WEDNESDAY COLUMN BY USSIJU MEDANER
info@medaner.com, justme4justice@yahoo.com
There is no democracy without periodic elections, but then, not just elections, but elections that are credible, free and a fair representation of the electorate’s desires. Every country with that seriousness and unwavering commitment to strengthen its democracy will always be fully prepared and election ready, regardless of prevailing circumstances to install and deliver an acceptable electioneering process. There are standard global benchmarks of an acceptable procedure for conducting free and fair elections, and Nigeria cannot afford to continue to fall short of them, election cycle after election cycle
Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of every healthy democracy; providing citizens with a genuine voice in the governance of their community and ensuring that power is transferred peacefully. The integrity of the electoral process is crucial for maintaining public trust, promoting political stability, and fostering national development. This article explores the significance of free and fair elections, the challenges that undermine their integrity, and the measures necessary to safeguard the democratic process.
The significance of free and fair elections are numerous and individually important to getting an acceptable election. In Nigeria, and most African and other less democratically developed nations, we continue to grapple with the challenges of legitimacy of leadership every other time. Why? Because, in more cases than necessary, the elections that produce our leaders are always flawed and not being seen as representing the popular will of the people. This is also as much as the belief that it is only a leader that emerges via a free and fair election that can be accountable to the citizens. When leaders emerge from systems that manipulate the electioneering systems, they literally tend to stay accountable to a few select members of a certain community or interest, and not the country.
We cannot continue to erode the much needed element of citizens participation; disallowing Nigerians the opportunity to vote, through the expression of their political preferences, to influence the direction of the nation’s leadership. Because when this is done, the people generally oppose the leaders as we have often seen in Nigeria, thereby creating an atmosphere of political instability and non-constructive opposition that negatively affects the capacity of the country to be governed well, to attract investment, promote desirable growth and development and enhance national security. Of course, we will always remember that most of the gross insecurity we grapple with today as a nation is a consequence of the election violence we experienced in the past, when sections of the country organised to arm themselves and to protest unfair and grossly manipulated elections.
We must agitate for and eventually take Nigeria to the point where free and fair elections become a given within the polity of the state administration. When we have and enshrined democratic elections to help protect individual rights and freedoms by ensuring that those in power are elected by and accountable to the people. It is then that we will realise that the majority of our national challenges today are directly caused by sidelining the people from having their rightful place of decision making in the affairs of their country.
Now, to the next agenda; to create a strong election logistics for Nigeria, we must also be able to identify the current and prevailing challenges to free and fair elections in the country. It is when we know what the problems are and are ready to effectively remove them that we can begin to see things done rightly in that sector. The most daunting challenge to our elections is the prevalent incidents of electoral frauds, in the form of vote rigging, manipulation of the voters’ registration system to the favour of certain political party or contestant, manipulation of election results and outcomes in whatever ways that undermine the integrity of the elections and consequently erode public trust in the processes.
Another major challenge we must identify and be ready to address is the incessant election violence in the country which has become more of a norm for us in Nigeria. Our elections all the way from 1979 have been strongly associated with violence. We all remember the gruesome violence that greeted the aftermath of the 1983 election in the South-West, nicknamed “WETIE.” And we are all aware of the damage election violence has done to the coherence of Nigeria since 2003, up till now. Every election cycle in the country since then has ended with organised killings to protest non-acceptance of results, except that of 2023. We have lost Nigerians and properties to election violence across the country. We have lost our ability to unite across many differences to erupted violence after elections. Till today, violence and intimidations before, during and after elections have continued to deter voters’ participation, undermine the credibility of the process and result in political instability in the country.
At this point, we should look at what we have to wholesomely do to guarantee free and fair elections in Nigeria. We cannot but get to the point where our democratic system and processes will become a rally point for all our brother and sister nations across our continent; when we will bear the name “giant of Africa” with pride. The strength of the United States of America before now, and a nation like India, that is gaining global recognition democratically and economically, is predominantly the strength of their democratic system. The more transparent, free, fair and generally acceptable the process is, the more acceptable the government is and so, the more accountable they are.
To breed and develop this standard of electioneering, the state must unequivocally present in practice, an independent electoral commission. There is no way a subdued manager of national elections, dictated to by the various executive levels of government, would deliver election outcomes without undue influences of the powers that pays the piper. That is the central challenge to elections in Nigeria; governors literally have the state electoral commission in their pockets, and merely decide the nature of election outcomes from the comfort of their rooms. The same is applicable at the federal level; for as long as the president decides who becomes the chairman of the electoral commission, and controls, to a larger extent, the funding of the commission, it is natural that the ruling party, will always be an interested party in the elections and their outcomes, and would always muscle its way to curry undue favours from the heads of the commission. It is however critical to free the commission at all levels from interference, for them to conduct transparent elections.
Raising the standard of our elections would also require deliberate actions from all that are responsible, to ensure the much needed voters’ education and awareness about all aspects of election, beginning from voters’ registration, to coming out to cast votes, and in accordance with the provisions of the electoral laws, following up with result collations, as part measure to enshrine the legitimacy of the election and the government it produces.
In India, the turnout for the 2024 general election was calculated as 65.3 percent, representing 640 million out of the total registered 980 million registered voters. The Nigeria case is however worrisome; with a total registered voters of approximately 97 million, being only 15.16 percent of the registered voters in India and a voters’ apathy level of 73.28 percent. We can address this serious challenge via a well orchestrated and sustained voters’ education and awareness campaign that must not be limited to election’s period. If India can effectively ensure that much laudable turnout, and still have election results released within 24 hours after ending the polls, we can do it, only if we summon the political and moral will to deliver such a momentous product to Nigeria.
To drive home the points, and to develop the people’s interest in the processes, we must have to put in place legal reforms that effectively address the loopholes that are hindering the mechanisms for fairness, transparency, and equality in the electoral processes, including ensuring equal access to media, campaign finance reform, and measures to prevent electoral violence. The voters’ registration process must become flexible to allow unhindered access to all qualified voters, regardless of location and condition. It must also address the transparency and accountability of the Election Day events, deepen the civil activities of independent observers and domestic election monitoring, the methods of election results collation and transmission, in such a way that deters irregularities and fraudulent practices and interferences with the processes.
Free and fair elections are fundamental to the health and stability of a democracy. They ensure that governments are accountable to the people, promote political stability, and protect individual rights. However, achieving truly free and fair elections requires concerted efforts to address the challenges that undermine the electoral process. By implementing measures to enhance transparency, accountability, and voter participation, we can strengthen our democracy and ensure that all our future elections reflect the genuine will of the Nigerian electorate. The imperative of free and fair elections is not just a matter of political principle; it is essential for the development and prosperity of our national systems.
