The Abuja School
In the third segment of the ASSPT series on 2023 election, we want to reflect on the sanctity of the electoral system in terms of accuracy and certainty of the results that will emerge from the polls. We also want to reflect on the role of the court in managing expectations of Nigerian citizens. We want to also reflect on the collection of voter cards.
The Role of the President in the Electoral System:
We have watched with dismay how Nigerian politicians have created the impression that the President conducts election and therefore has discretion to award the result to whoever he likes. This is a dangerous falsehood that puts unnecessary pressure on the President. We commend President Buhari for continuously restating his determination to leave a legacy of credible elections. Mr. President deserve commendation for his steadfast decision not to interfere with the electoral process. The Abuja School is worried that some politicians are making statements that suggest that the president has a responsibility to interfere in the electoral process to guarantee success for members of his party. It should be noted that it is INEC that has responsibility to conduct the elections, not the President. INEC has so far shown that it understands the huge responsibility it bears and happily President Buhari has refused to be swayed by these misbegotten statements. The history of electoral malpractices in Nigeria shows that it is usually the involvement of incumbent in the process of election that mostly compromise the freeness and fairness of elections. It is a good happenstance that in the 2023 election, the President is not on the ballot, even if his party is on the ballot. Attempts to shame the president into taking sides in the electoral process are efforts to further compromise the credibility of the elections. So far, the President is giving the right signals for free and fair elections in February and March. Clearly, the President has a responsibility to ensure free and fair election. This responsibility is to create an enabling environment for INEC to deliver on its constitutional mandate. The most important aspect of this responsibility is security. INEC has expressed worries about the growing insecurity in the country and how it is affecting its preparation for the election. Instead of harassing the President in respect of presumed non-support for the candidate of his party, these politicians should be pressing the President to extract implementation strategies from his military and police chiefs on how to defeat the army of terrorists, insurgents and notorious criminals who would want to undermine electoral integrity through scaremongering and criminal actions. The president also needs clear implementation strategies from financial regulatory on how to stop vote-buying by desperate politicians. The on-going petrol crisis is another issue of concern that presidential attention should be focused. Happily, only INEC staff and other electoral workers need to move around on election day. The President can ensure that these persons have enough petrol to move around and execute their responsibilities.
A lot rests on the shoulders of the President regarding secured environment for free and fair polls. It is not the responsibility of the President to help any candidate win election. The President does not conduct election. No one should goad the President to act unconstitutionally and undermine his pledge to Nigerians and the international community.
Worries over the integrity and competence of INEC Ad hoc Staff:
First, we start with acknowledging the effort that INEC has been making to ensure better collection of voter cards and also prepare its officers for the challenges of the 2023 elections. But we know that a lot more needs to be done to ensure free, fair and credible elections. The decision of the Osun Governorship Tribunal has opened new cans of worms that show how fragile the electoral system is, especially the electronic accreditation and transmission. We are happy with the technological innovation that INEC has pioneered for the conduct of elections in Nigeria. But technology requires good personnel management to ensure success. It is not enough to have the BIVAS or electronic transmission of election. You need to match them with the requisite institutional competence and integrity to manage election technology fairly and credibly. So far, Osun has shown we are still far from the desirable state. The real failure in the Osun election was not BIVAS. It was the personnel that managed the BIVAS. As a matter of fact there was no overvoting in Osun in the typical sense. What happened
in Osun with a very costly oversight of a presiding officers, Supervisory Presiding Officers and INEC officers. There was a practical failure in the implementation of Section 60 (4) and (5) of the Electoral Act. The relevant officers ought to be vigilant and ensure that the BIVAS accreditation results were fully loaded before ending the process. Even when the losers in the election demanded for the report of the BIVAS relevant INEC officials should have ensured that the full report was sent or if there was extreme urgency they would have accompanied with a letter to indicate its interim nature.
All these failure reinforce the critical importance of the technical and ethical competences of persons who supervise elections in 2023. We have moved to the stage where it matters the quality and character of those who manage technology on election day. I make two important recommendations to INEC: INEC should be careful in selecting ad hoc staff. In requesting for staff of sister agencies, INEC should not take the any list from such agencies except the Nominal List backed up by recent salary slips to verify that those persons are real staff of the agencies. We fear that politicians will like to infiltrate the adhoc staff list to use the staff to manipulate elections. INEC has to ensure that these ad hoc staff are selected and vetted through a rigorous process in order to avoid the Osun debacle in a large scale in presidential and gubernatorial elections. Imagine the crisis we will have if Osun happens in a large scale in a highly competed presidential election where the incentive for violence will be very high. We recommended also that INEC start strategic public engagement to acquaint Nigerians with the workings of the BIVAS and to assure voters and party leaders on precautionary measures it has developed to ensure effective and credible performance of its technological innovations. We do not want our elections to be determined by courts. It is a tragedy that Nigerian voters do not know whether their votes determine who wins the election. It is not democracy for courts to determine of over 50% of elections. Court should rarely be involved in determining who becomes president, governor or legislator. We are now in a sorry situation where courts determine the winners of election. Nigerians are going to the polls in next three weeks not being sure who will ultimately be a candidate because the courts will continue to invalidate and impose candidatures. The only answer to the judicialization of politics in Nigeria is to make the process of election management more transparent, credible and efficient.