Give Jega The Chance To Serve Nigerians
There is no doubt that, under Professor Attahiru Jega's watch, Nigeria has made an enormous advancement in the evolution of its electoral process. Not the least of the advancements, with the new digital system which will be utilized in the collation of votes during the 2015 election that is just around the corner, it can be confidently assumed that this election will be fair, if not free.
I remember that when the Jonathan Administration came on board, Dr. Jonathan promised Nigerians that a reformation of the electoral process to rid it of corruption and rigging was a highpoint of his domestic commitment. And as things stand at the moment, it is well he did not go back on that promise.
When we take a cursory look at the history of elections in Nigeria, we find that a few, unpleasant, and anti-social behaviours among the stakeholders held out themselves. Prominent among these was bribery. This endemic cancer had practically infected all areas of the electoral process, except perhaps and for obvious reasons, the personal office of Professor Attahiru Jega, the INEC boss.
In Nigeria, politicians would normally try to bribe ward chairmen to influence the sway of votes at the grassroots level. They would try to bribe electoral officers to rig the results of votes in their favour. In many cases, when they were not satisfied with the election results, they would head off to the electoral tribunals. Here too, they would try to influence judgement by offering huge sums of money to judges. In some cases, the money would be so mouth-watering that some unscrupulous judges find it difficult to refuse. So, they compromise their professional integrity and rob Nigerian masses of their legitimately elected leaders.
Another problem that always reared its head up before, during and more frequently after elections was the eruption of violence between supporters of one candidate or one party and another. In many instances in the past, hundreds of people had been killed in such clashes, and that did not speak well about Nigeria or the country's political elite. At the end of the day, the families of those Nigerians who lost their lives in their anxiety to protect the interest of their political masters were never compensated for the death of their loved ones. The politicians just didn't care. Life had to go on.
In unfelt consonance with Professor Chinua Achebe's postulation in his book, “There was a Country” in which he asserts that “once a people have been dispossessed and subjected to dictatorships for such a long time as in Nigeria's case, the oppressive process also effectively strips away from the minds of the people the knowledge that they have rights”, the families of those who lost their sons, and sometimes, daughters to electoral violence make their peace and simply get about their businesses. And so, the value and quality of life among these helpless Nigerians continue to depreciate and no one seems to care. Most, among the hoi poloi, accept the trend as a way of life, resigning themselves to the dictates of the whims and caprices of a mindless political class, and ready to live with whatever condition the almighty politicians were eager to create for them.
The point is that for most Nigerian politicians, getting into public office is a do-or-die affair. Many of them are capable of going to extremities in order to clinch public offices. They can manipulate. They can rig. They can fight. They can do just about anything to hold public office. Once they get into public office, billions of pounds are systematically siphoned into private bank accounts abroad. They buy and pay outright cash for the choicest houses in the grooviest part of America and some European countries. They begin to compete among themselves who would own the most exotic house in Dubai or the United Arab Emirate. Meanwhile, all the electoral promises are brushed under the carpet until a few months to another election when the politicians begin to tar few kilometres of roads from their catchment areas and sink a few boreholes in the communities they hope will vote for them.
It is easy for the politicians to accomplish this all the time. All they need do is bribe the ward chairmen and their executives and the people will vote where they are told to vote. Most of these local men and women are scarcely educated and certainly don't have independent minds. The politicians exploit this fact to get into public offices which they see as a gold mine. It is difficult to find just one Nigerian politician who is not into this game.
I have lived in the UK for close to 20 years but even as a journalist I don't know who the Chairman of Britain's Electoral Commission is. This is because voting is localised. The electoral officers are those on the ground in the voting areas. No one knows them. You only see them on the day of election if you have to. Nobody bullies or intimidates them. By being kept away from the public eye the issue of anyone meeting them “for private talks” is completely ruled out. Nobody can bribe them. But in Nigeria the case is different.
Even if the law says no one should expose the identity of the electoral officers, for security reasons, the officers themselves will find a way to manipulate the law, with the hope that when they are exposed, politicians would come to them and offer them huge sums of money in order for them to sway the votes in their favour. That is part of the problem. But, if you ask me, I will be quick to point out that the INEC boss, Professor Jega, can comfortably handle situations like that, and sack and prosecute such errant electoral officers.
Such is the trust that the nation reposes on its electoral officers and their boss in advanced democracies, that once the electoral commission declares the results of an election, the losing politicians send congratulatory messages to the winning ones. No one doubts or questions the authority or credibility of the electoral body. And no one has got the time for election petitions or for going to tribunals.
If Nigerian politicians can learn from this, the verdict of the INEC in any election should be seen as final. The constitution provides for petitions and all that, but Nigerian politicians must find the need to stay on top of political problems. That is what makes politics in advanced countries admirable. A situation where the credibility and authority of Professor Jega and his team are subject to doubt is certainly not going to enhance the Nigerian political experience.
A few weeks ago, Professor Jega who is saddled with the unenviable task of conducting credible elections in Nigeria addressed stakeholders in the electoral process. Jega assured them, and by implication the country, that everything his commission had done since the last elections in 2011 was with an eye to further deepen and consolidate the gains made while at the same time the commission plans how to avoid or mitigate the errors or challenges of the past.
Among others, this included: In-house learning meetings with electoral officers, administrative secretaries, and resident electoral commissioners; setting up of the Registration and Election Review Committee, designed to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the election project and to advise the Commission on the way forward as well as his on-going commitment to restructure and professionalize the Commission.
It is still dawn in Nigeria's political evolution. And to help the process, there are things every Nigerian must learn to do. One of such crucial things is that Nigerian politicians must learn to give Professor Jega the chance he needs to serve Nigerians better.