Taraba and re-run election

The recent Election Tribunal judgement in Taraba State which declared that the All Progressives Congress (APC) loser should be sworn in as winner to replace the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) winner who had no right to be on the ballot paper has brought varying reactions. PDP spokespersons say that since there is no disputing that […]

The recent Election Tribunal judgement in Taraba State which declared that the All Progressives Congress (APC) loser should be sworn in as winner to replace the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) winner who had no right to be on the ballot paper has brought varying reactions. PDP spokespersons say that since there is no disputing that they won the election, the “correct” thing to have done was to call for fresh elections, which is daft to say the least. Although the judgement clearly represents judicial activism it should be praised. 
The nation should not be asked to continuously bear the cost of PDP impunity. Re-run elections constitute an insult and double punishment to the electorate who not only have to bear the costs and inconvenience, but also suffer financially from the wasteful closing down of all commercial activities on polling day. It’s quite simply disgraceful that even when government claims to have no money to release budget funds, pay civil servants, clean the environment, investigate crime forensically, build housing for the poor, improve health care, or invest in education, they  somehow always finds the money for re-run elections.
An election re-run is a crime against Nigeria. On April 25th 2015 such elections were held in 11 States of the federation. They comprised 3 Governorship, 1 Senatorial, 1 House of Reps, and 22 State House of Assembly polls.  More recently the Election Tribunal in Akwa Ibom nullified 18 out of 31 local governments, while in Rivers State the Governor was sacked and the election of 19 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly was nullified. The cost of running our present democracy is scandalous, and has become a hindrance to our development. In a country where the majority of people are ravaged by poverty and human misery, it’s simply insulting that a handful of politicians squander the nation’s wealth in the name of democracy.
Although Public officers comprise just 0.0135% of the population they consume 25% of our wealth! There must be something wrong when public office has become the easiest means of acquiring wealth. It’s vitally important that efforts be made to make political office less financially attractive and stop the “do or die” attitude which promotes electoral fraud. A system in which a tiny ruling clique appropriate to themselves a disproportionate slice of the national cake, and then proceeds to squander a large part of the balance in re-run elections is unacceptable. At the end of the day re-runs are the unwanted consequences of illegal actions and imply that someone is guilty of a crime.
Quite extraordinarily politicians are given preferential treatment in the commission of crimes in a situation where “political” crimes are categorized as being somehow different from “ordinary” crimes. Politics is a paid profession and at the end of the day politicians who contravene the law must be made to pay the full price.  
Yet for no justifiable reason presenting falsified voting figures is classified as the political offense of “electoral fraud” which carries no penalty, rather than common fraud which carries a prison sentence. There is really no such thing as “political crime”.  In fact politicians should be held to higher moral standards than the rest of society, not lower. Regrettably the Electoral Tribunals have no power to punish guilty parties. For example the National and State Assemblies Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Umuahia nullified the election of Emeka Nnamani of the all Progressives Grand alliance (APGA) and ordered re-run elections. Although the election was annulled on the grounds that Nnamani was not qualified to contest in the first place, quite absurdly neither he, APGA nor any INEC official has been asked to bear the cost of fresh elections. It is essential that election tribunals be empowered to set fines and proscribed prison terms for those found guilty of electoral offences.
Paradoxically the same politicians who commit regular fraud without consequences have set out serious punishments for young Nigerians who behave in a similar manner. Nigerian secondary school students who are found guilty of examination malpractice in the West African School Certificate (WASC) Examinations are banned from re-sit examinations and face prison terms of between two and twenty-one years! It is imperative that the law stops distinguishing between politicians and other varieties of criminals.
Nigerian elections always take place in an atmosphere of fear, anxiety and discouragement with incessant killings, maiming, destruction of property, kidnappings, looting and reign of terror. The attitude of security forces and law enforcement agencies who act as if nothing is wrong at all is disgraceful. At the end of the day it is they who ensure that no one is every arrested or prosecuted. In all truthfulness there is really no reason why members of the public should participate in re-run elections. The process adopted by INEC is not voter friendly.
Queuing in the sun for hours in order to complete accreditation then having to go away and come back later for actual voting has discouraged so many Nigerians from participating in the process in the first place. The incessant call for re-run elections is simply further evidence that Nigerian politicians are a wasteful bunch of unpatriotic individuals who have no interest in public welfare and only play politics for their personal gain.
Election results are overturned because either the electoral law was not adhered to, or the will of the people was not reflected by a fraudulent electoral process. This is an unnecessary drain on our finances and Tribunals should follow the lead of Taraba State and punish the offender rather than order an expensive re-run.