Religious leaders should tell politicians the truth

Our Expectations of our Politicians: Politicians therefore on their part need to articulate and convince Nigerians what strategies they intend to design that could enhance on a long-term and sustainable basis, the protection of Nigerian citizens against major factors of risk and vulnerability which include poverty, unemployment, disease and destitution. They must avoid incisive pronouncements […]

Our Expectations of our Politicians:
Politicians therefore on their part need to articulate and convince Nigerians what strategies they intend to design that could enhance on a long-term and sustainable basis, the protection of Nigerian citizens against major factors of risk and vulnerability which include poverty, unemployment, disease and destitution.
They must avoid incisive pronouncements and name calling. Rather they should score their political points by telling Nigerians clearly what they intend to do to address the problems identified. The era of ‘baby politics’ is over and people know better now and ‘stomach infrastructure’ alone cannot secure votes.
We encourage them to send their to the polling stations especially to the interior posts where compromises could be easily agreed on due to the lack of observers.
Religious Leaders
Religious leaders need to refer to their conscience and make bold, non-sensational and informed pronouncements knowing fully well that their followers depend on them for guidance. However they must give their members the right of choice backed by facts.  They have the responsibility to rapidly access accurate facts especially on the election process and disseminate them appropriately through different fora within their administrative set ups. In this vein, they must organise their members who have relative strength in the knowledge of the election process to use their skills to enlighten other members. Religious organisations must create platforms for collating enquiries, complaints and engaging in advocacy.   
Religious merchandising and false prophesy are exploitative and sinful tools of engagement in the election process. Those who know better must sensitively use appropriate platforms to push their privileged knowledge.  
The inflammatory campaign utterances of politicians alluded to above were reinforced by the preaching of divisive sermons of hate and hostility in Mosques and Churches across the country. Some Christian and Muslim leaders incited their followers not to vote for candidates of the other religion. This religious bigotry ( based on selfish interpretation of selected scriptural texts) influenced many and its impact was demonstrated in the violent reaction that followed the collation and announcement of the 2011 Presidential Election result where those believed to have voted for the candidate declared the winner by INEC, irrespective of their religious profession became targets.
 It is believed that politicians deliberately imported religious sentiments into political campaigns, inciting people of one religion against the other, in order to gain cheap votes and support.
Expectations: our religious leaders should not only teach the fear of God, they are to demonstrate it by telling do politicians the truth, they are to educate their members on the truth about religions and abstain from partisan politics! Religious leaders must retract from the promotion of one religion or candidate over and above the others.
Traditional Rulers and Institutions
The partisanship of some traditional rulers was a major factor responsible not only for the violence that accompanied 2011 elections but also for the inability of the traditional institution to either nip it in the bud or contain it. This is because there was loss of confidence by the youths in traditional institution that was believed to have been compromised.
An obvious instance of such compromise was cited in Lemu Report as follows:  
(i)   The alleged directive of a Governor in one of the Northern States that no traditional ruler should grant audience to any visiting Presidential candidate other than a particular candidate.  This was said to have led to widespread violence among the teeming, youthful supporters of the other contesting candidate.
(ii) The meeting of the Traditional Rulers from a section of the country with a particular Presidential candidate before the election. This meeting was said to have aroused suspicion as to its motive.
Expectations:
So far from what we have seen a remarkable change in the role of this class of stakeholders in the run towards 2015 general elections, we would plead that they continue to remain non-partisan, demonstrate their role as father to all irrespective of regions profession, tribal or ethnic differences. Traditional Rulers need to be a bit more outspoken especially against divisive campaigns and behaviors of both politician and electorate by calling them to order and not shielding any trouble maker from the wrath of the law of the land.
Voters
Decision of voters must be information driven while voters must focus on the common good of all Nigerians as the point of reference for national unity. A narrow focus on the differences that exist among the citizens would only result in instability. Therefore voters must use their assessment of candidates’ capacity to design programmes that will improve human welfare as the basis of their choice of candidates rather than considering differences such as languages, religions, ethnic origins among others. Voters need to have access to facts that will enable them to have the ability to make informed choices. The government mass mobilisation machinery is limited in capacity and appropriate messages. Community based organisations including neighbourhood associations must help their members to access information.
Expectations
The electorate are encouraged to resist any acts that are contrary to their religious duties: rioting, stealing, intimidation, vandalism, lying, character assassination, vote rigging in any form. Whatever God hates, voters must shun! Remember, no religious leader or politician will stand-in for you on the day of judgement, everyone will give his/her own account before God!
The Media
In Lemu Report, it is stated that there were some false and inciting or provocative broadcasts in some states during the 2011 elections which contributed to the violence. Similarly, it was alleged that some local publications, which suddenly appeared during election period and disappeared shortly thereafter, were reported to have contributed to the violence through their false and inciting contents. Such fly-by-night publications tend to be local as it was in one particular State in the S-S zone of the country and do not belong to the mainstream press. They can be described as belonging to the category of high level pamphleteering using modern technology.
At the international level, the BBC Hausa Service was also alleged to have made a broadcast before the election results were announced that a particular presidential candidate, had an edge over the other candidates. This was said to have given the impression to many supporters of this candidate that the official results as declared by INEC may have been manipulated in favour of the eventual winner.
In order to make Nigeria the Winner in these 2015 elections, the media must avoid incisive news captions created in an attempt to generate high patronage. They have a social responsibility beyond their commercial interest to facilitate and enhance the election process through user-friendly messages. If they fail in this responsibility we may all fail given their important role in information dissemination and the negative implication of their poor performance in this regard. 

