By Igbotako Nowinta
Those who are shouting their voices to the limit of hoarseness, at the roof top today, blaming Mahmud Yakubu-led Independent National Electoral Commission ((INEC) of conducting a 2019 general election devoid of credibility or fairness forget easily that those who went about snatching ballot papers, killing and maiming political opponents, destroying or diverting electoral materials etc. were not manufactured by the commission, but sponsored by political kingpins who wanted to win at all cost, and they can be accessed and fished out in the camps of both the APC and the PDP. So, what is the crime of INEC in the face of premeditated political thuggery and electoral malpractices frequently originated by the dominant political parties in Nigeria? That is not to say that there are not some bad eggs within the commission.
Polemically, looking at the 2015 and the 2019 general elections it is sad to state that the electorates within the Nigerian clime have not moved drastically from the periphery of ideological hollowness and kwashiorkor-laden poverty.
In 2015 general elections President Muhammad Buhari who had hatched his political egg in the nest of fabulous integrity and honesty was ushered into the unprecedented plane of presidential power via the ballot box.
In 2015, ex-President Goodluck Jonathan who had reached his tether in the planet of administrative misgovernance and stark profligacy was shown the red card by the largest number of the Nigerian people.
Shortly before the 2019 general elections began, some political commentators went to town and lamented in harsh tones that ex-President Jonathan should have re-contested the Presidential Elections, arguing that President Muhammadu Buhari had failed woefully.
In their sentimental anger they forgot where the nation was in 2015; in absolute hatred for the All Progressives Congress (APC) and what President Buhari professed to stand for in his battle with Boko Haram marauders, economic resuscitation and anti-corruption within the polity.
Like Roman plebeians as it was recorded in one of William Shakespeare’s iconic masterpieces ‘Julius Ceaser’, a section of the Nigerian media that had been able to sustain a gigantic momentum in favor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) forgot decorum and reason by deciding to support Alhaji Atiku Abubakar for the most prized political stool in the land.
In spite of the irritating and stinking mess that the candidacy of an Atiku Abubabar generated and represented, which a political double dealer like Olusegun Obasanjo had perfectly documented in one of his books titled ‘My Watch,’ Obasanjo and his Armada of political allies swore to stand by with a troubled credibility.
Many Nigerians tragically have forgotten so soon that during the rule of the Peoples Democratic Party for sixteen years, where a character like ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo held the nation to humiliating ransom a choking scenario where elections were stage-managed and rigged without recourse to sanity, decency and caution, there was nothing like ‘inconclusive election’ because ‘things’ must be ‘concluded’ without the interest of the nation.
The dynamics of 2019 general elections is that those who had legendarily sucked our Commonwealth dry allocated the ‘ownership of the nation’ to themselves’ and arrogantly claimed to be political king makers have been rubbished and shattered to pieces.
The electorate have simply voted without any iota of ideological tone and decided that between an Atiku Abubakar and a Muhammadu Buhari, that the slow talking but focused honest man from Daura, in spite of his inherent challenges should continue to run the show in the name of repositioning our tarnished country.
Those who are shouting their voices to the limit of hoarseness, at the roof top today, blaming Mahmud Yakubu-led Independent National Electoral Commission ((INEC) of conducting a 2019 general election devoid of credibility or fairness fail to face reality.
And that is, those who went about snatching ballot papers, killing and maiming political opponents, destroying or diverting electoral materials etc. were not manufactured by the commission, but sponsored by political kingpins who wanted to win at all cost, and they can be accessed and fished out in the camps of both the APC and the PDP.
So, what is the crime of INEC in the face of premeditated political thuggery and electoral malpractices frequently originated by the dominant political parties in Nigeria? That is not to say that there are not some bad eggs within the commission.
With the general distribution of those who won and lost so far as the results of the 2019 general elections have shown across the country, is a fair manifestation of the position of the electorate.
For instance, during the Presidential Election on February 23, 2019, the electorate in Kano State ultimately went for President Buhari.
But, given the political dexterity and popularity of ex-Governor Kwankwaso in Kano State, who is supporting his son in-law against a sitting Governor in Ganduje, who is fighting a titanic battle of allegation of corruption, the governorship election of March 9, 2019 has been declared inconclusive by INEC as a result of the fierce showing displayed by both the incumbent governor and his arch rival.
In Delta State, where the celebrated ‘Odidigborigbo’ (Chief James Ibori, ex-Governor who had served a jail term in London for corruptly enriching himself), the chunk of the electorate had their way by returning incumbent Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for another four years, but Olorogun Senator Ovie Omo-Agege proved his political mettle amongst his kinsmen in Delta Central Senatorial election which he won perfectly.
Is it in Imo State, where a dubious personality, incumbent Governor Rochas Okorocha, who shot himself in the foot by trying to impose his son in-law on the electorate as the next Governor, ended up losing the State dramatically to a PDP candidate in Emeka Ihedioha, a seasoned ex-member of the Federal House of Representatives, that the electoral process was not a fair representation of the people’s wishes?
In Edo State, the APC was shoulder to shoulder with the PDP, and went on to lose the state to Atiku Abubabar, but during the House of Assembly Elections, where the candidates of PDP in spite of having won two senatorial and some House of Representatives seats, could not locate a maximum financial power house like late Chief Tony Anenih, to bank roll his ‘vote buying’ mechanism, lost all the 24 House of Assembly seats to the APC.
Incumbent Governor Godwin Obaseki was hell-bent on having a formidable House that will ensure his re-emergence in next year’s governorship election in the state.
Do we blame INEC in Kwara State for the inability of a sitting Senate President, Bukola Saraki who lost his senatorial seat earlier and incumbent PDP Governor, Abdufatal Ahmed, to help secure the state for PDP during the Governorships and House of Assembly Elections?
What of Oyo State, where the selfish political ambition of the incumbent APC Governor, Ajimobi who had served almost eight years in office, unknowingly tore his political base into shreds to favor a Makinde who contested under the PDP? Would the political wailers say the electoral process did not represent the mood of the electorate there? One can go on and on to narrate the dynamics of 2019 general elections so far.
It is pathetic to note that a chunk of the political players and actors in Nigeria today are insincere and incredibly parochial, in the sense that, where they lost election, the process was rigged, but where they won everything was perfect.
The way out of this seemingly intractable electoral quagmire, to migrate from accusations and counter accusations during electoral contest on our clime, is for the Presidency to engage in systematic synergy with the National Assembly, to graduate our digital voting systems.
It should be to the extent where individual Bank Verification Number (BVN) could be activated to be used for subsequent elections in no distant future.
Given the dynamics that have been displayed so far in the 2019 general elections, who says Atiku Abubabar can overturn the gigantic electoral wishes the electorate in Nigeria have generated for President Muhammadu Buhari?
In a nutshell, in all of the postulations here, ultimately, Nigeria urgently needs a drastic judicial reform that will make all offenders to be answerable to the laws of the land.
That is the only way that this stunted giant, called Nigeria can quickly transform to a great country within the shortest time available.
Nowinta wrote: Where We Are – a call for democratic revolution in Nigeria.
