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Minutes
of the meeting of the 2003 Election Crisis Committee, held on Tuesday
April 29, at Arewa House By Mohammed Haruna I.
BACKGROUND Given
the past history of the failure of civilian regimes in the country to
conduct free and fair elections, there were widespread fears that
history will repeat itself during the just concluded general elections,
the first to be conducted by a civilian administration since 1983. These
fears were fueled, among other things, by serious delays in enacting the
electoral laws due to bickerings between the presidency and the National
Assembly, delays in funding the Independent National Electoral
Commission and the prevalence of and inter – as well as intra-party
violence in the run-up to the elections. Unfortunately,
these fears have been born out by the outcome of the elections. This
outcome has been widely criticized by both local and foreign election
monitors. It has also been rejected by most o the opposition parties,
notably the All Nigeria Peoples Party, whose presidential candidate,
former Head of State, Major-General ?Muhammadu Buhari, threatened mass
action against the swearing in of a new government based on the
presidential election of April 19. The
imminent breakdown of law and order arising from General Buhari’s
angry rejection of the flawed election led some emirs in the North to
set up a committee to try and find a peaceful resolution of the crisis. Made
up of eleven members, the chairman is the Etsu
Nupe, His Highness, Alhaji Umaru Sanda Ndayako. The other members
are Justices Muhammed Bello, Mamman Nasir and Bashir Sambo, Chief S.B.
Awoniyi, Brigadier-General Abba Kyari, Lt-General Jerry Hussaini, Alhaji
Umaru Shinkafi, Dr. Mahmud Tukur, Alhaji Falalu Bello and Mohammed
Haruna. The
committee first met on Tuesday April 29, 2003 at Arewa House, Kaduna, to
map out its strategy for dealing with the crisis. The following is the
minutes of the meeting. II.
MINUTES
OF THE MEETING 1. Attendance:
2.
Chairman’s
Opening Remarks: This
meeting started at 11.15 am with prayers by Justice Sambo. In his
opening remarks the chairman said his committee seemed to be an
initiative of the presidency. He said he thought the election crisis was
best resolved by a high level intervention by former Heads of State. He
was therefore, initially reluctant to get involved in the assignment.
However, he accepted to do so in the end because of the caliber and the
integrity of the members of the committee, all of whom have creditably
served the nation, one way or another. The chairman then threw the floor
open for comments. 3.
Other
members’ remarks: Speaking
first, Justice Sambo said the main source of the election crisis was the
manipulation of religion and tribe, especially by those in authority.
This, he said, was compounded by the reluctance of leading Northerners
in government to identify with and defend their faith and region,
whereas the leaders of other faiths and regions, including the
president, did so openly. A second source of the crisis, he said, was
the Tazarce phenomenon, whereby incumbents tried to remain in office by
hook or crook.
The problem, he said, would be a difficult one to resolve and a
Sovereign National Conference may be necessary if a lasting solution is
to be found.
The chairman noted Justice Sambo’s observations but said it was
rather broad in scope and there was a need to narrow the scope in order
to achieve our immediate objective as the first step towards the longer
term objectives.
Justice Bello then intervened and said our immediate objective is
to safeguard law and order in the light of General Buhari’s ultimatum.
He said the general must have issued his threat out of passion
and could not possibly have meant it. The former Chief Justice of
the Federation emphasized the need to use only constitutional means in
resolving the crisis. In addition, he said President Obasanjo should
form a government of national government as a way out.
Brigadier-General Kyari said the remarks by the INEC Chairman,
Dr. Abel Guobadia, in which he dismissed General Buhari’s rejection of
the outcome of the elections as the act of a frustrated man was reckless
and unhelpful. It showed that the chairman was hardly an unbiased
umpire.
Chief Awoniyi on his part said the problems identified by Justice
Sambo were created by President Obasanjo. He said he accepted to serve
on the committee only on condition that he won’t be part of the team
to see the president. Obasanjo, he said, manipulated religion and
ethnicity to stay in power at a time Nigerians had, by and large, put
religion behind them in 1993 when they endorsed a Muslim-Muslim
presidential ticket. Nigerians, he said, chose Obasanjo to led them at a
time his own people had rejected him because Nigerians believed he will
be fair to all. Instead he became so obsessed with power that he tried
to use all means to retain it. General Buhari, he said, should not be
prevailed upon to accept a fraudulent and blatantly rigged election.
Instead, he should be encouraged to use every constitutional means to
challenge it.
Chief Awoniyi also condemned the statement by Primate Sunday
Mbang, the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), that
Buhari should be arrested over his threat, as irresponsible.
The chairman intervened at this point and asked whether the
committee should formulate its own ideas about a way out before
approaching first, General Buhari and then the president, or whether we
should hear out both of them first. In the end, it was agreed that the
committee should formulate its own ideas but have an open mind on what
to do in the end.
Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi said he agreed with the chairman that the
crisis would have best been resolved by an intervention by former Heads
of State, but that since the committee has been formed it should do its
best to find a solution to the problem. He said it must be acknowledged
that the general elections, particularly the presidential elections,
were, by and large, fraudulent. The committee, he said, should not
endorse such fraudulence. He also said part of the committee’s problem
is that the president has often showed himself to be a man of bad faith
who often went back on commitments once he is rescued from a tight-spot.
Dr. Mahmud Tukur said the proper thing for the committee to do
was to see the president first and find out what he is prepared to do
about the crisis which he started, instead of seeing General Buhari
first, as the aggrieved party. In seeing the president, he said, the
committee should put before him the facts on the ground regarding the
roles played by all those involved in conducting the elections, in
particular INEC officials and the security agents.
Alhaji Falalu Bello said it was important to go beyond the
immediate crisis of the elections and find long term solutions to the
crises of the country’s unity and political stability. He observed
that President Obasanjo had shortchanged the North by his neglect of
agriculture and the provision of energy projects at a time he has been
investing heavily in the provision of same in the South-West. Alhaji
Falalu said these basic issues must be taken up with the president. 4.
Observations
and Conclusions: The
committee as a whole noted as follows: i.
The partisan role of the security forces, especially the use of
armed forces to intimidate members and agents of the opposition parties. ii.
The partisan role of INEC officials in the elections, especially
the unhelpful remarks by its Chairman, Dr. Abel Guobadia, that General
Buhari, as the main presidential contender, was a “frustrated man”. iii.
The partisanship of the media against the opposition. iv.
The monetisation of politics in general and of the elections in
particular. v.
The impropriety of the national broadcast on the president
endorsing the National Assembly election of April 12 by the Monday after
the elections, and his commendation of INEC for a job well done. vi.
The impropriety of the Ooni of Ife’s call as a royal father, on
NTA Network news for all Yorubas to vote for only President Obasanjo as
a fellow Yoruba, when royal fathers are supposed to shun open
partisanship. The
committee then concluded as follows: (i)
Everything must be done to preserve law and order. (ii)
Efforts must be made to resolve all complaints through election
tribunals. (iii)
In places where there were no elections, the declared results
should be cancelled and steps must be taken to conduct same. (iv)
INEC, especially the Resident Electoral Commissioners who are
mostly members of the ruling party, should be re-constituted. (v)
Seek an audience with General Buhari against Wednesday May 7 in
Kaduna, and thereafter, seek an audience with the president. (vi)
Hold the next meeting on May 7 at Arewa House at 11 am. The
meeting adjourned at about 2pm with prayers once again by Justice Sambo. Alhaji Umaru Sanda Ndayako, Etsu Nupe Chairman
Mohammed Haruna Member/Secretary
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