For the undecided voter: Determining the lesser of the two evils (2)

Three issues readily come to mind regarding Buhari’s credibility: certificate saga, his avoidance of debate, and the people he associates with.

a) Certificate saga: The 2011 Electoral Act requires candidates to provide proof of their educational qualification. GMB attached an affidavit to his form which has raised constitutional questions about his eligibility to run for office. In an attempt to clear the air surrounding his WASC certificate, GMB addressed a press conference in Kano, where he tried (unsuccessfully, I must add) to explain away the certificate issue. On the same day, a purported statement of result surfaced, issued by the Katsina State Government’s Ministry of Education of one “Mohammed Buhari”. (It should be noted that neither GMB nor APC has claimed ownership of the said result.) Instead, the party’s publicity secretary, Lai Mohammed, summarily declared the matter closed. GMB himself, reacting to news of concerned citizens challenging his eligibility in court, said, rather disdainfully, “We have satisfied INEC’s requirements and the plaintiffs should remain in court.”

The arrogance displayed by GMB and the APC in this matter is astonishing! If indeed you have nothing to hide, why not do the needful (Cambridge certified-true-copy of results)? Why have the cloud of perjury and forgery over your head going into a general election? Why not show the electorate (especially the undecided voters) you have nothing to hide and reinforce your much-touted anti-corruption credentials? Mind you, should the allegations of perjury (I’m discounting forgery because GMB hasn’t claimed the Katsina statement of result) prove to be true, it would amount to corruption!

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b) Debate dodger: GMB has turned down the opportunity to debate with President GEJ twice, citing “unhidden bias” of the would-be organizers and/or panellists. Even if you believe the first debate organized by NEDG (BON/NTA/AIT) would give GEJ an unfair advantage, surely that argument holds no water with regard to the second group – Channels TV/Arise TV/ NPAN alliance. Channels TV is widely believed to be sympathetic to the opposition party and the rest are neutral (or their biases cancel out). Furthermore, should we, the electorate, decide to be overly gracious to accept APC’s allegation of conspiracy and imagined bias against their party, why then do they not take PDPPCO director, Femi Fani-Kayode, up on his offer and organize a televised debate constituting whichever panellist they like and offer Nigerians an opportunity to see both candidates make their case to be president.

It does seem rather odd that the ruling party is willing to a have debate (and even willing to bend over backwards to accommodate the APC’s demands) with the opposition, but the opposition is stonewalling. It raises the question: why is the APC shielding GMB from a debate? What are they scared of? Again, this is an opportunity for GMB to come out and clear the air and set the record straight concerning the certificate saga amongst other issues. More importantly, the debate pitting him against GEJ would provide GMB an ideal platform to articulate his plans and vision for Nigeria and challenge GEJ on his perceived shortcomings.

c) His associates: It is widely believed that GMB’s presidential campaign is largely being funded by Bola Tinubu and Gov. Rotimi Amaechi. Apart from these APC party leaders, other prominent members of the party include former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Bukola Saraki, et al. All these people belong to the current political class and do not represent any change whatsoever. As president, how does GMB spearhead his anti-corruption campaign against this backdrop? Are we going to return to the days of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, when he used the EFCC as a veritable tool to persecute perceived political enemies? Or is GMB going to go against the same people that have invested heavily in his presidential campaign? Your guess is as good as mine. But be mindful of the timeless idiom: He who pays the piper calls the tune.

3. Intolerance

There’s a running joke on social media that says: “GMB looks like the kind of person that will ban Orijin”. Silly as that may sound, there’s palpable fear among certain undecided voters on the implications of a Buhari presidency. Given his antecedents as a military dictator, those fears are not totally unfounded. His regime was a bit high-handed, to say the least (Decree 4, political suppression, WAI, punitive retroactive laws, etc.)

I make bold to say that GEJ, in spite of his shortcomings, is the most democratic president we have ever had. Under his administration, he has allowed political space for the opposition and granted Nigerians unprecedented freedoms (he signed FOI Bill, press freedom, allowed open dissent, etc.). He has also deepened our democracy by enabling INEC to conduct some of the most credible elections ever in our history. The fact that we are just days away to the elections, and the opposition feel they have a genuine chance of winning, is testament to this. (OBJ would never have allowed that.)

Many are wondering, should GMB win, are we going back to the days of political oppression and autocratic leadership? His supporters would say, oh that was over 30 years ago, and besides you have to be heavy-handed as a military ruler. Fair enough then. But GMB of now does seem irritated by criticism. In a BBC interview he granted in 2004, GMB implied press freedom was a distraction to the government, and insisted that the truth was no defence to the “crime” of embarrassing government officials. Only last week, his campaign organization threatened to sue NTA/AIT for airing a propaganda documentary against him.

GEJ as incumbent president has endured ten times the amount of criticism and abuse GMB is now receiving, and he seems unfazed by it all. One shudders to think what GMB will do as president.

Conclusion

When asked about the forthcoming general elections, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said that none of the two main candidates inspires her. For a lot of undecided voters, the election has presented them with less-than-satisfactory choices for the post of president for a country as dynamic as Nigeria. That notwithstanding, if one must perform one’s civic duty to vote, I suggest they take the time to critically analyze the main challengers, and in a methodical manner evaluate who they feel in good conscience would be less deleterious to the country.

To help with this task, you can rule a table with each contender heading a column. And each row would represent issues important to you. For each topical issue, I suggest you ask yourself, would candidate A or B be better or worse, or continue with the status quo in dealing with this issue? Do that for as many issues you feel are pertinent to you. Of course, some issues may be of greater importance to you than others for which you can assign double points. At the end of this exercise, you should have a clearer picture of who you think would be “less harmful” to the Nigerian project. The decision is yours!

Ugochukwu Onuoha