Multi-track diplomacy for 2015 elections

The meeting was organised by the Accra based West Africa Network for Peace WANEP, a leading regional peace building organisation and supported by the governments of Austria, Denmark and Sweden. The consultation adopted a multi-track diplomacy approach drawing participants from government, the election management body, media, civil society organisations, business community, international development partners, academia, […]

The meeting was organised by the Accra based West Africa Network for Peace WANEP, a leading regional peace building organisation and supported by the governments of Austria, Denmark and Sweden. The consultation adopted a multi-track diplomacy approach drawing participants from government, the election management body, media, civil society organisations, business community, international development partners, academia, religious/traditional leaders, and women groups among others. The aim was to brainstorm and draw attention to emerging electoral issues and to provide stakeholders a platform to discuss ways of ensuring peaceful and credible election processes.  Professor Attahiru Jega; Chair, Independent National Electoral Commission, Nigeria was invited to moderate the session and was represented by a stakeholder of the electoral body, Professor Abubakar Momoh. The Executive Director of WANEP, Dr Emmanuel Bombande welcomed participants and observed that the strategic role of Nigeria in peace and stability of the West African region makes it imperative that the country remain stable and steadfast at all times. Nigeria is the predominant power in West Africa and regarded as one of the African   Union’s “BIG FIVE”. It was instrumental in the creation of the Economic Community of the West African States (ECOWAS) in 1975. Under the ECOWAS umbrella, Nigeria has taken the lead in conflict resolution in several West African civil wars, contributing troops/resources and leading peacekeeping efforts in Liberia and Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire, Darfur. Globally, Nigeria is the fourth largest contributor to peacekeeping operations.’
There was a goodwill message from a representative of the development partners, Ambassador of Austria Dr Joachim Oppinger. He expressed concern about the violence in the three states of the North East and enjoined the participants to discuss what all stakeholders should contribute to make elections credible and peaceful. In the keynote address titled Democracy, Elections and Political Stability: Panacea for the Realisation of Nigeria’s Vision 2020, Professor Isaac O. Albert, Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Ibadan set the stage and captured the unfolding scenario. He identified the key actors in the political landscape and the evolving political situation raises a lot of concerns regarding a peaceful transition process and the stability of the country. The country is poised to go to the polls in February 2015 for the presidential, governorship and legislative elections. In the build-up to the elections, there is a flurry of media reports with banner headlines threatening ‘fire and brimstone’ such as “2015 Elections will Disintegrate Nigeria!” “Any attempt to rig the election will result in unprecedented violence”, “Those  who refuse to give peace a chance will make  violence  inevitable”, “Terrorism Has Come to Stay” and “Insurgency Far From Over to mention but a few.’ He drew participants’ attention to the conflict prone power struggle identified by the former head of state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar who said the 2015 election will be decided by the conflict among two groups. The group comprise supporters of President Goodluck Jonathan who is planning to contest and the Northern Politicians and their supporters who want power to return to the North. The unguarded utterances of their supporters such as the Chief Edwin Clarke and Asari Dokubo from Niger Delta and Professor Ango Abdullahi from the North are already heating up the polity.
Participants reflected on the unfolding scenario painted by WANEP. ‘The ‘winner takes all’ electoral system raises the stakes for contestants to find ways and means to win elections at all cost, particularly the presidential election. The relationship between the main political parties is strained and has in several instances led to politically-motivated violence, as manifested in the recent incidents in several states of the country. At the centre of these political disturbances is the “youths”, who   are   unemployed   and   unemployable. This situation poses very serious threats to the peaceful conduct of democratic and electoral processes in Nigeria come 2015.
In a paper titled “Managing Multi-Stakeholder’s Expectations in Electoral Process: The Sierra Leonean Experience” Dr Christiana Thorpe the Chair, Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone shared the experience of her country and how citizens were mobilised to organize free and credible elections. Professor Abubakar Momoh, Director General, National Electoral Institute, Abuja, presented a paper titled “INEC Preparedness, Challenges and Public Expectations for a Peaceful 2015 Elections in Nigeria” in which highlighted steps being taken by the electoral body to address the obstacles to organizing credible elections in Nigeria. The discussant of his paper, Mr Clement Nwankwo, the Executive Director, Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre and the Convener, Civil Society Election Situation Room, said he identified the various recommendations made by stakeholders for strengthening INEC’s performance in Professor Momoh’s paper. He urged the electoral body to implement them in its management of the 2015 elections. Other presentations were a paper on “Police Best Practice in Electoral Process: The Ghanaian Experience’, “Public Confidence and Policing in Nigeria: The Role of the Police in Ensuring a Peaceful 2015 Elections” by Mr Frank Mba, Force Public Relations officer, Police Headquarters Abuja. Professor Etannibi Alemika, Professor of Criminology and Sociology of Law, University of Jos, discussed the paper. Other presentations were “Civil Society as Resource in Managing Electoral Disputes: The WANEP Experience” by Emmanuel Bombande, Executive Director, WANEP; “Managing information and Public Confidence in Complex Electoral Process” by Mr Gbenga Arulegba, Presenter Focus Nigeria, Africa Independent Television (AIT); and Inclusivity and Credible Elections: Ensuring the participation of the Vulnerable/Marginalised Groups, by my humble self. One of the sessions that generated animated discussion was the one reserved for the political parties where they were requested to make a presentation on “Political Parties’ Commitment towards Peaceful 2015 Elections.”
The session was moderated by Dr Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi; Executive Director, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC). Those invited to make presentations were: Alhaji Lai Mohammed; Interim National Publicity Secretary; All Nigeria People’s Congress (APC); Chief Olisa Metu, National Publicity Secretary; People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Victor Umeh; Chair, All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) Chief Dan Nwanyawu, Chair, Labour Party (LP) . The parties did not attend except for the PDP which used the forum as a platform for promoting the party. Several participants had raised concerns about the absence of internal democracy in the political parties, monetisation of politics, godfatherism and encouraging thuggery among the youth.  The question and answer sessions were engaging and interesting. There was a summary   of proceedings which will feed into an action plan. Ms Florence Iheme of the Early Warning Directorate, ECOWAS and Emeka Eze Program Director WANEP respectively delivered a vote thanks for opening ceremony and closure of the meeting.