Completing the 2019 Electoral Process, By Jibrin Ibrahim | Nairalaw

…successful elections in Nigeria can provide a more solid
footing for building political harmony and stability. It is true
that the elections have been very divisive due to the extremely
negative campaigns that were conducted. Precisely for this reason,
organising the final round in a manner that is clearly free, fair,
credible and violence-free is the first step towards national
reconciliation.

Tomorrow, March 9, 2019, we will once again exercise our civic
rights and responsibilities as citizens to elect our governors and
members of the State Houses of Assembly. Despite some of the
hitches experienced during the presidential and National Assembly
elections that took place on Saturday February 23, 2019, we as a
people and as citizens demonstrated our commitment to peaceful
elections and such commitment should be carried over to the final
round tomorrow.

Many commentators have argued the opposite, that the elections
were marked by excessive violence, with many people killed, which
is true. We need, however, to address the issue in relative terms
because the whole country has been living a “normal” life of
violence with an active insurgency in the North-East, rural
banditry and farmer herder clashes in about 18 states, widespread
kidnapping for ransom, violent agitations for Biafran secession and
the on-going militancy in the Niger Delta. What we saw in the last
election therefore is a slight decline in the “normal” level of
violence in society.

Tomorrow’s elections are important because governors are about
the most strategic positions in governance and those who emergs
often have a direct bearing on good governance and improved or
worsened security. The State Houses of Assembly have been
historically incapable of over-sighting governors and if and when
we improve the quality of the intake, governance would certainly
improve in the country. The greatest challenge to good governance
in Nigeria is the relatively high percentage of governors who are
excessively corrupt, irresponsible in their governance mandates and
are often almost completely absent from their respective States. My
hope is that citizens have closely monitored and assessed the
performance of their governors and are ready to sanction the bad
ones among them.

During the last election, one of the challenges encountered was
the thuggery orchestrated by some of the governors. There is a
strong possibility that some of them would be tempted to use the
vast resources at their disposal to affect electoral outcomes. In
the last round, sitting governors in Gombe and Oyo States lost
their senatorial bids and in the case of Imo State, the governor
was alleged to have forced the returning officer to declare him
elected under duress. As Nigerian governors consider challenges to
their desires as unacceptable behaviour that requires punishment,
security agencies must be at their best to ensure that governors
too abide by the law.

…it is comforting that INEC has insisted that the smart card
reader would be used systematically. Since 2015, election riggers
have sought to bypass the card reader to return to their old habit
of fabricating electoral outcomes. Citizens have a key role to play
by insisting elections must be conducted in conformity with
established rules.

A lot of concern has also been expressed about the behaviour of
security agencies. Following allegations of misconduct against some
soldiers in the presidential and National Assembly elections, the
Nigerian Army, on Wednesday, said it has launched a probe into the
allegations of unprofessional conduct against its personnel. The
chief of army staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, disclosed that the
governors of Bayelsa, Oyo and Ogun States had lodged formal
complaints against some soldiers with the Army Headquarters. There
were also numerous reports of violence and unprofessional use of
the army in Rivers State. It is extremely important that security
agencies play their constitutional role of providing security for
the process in a neutral and non-partisan manner.

All security agents must act according to their rules of
engagement and within their codes of conduct, while also having
respect for fundamental human rights in the performance of their
assigned roles. They must not take any unlawful order from any
politician no matter how highly placed, which would jeopardise the
integrity of the elections. The elections have become very divisive
and Nigerians are split right down the middle along ethnic, zonal
and religious lines and it is extremely important that we do not
push towards an even deeper crisis of confidence in our
nationhood.

The circulation of massive amounts of fake news and hate speech
have marked this general elections and many communities are on the
edge. We must not allow some politicians to push us towards the
brink for their selfish purposes. For this reason, it is not
practical to say that armed security personnel should be completely
eliminated from security provisioning during the elections. There
are too many armed political thugs, criminal gangs and ethnic
militias in circulation and their activities must be check-mated.
During the last election, some security personnel were attacked and
killed by such miscreants.

As for the administration of the elections, it is comforting
that INEC has insisted that the smart card reader would be used
systematically. Since 2015, election riggers have sought to bypass
the card reader to return to their old habit of fabricating
electoral outcomes. Citizens have a key role to play by insisting
elections must be conducted in conformity with established
rules.

…INEC must continue to provide a level playing field for all
candidates, parties, and voters in order to uphold the sanctity of
the electoral process and its outcome. This must include improved
competence and transparency; in addition to frequent, clear, robust
communication with Nigerians on all aspects of the Commission’s
work.

Yesterday, the Working Group on Peacebuilding and Governance in
Nigeria, to which I belong, made an appeal to all institutions and
citizens to conduct themselves peacefully and with integrity, to
ensure that the outcomes from the elections are legitimate and
accepted by the people. All stakeholders – the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC), political parties and their
supporters, and Nigeria’s security forces – must play their roles
in conformity with the law and established best practices.

Specifically, INEC must continue to provide a level playing
field for all candidates, parties, and voters in order to uphold
the sanctity of the electoral process and its outcome. This must
include improved competence and transparency; in addition to
frequent, clear, robust communication with Nigerians on all aspects
of the Commission’s work.

Nigeria has to stop the culture of brigandage and do-or-die
politics. Candidates for the elections, party officials, and
supporters must avoid behaviour and actions that would undermine
the credibility of the electoral process or lead to a breach of
peace.

Security institutions must uphold the principles of
professionalism and respect for human rights at all times in the
discharge of their duties. They must also ensure absolute
impartiality and avoid any action that could be seen to cast doubt
on their detachment.

The Working Group concluded on the note that successful
elections in Nigeria can provide a more solid footing for building
political harmony and stability. It is true that the elections have
been very divisive due to the extremely negative campaigns that
were conducted. Precisely for this reason, organising the final
round in a manner that is clearly free, fair, credible and
violence-free is the first step towards national
reconciliation.

A professor of Political Science and development
consultant/expert, Jibrin Ibrahim is a Senior Fellow of the Centre
for Democracy and Development, and Chair of the Editorial Board of
PREMIUM TIMES.