Recently, some regional groups wondered how President Muhammadu Buhari’s government would guarantee free and fair polls in the face of the insecurity currently plaguing the country. This was sequel to the promise of the President in this year’s Democracy Day speech to provide free, fair and transparent elections in 2023. The groups, including the Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere; Ohanaeze Ndigbo; and Middle Belt Forum, tasked President Buhari to tackle insecurity first before assuring Nigerians of free and transparent elections.
It is good that the regional groups have spoken. They are the representatives of their people. As such, the President should listen to their patriotic call. It is possible that the turnout of voters may be seriously affected by the spate of insecurity across the country. There have been kidnappings and wanton killings in different parts of the country. No one wants to risk his life by coming out to vote when his security is not guaranteed.
Beyond insecurity, we must continue to keep tabs on two important agencies – the security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) – if we must achieve free and fair elections in 2023. There had been instances where security agents caused serious crisis by tacitly interfering in the conduct of our elections. In some previous elections, for instance, there were allegations that they played ignoble roles in Rivers, Bayelsa, Osun and Kogi states. For us to move forward in our quest for a genuine democracy, security agents must learn to eschew partisanship and work according to their rules of engagement. They should also use their firearms sparingly.
It is expected that the newly signed Electoral Act 2022 will go a long way in providing the framework for the election and ensuring that it is devoid of the usual rancour associated with our elections. As the President observed when he signed the Electoral Act, it would bring about clarity and transparency in the country’s electoral process.
No doubt, INEC has a major role to play to bring this transparency to fruition. The electoral umpire must do well to make sure that its Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) is in order. That system was used in the Anambra governorship election in November 2021 and there were noticeable lapses associated with its usage. The machine, for instance, failed in some cases to authenticate the fingerprints and facial biometric features of some voters. INEC must fine-tune that process and ensure that all eligible voters are allowed to exercise their franchise. BVAS and the e-transmission of election result are key steps in the efforts to enthrone transparency in our electoral system. With them, there will not be room for rigging or manipulation of election results, as only the accredited voters’ votes will be counted as valid. To whom much is given, much is expected. INEC must also ensure early deployment of men and electoral materials and some other logistics.
Political parties have done their primaries and have now elected their candidates for the general election. Soon, campaigns will start. It is good that the time frame for the campaigns by political parties has shifted from 90 days to 150 days before election. The campaigns are supposed to end 24 hours before the election. This will give the parties and their candidates ample time to market their manifestos to the electorate.
Voters should contribute their own quota towards a credible election by coming out en masse to exercise their franchise. The risk in not participating in the electoral process is that it may end up throwing up bad leaders to superintend over our affairs.
Politicians should advise their members on the need for a free and fair election. They can do this by not arming thugs and political enemies of the country. They should play by the rules as we cannot afford to slack back to the era of thuggery and violence in our elections. The whole world is watching with keen interest and we cannot afford to give room for failure. They must try as much as possible to desist from vote buying as well.
The President must not fail Nigerians. This is the time for him to fulfill his promise of bequeathing a transparent electoral process. Good enough, this is another election where the incumbent is not participating. It must be insulated from militarisation, thuggery, violence, vote buying and other vices. Let the government be neutral in conducting the election and let everything be seen to be transparent. Our votes must count this time and the 2023 elections must not only be free and fair, it must also be seen to be so.