False or malicious reporting of national issues, particularly of a sensitive nature is inexcusable and appropriate legal weapons ought to be deployed against it whenever it occurs (and these laws are in the books) unless it can be demonstrated that the false reporting was a genuine mistake and due effort was made to obtain the facts; or where due apology and retraction was promptly made. Where the reporting is based on facts but considered to be sensitive, the matter is more straightforward although opinions will usually differ on what constitutes “sensitive,” depending on who has or have been offended by the particular publication. The law of libel covers this.
Expectations
In light of the divisive, negative, sectional articles that are already going on, it would be suggested that a similar accord between the various newspaper Proprietors, and members of the Guild of Editors in the country with equal number from the northern and southern axes should be drafted, agreed upon and faithfully implemented in order to make Nigeria the winner in 2015 elections( Vanguard article of the 15th. By one Nnenna).
The Judiciary
Judges must exhibit the strength of character that insulates them from the vagaries of politics. If all stakeholders play their roles effectively, the burden on the judiciary in the election process will be light and the role of the institution would be merely supplemental.
Expectations
A number of Legal women and men in the previous elections lost credibility, most Nigerians believe a good number have enriched themselves through the miscarriage of justice. We still believe there are many who have not soiled their hands. Let justice reign in this land, already there are certain cases from the primaries leading to these general elections, let the legal constituency follow their religious convictions, put the fear of God first and their pecuniary interest last this is the only way this class would make Nigeria the Winner in 2015 Elections.
INEC:
Our expectations
Who should be a voter?
1.    Disabled people rarely find elections free and fair when they have no access to polling booths, election materials and are often excluded implicitly or explicitly from campaigning as candidates. In countries emerging from civil war situations this is particularly problematic as large numbers of people are incapacitated by the conflict and may suffer from double exclusion. Hence expanding the access to the rural poor, migrant workers, the disabled and empowering women to be active in the political process remain challenges.
Voting procedures
Accessible voting requires that voting procedures should not be so cumbersome that they have the practical effect of hindering voting. The exclusion of voters – be it as a deliberate political strategy or for reasons of expediency and convenience on the grounds that rural voters, slum dwellers, migrants, the disabled, those in hospitals and prisons are difficult to access, may have the effect of excluding large numbers of people and undermining the credibility of these forthcoming general elections.
It is internationally acceptable to have provisions for mobile voting or special booths for clearly defined categories of people (e.g. migrants, diplomats, refugees, military etc) but they must be carefully monitored to prevent abuses. Representatives of parties, international and national observer groups should be able to monitor the special voting booths and others too in a process that is transparent. The numbers of such booths, the numbers of voters using such booths should be noted and cross referred to the numbers of ballots cast to ensure that there is no fraud and also special measures should be taken to prevent double voting.
Safety during the vote:
The legal framework should provide for the restriction of unauthorized personnel from being in polling booths if it is likely to lead to harassment and intimidation and the police should be permitted to enter polling booths only if authorized by the person in charge on the polling station, to restore law and order and should leave when law and order is restored. However, this should not be confused for the presence of observers and monitors (especially domestic monitors and civil society) as there presence ensures broader participations and is more likely to inhibit fraud and increase transparency.
A transparent, meticulous and honest count, tabulated and consolidated in the presence of representatives of the parties, candidates and election observers ensuring that the entire process that led to the winner being declared is open to public scrutiny is essential.
The process and formula by which votes are translated into legislative seats must be clear and unambiguous. The legal framework should address all details of the electoral formula relating to thresholds, quotas and deal with contingencies such as ties, withdrawals or the death of candidates.
The legal framework should state that candidates, their representative and those of political parties must know where the ballots are to be counted and should have the facility to remain present at which ever location the ballots are to be counted – be it at the polling booth or at a central locality.
Role of representative of the parties and candidates:
Their presence at the polling booths is not the opportunity for last minute campaigning, intimidation or persuasion of voters or election staff and the legislation must clarify what their role and activities at this stage may be.
They must maintain the secrecy of the vote, follow directions of the polling officials, not interfere with the electoral process and be bound by the legal framework for elections. They may not mark or handle except witness records of the poll and they may not remove or destroy any official election records of the election. They are bound to follow direction given by the electoral officers and may note any issue that they have objections to and report them according to established procedures.
International Partners
They have been quite supportive in their capacity as election observers and monitors among others. They however need to further strengthen the technical assistance given to their Nigerian civil society counterparts such that they can produce strategic documentation that can be used to support post-election evidence-based advocacy.
Drug Abuse
Availability of illicit drugs of various kinds to the youths and particularly access to Indian hemp and other cheap drugs led to widespread drug abuse by the youths in the 2011 general elections. This widespread abuse of hard and dangerous drugs by the youths played an enormous role in the violence and indeed, is a serious   cause for security concerns generally in Nigeria. Many of those that participated in the post election violence looting and destroying people’s belongings were sheer criminals and opportunists who merely took advantage of the situation to commit crime for the sake of benefitting from it.
Expectations
We are aware of the deceptive attraction of this substance called drugs, even some men and women of God are not safe especially if what they intend doing is not in accordance with their religious professions. We plead with our youths and leaders to shy away from this dangerous substance, remain sane and resist every temptation to indulge. This is a major way of making Nigeria the Winner in these forthcoming elections.
In conclusion, as Christians let the words of Jesus (and the Qur’an + Hadith for Muslims) compel us to act, and to move, beyond business as usual.—David C. McCasland
So let our lips and lives express the holy gospel & the Glorious Qur’an and Hadith) we profess;
So let our works and virtues shine,
To prove the doctrine all divine. —Watts
Concluded

Josiah Idowu-Fearon, PhD, Anglican Archbishop of Kaduna diocese, delivered this paper at the 12th Daily Trust Dialogue at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja on Thursday, January 22, 2015