Ahead of the next round of Nigeria’s general election billed for 2023, allegation is rife that subtle rigging may have begun.
It is alleged that politicians are at work already, trying to create loopholes that could enable them return to their elected offices and continue to be relevant, politically.
This appears to be the crux of the alleged manipulation of the clause in the Electoral Act that dwells on electronic transmission of results.
Joseph Story (1779-1845), an American judge, captured what is currently happening on the Nigerian political turf, when he said: “A new race of men is springing up to govern the nation; they are the hunters after popularity, men ambitious, not of the honour so much as of the profits of office- the demagogues, whose principles hang laxly upon them, and who follow not so much what is right as what leads to a temporary vulgar applause.”
It was not surprising, when the news broke, that the National Assembly was considering removing the clause that supports transmission of election results electronically from the Electoral Act.
Recall that the major controversy that arose from the 2019 presidential election was the insistence by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that it did not transmit results electronically, whereas the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) said the Commission was not telling the truth about it.
That was part of the issues that led to the legal battle after the election.
There is the belief that electronic transmission of results would save Nigeria the perennial trouble of election rigging and result manipulation.
Those who make this call point to other democracies where it is used and the troubles it has continued to save the people.
Read also: INEC, electronic voting and 2023 general election
A ready example was the last presidential election in the United States. It is believed that without that process, America would have had a serious political crisis.
Electronic transmission of result is the process that enables the electoral umpire to post results immediately a voter casts his/her vote. It is transparent without allowing for manipulations that usually arise when manually collating results. It also saves time.
But some Nigerians have said that the nation’s system is so corrupt that politicians who have benefitted from that corrupt process, who also hope to continue to leverage the loopholes in result collation, and other provisions that aimed to check malfeasance would resist reform, by all means.
Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran, initiator of the Lagos4Lagos movement and leader of Team Jandor, had expressly said that it was futile for Nigerians to hope for something worthwhile to come from the National Assembly in relation to improving the electoral process in the country, since many of them are beneficiaries of the fraud in the political system.
Adediran, in a recent interview with BusinessDay, said: “We want the National Assembly to give us an Electoral Act that will enable us vote and see our votes count. But it is the same National Assembly where you have over 60 to 70 percent of them entering to that office via underage voting.
“Already, we know that underage voting is illegal; but they show it to us every time, all the time and nothing happens. So, you want them to pass an Act that outlaws it? But now, what else can we do? We don’t need to go out of the system. It is a fight that we can win from within. It is either we populate the PDP or APC and see how we can get this thing done and do the reform on our own. Nobody will give you that reform.”
Raising an alarm over the alleged manipulation of the Electoral Act that is said to have been passed by the National Assembly, the 17 Southern Governors in a communique after their meeting in Lagos last Monday, said: “In order to consolidate our democracy and strengthen the Electoral Process, the Forum rejects the removal of the Electronic transmission of the election result from the Electoral Act, and also rejects the confirmation of exclusive jurisdiction in pre-election matters on the Federal High Court.”
Speaking in a television interview Tuesday, Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State, insisted that there was no going back on the electronic transmission of results as that is the wish of the Nigerian electorate.
Situation Room, a coalition of civil society organisations, asked the Senate to legitimise electronic transmission of results. Ene Obi read the release on behalf of the group at a press conference on Tuesday.
In its newsletter, titled, ‘Silence is not option!’ Resist this dangerous manipulation of our elections,’ Enough is Enough (EiE) Nigeria, expressed disappointment that the Electoral Bill 2021, which aims to repeal the Electoral Act No 6 2010 and re-enact a new Act, was set to be passed by the National Assembly on Tuesday, July 6, 2021.
It noted that the alleged final copy of the Bill had been manipulated and was at variance with the approved version of the Bill which represents citizens’ demands.
It said: “Some key provisions of the manipulated Bill that are particularly worrying are: the prohibition of electronic transmission of results (Section 50(2)) and the removal of INEC’s power to review results declared under duress or in contravention of electoral laws and guidelines (Section 65).
“Another is the drastic increase in the limits for campaign expenses from N1billion to N15billion for President, N2 million to N5billion for Governor, N40 million to N1.5billion for Senate, N30million to N500 million for House of Representatives, and N10 million to N50 million for State House of Assembly (Section 88).”
EiE Nigeria also noted that “these provisions have the potential to undermine transparency and fairness in elections. This affects women disproportionately for two main reasons. These are that women rarely get the tickets for the ‘big parties’ and often their hope lies with the smaller parties, and that women typically have less financial resources than their male counterparts.”
Further expressing its worries over the state of affairs and the negative implication of the alleged manipulation on women politicians, it said: “Regarding the issue of women relying on smaller parties, the 2019 general election provides a good illustration as there was an increase in the number of women candidates compared to 2015, but a decrease in the number of women who actually got elected. According to a report by Centre for Democracy and Development, one reason for this discrepancy is that many of the women candidates were contesting on the platform of smaller parties, which meant that they had less chances of winning.”
The group strongly believes that “Increasing fairness and transparency in elections would reduce the disadvantage that larger parties have over smaller parties, and help to level the playing field. In turn, this should have an indirect effect on improving women’s chances of winning elections.”
A coalition of over 245 women organisations that described itself as Feminist Womanifesto Group, in a release to that effect, said: “In order to improve the political representation of women, we therefore, demand that the original provisions of the Electoral Bill 2021 be reinstated.
“INEC should be empowered to electronically transmit results and review results declared under duress so as to reduce the level of electoral malpractices that have become so common in our country. If the mainstream political parties and candidates are prevented from manipulating election results, smaller parties and women candidates will stand a better chance at winning elections.
“Furthermore, the original limits on campaign expenses should be upheld to prevent elections being won by the highest bidder. This is particularly important for women who typically have less access to financial resources or sponsorship compared to their male counterparts.”
“Ultimately, our demands are intended to benefit not just women but also the country as a whole, since they are aimed at improving electoral integrity. We call on the National Assembly to address these demands as a matter of urgency and ensure that the original Bill, rather than the manipulated one, is passed,” it further said.
It is expected that the federal legislators would save the nation’s democracy by heeding the call by Nigerians to legislate on the best way to have free and fair elections in Nigeria.
Many people believe that one of the major problems of Nigeria has been the hijack of electoral process by politicians and their sponsors, who also hijack power for other reasons than selfless service to fatherland.
