“It’s now up to the courts to decide whether INEC announced winners are the ultimate winners.“
#SomberTuesday! The second set of the 2023 elections (to choose the governors and members of the State Assemblies) took place on Saturday, the 18th of March. Kudos once again to the Nigerians who went out to vote, despite the postponement, and did so peacefully.
The INEC officials and election observers who contributed to making the process work as intended are to be commended. Yet, honest assessment would indicate that turnout was extremely low due to experience of electoral malpractices, violence, voter suppression, as well as INEC’s persistent logistical and technical problems during the Presidential elections.
Sadly, these problems continued in the gubernatorial elections. More of the Bivalent Voter Accreditation System (BIVAS) machines worked than during the Presidential and National Assembly elections, but there was still malfunctioning in some polling units. Some of those who wanted to vote could not, due to INEC’s lapses, violence at, and around polling units. Allegations continued that the currency scarcity did not stop vote buying, although it may have reduced its magnitude. This puts a new spin to the cashless economy. Electronic transfers are used to induce voters to vote, regardless of possibly being against their interests.
The currency change and the lack of physical naira continues despite both the Supreme Court and Central Bank’s pronouncements that Nigerians can now spend old Naira. Most people report that traders and businesses don’t want to accept old naira. Some banks even are allegedly refusing to accept deposits made with old naira! To say that life in unbearable for most Nigerians is an understatement. How are most people coping? This doesn’t seem to perturb those hustling to rule. There is incontestable economic decline. Should the electorate trust assurances that the decline would be speedily reversed by the INEC-declared President-elect?
Youths are alleged to have voted massively for the Labor Party’s Peter Obi in the Presidential elections. Many of them were angry, disappointed, and disillusioned about the results, and agree with the political parties that are challenging election results. Although there were calls, the most prominent of which were from President Olusegun Obasanjo, for new elections, INEC stuck to its guns. It’s now up to the courts to decide whether INEC CA-announced winners are the ultimate winners.
Were these elections free and fair? Not by any stretch of the Imagination. The dismal voter turnout despite encouraging registration statistics demonstrates that the electorate has no confidence in the voting process and its administration. Youths who registered in large numbers and also voted enthusiastically are among those most affected, and this does not bode well for Nigeria’s budding democracy. What of the expectation that those who win these elections will keep faithful to pledges, promises, and assurances to meet the needs of Nigerians? Judging from history, they quickly forget Majority of Nigerians—the poor masses, youths, and women, as well as people living with disabilities and ethnic minorities will be worse off in consequence. the brunt of the failures. So will the system that we said we want—democracy.
Insecurity is the current norm. Catastrophic financial and psychological trauma are endured by victims, survivors, and their families. Natural disasters, ethno-religious conflict, and insurgencies, have created internally displaced populations enduring material, psychological, and existential trauma. These problems and others, including weak political institutions, tens of millions of out of schoolchildren, unemployed, and underemployed youths, and overworked, underpaid workers, infrastructure decay, and poor policy implementation bedevil Nigeria. How will Nigeria ever become the giant of Africa if these problems are not addressed as urgent necessities?
#EndSARS youth protesters should be applauded for voting in significant numbers, in support of their call for good governance, ending police brutality, extortion, impunity, economic inequality, marginalization and targeting of youths and other minorities, and political violence. They were met with state-sponsored violence and harsh suppression. Similarly, most Nigerian voters long for the dividends of democracy, including genuine commitment by politicians to democracy, economic development, personal and human security, and hope for a better future. Two years on, in the aftermath of the elections, #Nigeria should remember the democratic backsliding represented by the massacre of peacefully demonstrating youths at #LekkiTollGate & other locations and commit to positive transformation. #NigerianWomenArise #EndPoliceBrutalityinNigeriaNOW #EndSars #EndSWAT #EndImpunity.
I repeat myself like the proverbial broken record, calling on us Nigerians to think about this statement by Howard Zinn as relevant to building a democratic political system: “Civil disobedience, that’s not our problem. Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while, the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem.”
Like the voice in the wilderness, I repeat once again: Let the kleptocrats give back our stolen wealth so that we can fix our infrastructure, schools, hospitals, and also offer worthwhile social protection to our people. Let the masses enjoy the full benefits of citizenship in Nigeria. Let the leaders and political class repent and build peace with justice. This is no time for politics as usual. The people elected should be those trusted to bring justice, equity and human security to the entire country, not expedient, unethical and egocentric individuals determined to dominate for self aggrandizement or sectional gain. We don’t need oligarchs’ continued domination. We also need a government that puts the interests of majority of citizens first. https://youtu.be/5iTC215xpX8
