Beginning tomorrow, Nigerians will head to the polls to elect political leaders for another four years. Election is an important and sacred duty thrust on citizens by the democratic system of government on the premise that over their affairs, the citizens should be sovereign. This duty must be discharged with the utmost care that it should always be clear to those who prefer other systems of government that democracy remains the best system of government invented by man for the organisation of society.
For us in Nigeria, the fight and journey towards entrenching the democratic system of government was not an easy one. Although the colonial masters bequeathed a democratic system of government to Nigeria at independence in 1960, some sections of the military have always felt the people are not qualified or well equipped to decides those to govern them. Therefore, they have often intervened to disrupt the political process thereby making it difficult for the country to entrench the democratic system as a way of life. Thankfully, after their misadventures and failures in government, they have come to accept that they cannot arrogate to themselves the right to decide who governs a society. Consequently, since 1999, they have remained in the barracks to perform their constitutional roles and allowed the democratic process to grow and evolve, albeit in a slow and sometimes chaotic manner.
At this 20th anniversary of our return to democratic governance, we believe we have learnt many lessons over the years and we should now be in a better position to begin to internalise the practices and dictates of democracy and entrench it as a permanent system of government in our country. We have witnessed the first peaceful transition from one democratic administration to another. We have also witnessed the first peaceful alternation of power from one political party and government to another. These are necessary stages for the consolidation of democracy.
This election provides Nigerians with another opportunity to further deepen Nigeria’s democratic culture. Therefore, we must approach it with all the seriousness it deserves. We expect the electoral empire, in this case, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be truly independent and impartial, not only in name, but in deed. The electoral empire must ensure that there are no mistakes and that it conducts near flawless elections that would be adjudged free, fair, transparent and credible by all citizens and our international partners.
Political parties and politicians, on their part, must learn to internalise the rules of the game and accept outcomes of credible elections. The people, above all, must learn to vote their conscience and choices, which under normal circumstances, should progressively reflect in the quality of leaders being elected. That way, political parties and politicians will learn the important lesson that the people are in reality sovereign and will therefore be accountable to them. Although we must state also that full government accountability to the electorate is not achieved only by voting, but also by constantly engaging, interacting, and monitoring the activities of elected representatives to ensure that they discharge only the mandate handed to them at the ballot box.
Of course, achieving accountability also presupposes that the voters are enlightened and are not susceptible to inducement.
We also call on security agents to discharge their duties of providing security to citizens and electoral officials credibly and to eschew any temptations to take sides or accept unpopular orders from unscrupulous politicians that want to disrupt the elections.
