THE violence that broke out in some states following the announcement of the presidential election results last Saturday is unfortunate and condemnable. It is a sad signal that rather than improve on their attitude over elections, politicians are still desperate, their supporters even more so.It is particularly worrisome that the violence occurred at a time all Nigerians should be congratulating themselves for successfully holding a presidential election that can go down in history as an orderly and peaceful one. Last Saturdays Presidential election may not be the best Nigeria has ever had, it is certainly commendable when compared with similar elections in 1999, 2003 and 2007.The presidential election, conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under the chairmanship of Prof. Attahiru Jega, was not only better than the last three presidential elections held in the country, it was a marked improvement on the National Assembly election held a week earlier across the country, also by INEC.Obviously, the commission had plugged some of the loopholes in the previous weeks election. Thus, last Saturday witnessed a reasonably large turnout of voters who conducted themselves peacefully throughout the voting period, notwithstanding allegations of malpractices made by one of the political parties. If anything, a major snag was the large number of voided votes, a phenomenon that simply underscores a need for continuous education of voters. With as many as 1,259.506 votes voided out of a total of 39,469,484 for various reasons, both INEC on the one hand, and the political parties on the other, face a big challenge of enlightening voters on the need to ensure the relevance of their votes.Nevertheless, it is instructive that the entire election results were received with relative satisfactionunderstandably, against the backdrop of rigging and massive irregularities that characterized most of the elections in the recent past. We acknowledge the rights of some politicians and political parties, particularly the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) to protest and express their dissatisfaction with the elections conduct, which certainly was not 100 per cent hitch-free.However, it is important for leaders of these aggrieved parties and groups to caution their supporters against taking the laws into their hands, as General Muhammadu Buhari and some others have done. From the violence recorded in about ten northern states, it is safe to assert that these politicians failed to discharge that onerous duty in the national interest, and thus act like statesmen.Aggrieved politicians, religious leaders and other Nigerians should desist from fanning the embers of hatred and violence, and instead channel their grievances through the appropriate authorities, which in this instance, are the election petition tribunals and courts. This is part of the electoral process that had been put in place before the election, and which the stakeholders swore to uphold. That process ought not to be replaced with violence at any stage.With his 22,495,187 votes, out of the total of 38,209,978 valid votes cast, President Goodluck Jonathan won an overwhelming majority against Buharis CPC of 12,214,853; and Nuhu Ribadus Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) which polled 2,079,151 votes, while 17 other candidates received much lower votes. Nigeria deserves to be congratulated and not traumatized with orchestrated crisis informed by selfish interest.Similarly, INEC deserves the commendation it has received from election observers and monitoring groups including the Commonwealth Group, the European Union (EU), African Union (AU) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI). The commission should nevertheless identify and act on areas where it still needs to make amends. We expect such amendments to be reflected in terms of better performance in the conduct of Governorship and legislative assembly elections on April 26.Those promoting violence are advised to adopt a change of attitude and instead embrace peaceful resolution of whatever objections they may have. Good enough, the CPC has said through its national chairman Prince Tony Momoh that it has filed its complaints with INEC. The partys supporters should patiently await official response to those complaints or proceed later to the election petition tribunal.In its petition to INEC, the party called for the cancellation of the Presidential election in 22 states, on the grounds of alleged intimidation of voters, multiple voting, among other complaints. The party also expressed strong suspicion, supported by reasonable grounds that the Excel computer application installed in INECs computer was designed to undermine the CPC, to the unjust advantage of Dr. Jonathan.These are serious charges that should be presented to the appropriate authorities for investigation and action. They should not provide an excuse for disorderly conduct, more so amidst contention that internal sabotage within the CPC caused the partys loss.The action of the rioters is condemnable. They killed about 10 people in parts of Gombe State; burnt the family home of Vice President Samadi Sambo in Tundun Wada, Zaria in Kaduna State and torched the Emirs palace in Kano and the residence of the Emir of Zazzau in Kaduna State. The mob also destroyed lives, houses, places of worship and vehicles in parts of Niger, Sokoto, Taraba, Bauchi, Adamawa, Yobe States and Plateau States.The Police and other law enforcement agencies did well to contain the protest and to curtail its spread. But they appeared to have been caught napping. This is not good enough considering that party primaries and the political process generated violence in recent months, and intelligence reports had identified likely trouble spots.It is imperative that normalcy returns to the affected areas, particularly where curfew is imposed, to restore the free atmosphere necessary for elections. We note that the police have made some arrests in the affected areas. However, we urge them to extend their dragnets to the masterminds of the violence, and not just the masses being used as pawns. Politicians must be told to jettison their do-or-die attitude or else be made answerable to the law. The Police should be resolute in dealing with rioters.Elections are competitions in which contestants are bound to either win or lose. Contestants should therefore show maturity. The whole world is again watching Nigeria, and this is indicated in the close interest shown by the United Nations (which has urged all stakeholders to abide by the polls outcome and seek redress in legally approved avenues), the EU, the AU, the Commonwealth and other independent monitoring groups.The essence of democracy is for everyone to respect the wish of the majority, as expressed through the ballot. In politics, the minority can have their say, but the majority will have their way, and such verdict should be respected.
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