobbled, fumbled but the good thing is that each time we fell, we had gotten up to continue striding on,” says Dr James Mabiaku, a university don.

Notwithstanding these circumstances, some Nigerians still express fears about the elections, pointing to the upsurge in election-related violence in many parts of the country.

“The spate of assassinations and arson across the federation is worrisome. I thought we had gotten over this kind of problems and that our democratic values had heightened,” says Mabiaku.

Nevertheless, President Goodluck Jonathan, the nation’s Chief Security Officer, re-assures Nigerians that the government will curtail any efforts to foment trouble in the country.

At every recent forum, Jonathan had used the opportunity to reiterate the federal government’s commitment towards the conduct of a free, fair and credible election that will be acceptable to all the citizens and the international community.

“One thing I can assure you is that we will not allow anybody to use politics to cover crimes,” he says, adding: “whatever time it takes; such criminals will be fished out and dealt with accordingly.

“Nobody can commit crime and cover it up under the umbrella of politics. Politics is not criminality; it is a serious business in which people sell ideas, so that the electorate could vote for them,” Jonathan says.

The president’s assurances are, indeed, commendable, against the backdrop of popular perceptions that sitting chief executives, at various levels, previously used their offices to subvert the democratic process.

With over 70 million Nigerian voters registered in the last voter registration, INEC, on its part, has been trying to reassure Nigerians that it has put in place the necessary machinery that will ensure the conduct of credible polls.

Despite the assurances, some politicians last week upbraided some INEC officials, who allegedly formed a syndicate within the commission, to illegally substitute names of candidates for elective offices.

Though the leadership of INEC has not categorically denied the allegations, Jega has, however, warned his staff to maintain integrity in the conduct of the polls.

While some citizens insist that they can vouch for Jega’s integrity because of his antecedents, they, nonetheless, concede that they cannot guarantee the reliability of other INEC officials.

Tacitly acknowledging such negative perceptions, Jega reiterated that INEC can no longer afford any form of credibility problems before, during and after the polls.

At a recent retreat organised for INEC officials in Abuja, Jega said that while it was true that most of the INEC staff were hardworking and honest, it was also obvious that there were a few bad eggs, whose conduct has created credibility problems for the commission.

“We must do everything possible to purge ourselves of the negative image that some Nigerians have of INEC and the best way is to ensure that our work is, indeed, good and clean,” he said.

Jega’s charge becomes even more apt, following the allegations against some of his staff.

Concerned observers also bemoan the rising wave of election violence in some parts of the country, though the police authorities insist that they are capable of ensuring adequate security, before, during and after the elections.

Inspector-General of Police Hafiz Ringim, says that the police has the wherewithal to provide adequate security; adding that no assistance whatsoever is required from states, local governments and political parties to pay police personnel on election duties.

Specifically, Ringim disclosed that two policemen will man each of the 120,000 polling units in the country, so as to protect the interest of all stakeholders in the elections.

The Nigerian army has also not been lacking in such assurances, as many of its top brass say that it will provide the necessary support to compliment the efforts of the police.

“The Nigerian army is apolitical; it will support the police whenever the need arises,” says Lt.-Col Abubakar Edun, the spokesman of the Kaduna-based One Mechanised Division of the army.

Political analysts agree that many malpractices had bedeviled Nigeria’s electoral processes since independence, although there now appears to be a re-orientation of the citizenry to the right values of democracy.

Somehow, they express optimism that sanity will prevail during the April polls, especially with the “one-man-one-vote’’ sing-song resonating across the political landscape.

On their part, some political parties have vowed to maintain the integrity of the election by ensuring that all votes cast are “protected”.

Mr Ovie Omo-Agege, the ACN governorship candidate in Delta State, among several others, threatens unsavoury consequences for anyone who aids and abets electoral malpractices.

Not taking such threats lightly, Jega has tasked all the Resident Electoral Commissioners in the states to ensure that discipline, integrity and honesty are exhibited by their subordinates at all times.

“If they continue to do bad things, create a bad name for all of us, we have the capacity to detect, apprehend and successfully prosecute them,” he warned.

(NANFeatures)