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2015 poll and APC's threat

Published by Tribune on Thu, 28 Aug 2014


Recently the All Progressives Congress (APC) warned against any plan by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to rig next year's general elections, threatening to form a 'people's government' if the ruling party did so. The warning was given by the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun while addressing the party's supporters at the mega rally for the re-election of Governor Rauf Aregbesola at the Osogbo Township stadium. He insisted that APC would not tolerate any form of rigging while drawing a battle line.We are of the opinion that the threat of parallel government was needless, rather all hands should be on deck to ensure that the present civil dispensation is not truncated by any party whether ruling or in opposition by any undemocratic means. The post-June 12, 1993 electoral debacle cost the nation enormously and we dare say we have not yet fully recovered from the logjam following the annulment of the election that would have put Nigeria in the global Hall of Fame as a bastion of democracy.The nation's electoral travails date back to the early days of the nation's existence as an independent state. During the First Republic, every election that was held between 1960 and 1965 was a disaster. There were always allegations of malpractices in the conduct of elections. The number of lives lost in the electioneering campaigns between 1960 and 1965 would, if computed, be staggering. By the time the politicians were sent packing in 1966, thuggery and hooliganism had become a part of Nigerian politics. Top politicians were known to harbour thugs to be used as occasion demanded. Ultimately, the nation was thrown into a needless, avoidable and excruciating civil war. The Second Republic did not fare better as killings and arsons followed electoral debacles.We concede that conducting elections in a supposedly rich, pluralistic developing country like Nigeria cannot be said to be an easy task by any yardstick. Conducting free and fair elections in such a polity that allows the victors a free grab of resources is a much more difficult assignment, the success of which even angels, could not guarantee.Elections are central to the existence and stability of any nation, and political parties play significant roles in such democracies. An election is meant to give the electorate the opportunity to decide who should rule them. The main purpose of the whole electoral process is to produce a government invested with legitimacy.We wish to emphasise the fact that the forthcoming 2015 elections represent a crucial test of whether the new democratic or civil system can work procedurally.It is generally agreed that four basic conditions are necessary for the holding of free and fair elections. These are (a) an honest, competent, non-partisan administration to run elections (b) a general acceptance throughout the political community of certain rather vague rules of the game, which limit the struggle for power because of some unspoken sentiment that if the rules are not observed more or less faithfully, the game itself will disappear amid the wreckage of the whole system (c) a developed system of political parties, traditions and teams of candidates before the elections as alternatives; and (d) an independent judiciary to interprete electoral laws.Many Nigerians who contributed to this aspect of the political debate in 1987 saw the absence of a coordination of these four conditions as the greatest problem in our political development. As some put it, though we are aware of the importance of free and fair elections as the prerequisites for peace, stability and progress, not much has been recorded in the area of successful election.The concept of free and fair elections also embraces a number of factors - parties must be free to compete to organise, to recruit members, to articulate policies, to stage rallies and to solicit votes. The less the political system restricts opposing parties from the business of organising and campaigning and the less it systematically favours a particular party (typically the ruling party), the freer and fairer the elections may be said to have been. By the same token, individuals must be free to participate in the political process ' to join the party of their choice, to campaign for it, to seek political office on its platform, and of course to vote for it (or not to vote at all), as well as to articulate their preferences in speech and writing, and to assemble and organise around them. A third set of variables has to do with the voting process. It is a cardinal principle of the democratic process that each person should have one and only one vote, and that each should be counted equally. This means that no one who satisfies some limited set of conditions (such as minimum age and sound mind) should be refused registration, no registered voter should be prevented from voting, nor should anyone be allowed to vote more than once, neither should any votes be counted for a party except those of individuals legally cast, nor should any legally and properly cast votes be discarded or disregarded. Finally, a free and fair election requires that the results be accurately reported and the legitimate victors allowed to assume office.The Jonathan administration, the electoral umpire and all stakeholders must work towards making the 2015 polls a resounding success. We say no to electoral manipulations and any attempt to truncate the nation's hard-earned civil dispensation, even if many elements of democratic rule are still yet to be attained.
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