The Political Aftermath of the 2007 General Elections.

By

Aliyu A. Ammani

 

The April polls, in my candid opinion, are a contest in election rigging. And, with apology to General Buhari, those parties complaining of rigging are those actually out rigged in the process. Who is the victor and who are the vanquished? Again, in my humble opinion, all those that took part in the contest, the winners and the losers, constitute the vanquished. The victor is actually the Doctrine of akasa-atsare-araka. That powerful doctrine, which challenged and defeated Incumbency to the letter, in Bauchi State, during the last elections.

 

The doctrine of akasa-atsare-araka is a laudable albeit sad development. It is laudable because, for now, it is the only viable panacea to the menace of election rigging. It is sad because it is a clear manifestation of the electorates’ lack of trust in the electoral process particularly the electoral body, INEC. With the doctrine of akasa-atsare-araka the days of the obnoxious culture of massive rigging and blatant abuse of the electoral process are numbered.

 

Complaint of rigging by those who lost out in elections was as old as the electoral process in Nigeria. The losers of the 1959 elections could not accept that the process was free and fair. To the opposition parties of the first republic, the then ruling NPC massively rigged the 1964 General elections particularly in the defunct Western Region. The 1983 General election was, in the opinion of the losers in that election, massively rigged by the then ruling NPN. At the receiving ends of these entire stands the electoral body. Today, in the aftermath of the Mother of all Elections in Nigeria, an election set to usher in our first ever, Civilian-to-Civilian transition; INEC bashing is the rule rather than the exception.

 

A lot has been said and written about the independence of INEC. While it is not the intent of this write-up to partake in this worthwhile debate, I find it expedient, considering the exigencies of the present situation to proffer the following suggestions towards improving the electoral process in Nigeria.

 

First, the Chief Executive Officer of INEC should be designated Executive Chairman, in all intent and purpose. And, the Executive Chairmanship of INEC should be limited to only retired Chief Justices of Nigeria. Why retired Chief Justices of Nigeria? The reason is simple, retired Chief Justices of Nigeria belong to the most exclusive class; one can hardly count 5 living retired CJNs in Nigeria today. Second, a retired CJN having reached the peak of his career heading the judicial arm of Government, the only non partisan arm, is least likely to be influenced or manipulated by the Executive or any political party.

 

Second, the political parties should be overhauled with particular emphasis on party funding. The Government has little or no business funding political parties. Political parties should be driven by ideologies and funded by the kobos of those masses of the population that believe in, and are committed to, advancing the cause of such political parties. The present arrangement where the Government, to a lesser extent, and candidates to a greater extent fund political parties not only make the parties prone to hijack by moneybags and fat cats, but also predisposes the parties to ridicule, as we see in the last general elections where some political parties fielded presidential candidates just for the fun of it. To this end the natural law of the survival of the fittest will ensure that only viable political parties survive.

 

In conclusion, to my fellow citizens, the electorates, I have this to say. We should not allow ourselves to be used by those who lost out in the rigging contest. Those who know, clearly, that their allegations of been out rigged can neither hold water nor stand the rigour of the Judicial process. Those who resolved not to go to the court with their grievances; and are beginning to consider more desperate alternatives, appealing to sentiments, calling on the Nigerian masses to come out on the streets and protest. Protest what and against whom?  I make it bold to say, that the life of the average Nigerian and the peaceful coexistent of Nigeria are better than the entire bunch of egocentric self-styled democrats, who have lost out in the last electoral contest, put together.

 

Aliyu A. Ammani,

Kaduna