What Gov Aliyu told royal fathers about electioneering, dispute resolution
The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Niger State who hosted the meeting, Dr Emmanuel Onucheyo, observed that the country is at a special period in its history. “There has never been any time when so much is required of one organization in our history as it is of INEC presently. The entire nation and in […]
The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Niger State who hosted the meeting, Dr Emmanuel Onucheyo, observed that the country is at a special period in its history. “There has never been any time when so much is required of one organization in our history as it is of INEC presently. The entire nation and in fact, the whole world, is watching INEC to produce results that will solve our key national problems that are predominantly leadership related and permeate all levels of society.”
For the political observers, the 2011 elections in the country is a watershed while others look at it as a transformative phenomenon. The general concensus among the people therefore, is that with the change of baton at the national headquarters of INEC where Professor Attahiru Jega is now in charge, the change may be welcome as a good measure. But changes at the top of the commission alone may not necessarily be the alternative since Professor Jega cannot be at all the polling units during elections. It is therefore, important as political observers say, that the change must go down to the grassroots where the electorate reside.
According to Dr Onucheyo, “We all, NOT just INEC, must get it right. Everybody must therefore, be fully engaged positively for the desired results of peaceful, free, fair and credible elections in the Nigeria project.”
Royal fathers, according to the INEC boss, are the custodians of culture in a country where there are more than 250 ethnic groups. For the Niger State INEC Commissioner, the royal fathers have very key roles to play in the realization of the challenges ahead. “The central conservative truth is that it is culture not politics that determines the success of a society” (Daniel Patrick Moynihan). The position of the electoral body therefore, is that the ultimate goal to achieve is One Man\Woman, One Vote, and One Police. According to Dr Onucheyo, the traditional rulers can also offer advice in the task ahead. Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State who spoke at the interactive session with the royal fathers posited that the modality in the selection of the chairman of the Governors’ Forum was not acceptable. According to the Chief Servant who also doubles as the Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum, the process of the selection of the new boss of the Governors’ Forum engineered by the governor of Benue State, Mr Gabriel Suswan, never met the principle of due process and was unacceptable.
Governor Aliyu’s position immediately brought about the meeting of the Governors’ Forum in Abuja on Wednesday, 3rd November, which resulted in the setting up of a six-man committee to handle the thorny issue of successor to the outgoing chairman of the forum and governor of Kwara State, Dr Bukola Saraki.
With the setting up of the committee, the governors who selected Governor Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State as head of the forum had to apologize over their shortcoming. The committee has been given a time frame of three weeks to submit its report.
Governor Mu’azu said at the interactive session that irrespective of whoever heads INEC and the composition of the commission, “our elections will continue to be disputed so long as Nigerians remain suspicious and doubtful of the integrity of the institution and the people saddled with the responsibility to organize elections.”
The governor’s call on the traditional leaders to provide the required leadership in facilitating Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) on electoral matters was therefore, a clarion call. According to the Chief Servant, “although royal fathers are expected to be apolitical and neutral on electoral matters, you must at the same time find subtle ways of using your unique positions to ensure that sanity and decorum prevail in the political landscape, by invoking appropriate sanctions and creating the peaceful atmosphere for the socio-economic and political development of society.”
The task before INEC is enormous said the Chief Servant: “especially given the fact that a large number of Nigerian politicians are power thirsty, often for their self-aggrandizement, and care less about what it takes to organize a successful election to produce legitimate representatives of the people, without whom democracy is in real danger.”
The traditional institution occupies a special place and is highly respected besides being the custodians of the people’s moral values, norms, and cultural heritage. For the governor, the traditional rulers should use their vantage positions as the custodians of our time honoured values and virtues to encourage reconciliation and resolution of electoral disputes out of the law courts for obvious benefits.
ADR he said, is a means of settling disputes and conflicts and has firm roots in our traditional societies and has helped our communities in maintaining peace, harmony and stability long before the advent of the formal court system. The governor noted that a situation where we allow electoral disputes to linger for so long, sometimes up to the end of the tenure of the person(s) being challenged before the election is upturned by a court ruling, after enormous resources and energy may have been dissipated by all the parties to the dispute, does not speak well of our democratic process and development.
For Governor Aliyu, the royal fathers are in the “best position to promote ADR as an effective tool of dispute resolution in their domains. The traditional rulers would therefore, help the polity in the resolution of electoral matters while the Electoral Act takes care of other mechanisms to safeguard against these unpleasant events.”
Besides, the Chief Servant wants INEC to encourage internal democracy within the political parties as the beginning of the strengthening of democracy within the polity.
Political parties must put in place mechanisms for the emergence of candidates for party offices and as party flagbearers through free, fair and transparent processes, so that the tension that usually follow party primaries and the high voltage politicking that characterize electioneering could be drastically minimized.
According to the governor, once the parties are able to demonstrate commitment to the principles and ideals of democracy, the electorate will be in a better position to articulate their interests and aspirations in voting for the political parties and candidates of their choice during the general election. On the other hand, he said, “if the parties are unable to organize themselves in a democratic manner as they prepare for the general elections, the electorate may not be offered the best opportunity to select the right candidates, as some candidates who may emerge as flagbearers may not necessarily be credible or trustworthy to earn the confidence of the electorate, thus the whole essence of credibility and legitimacy following the elections may be lost.”
Dangana is SA to the Chief Servant at the Directorate of Publications, Minna