The Federal Government’s professed commitment to free, fair and credible polls in February and March this year is reassuring. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, reiterated this fact recently while responding to the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, who, the other day, spoke of some sinister moves at the presidency to scuttle the chances of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, at the polls. Mr. Mohammed informed el-Rufai and other Nigerians that a free, fair and credible election would neither favour nor disadvantage anybody.
El-Rufai had claimed that there were fifth columnists in the Presidential Villa who were plotting to undermine the APC candidate because their own candidate lost the primary election. “I believe there are elements in the Villa that want us to lose the election because they didn’t get their way. They had their candidate; their candidate did not win the primaries. They are trying to get us to lose the election, and they are hiding behind the president’s desire to do what he thinks is right,” el-Rufai alleged. He did not mention any name.
Tinubu, on his part, had also made direct attack on the presidency with regard to the polls. At the ruling party’s recent rally in Abeokuta, Ogun State, the APC presidential standard-bearer was reported to have complained that some of the policies of the government like the naira redesign and fuel subsidy were to thwart his chances at the polls.
There have been some other concerns about some perceived plots to derail this forthcoming general election. The opposition political parties known as the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), for instance, had raised the alarm over alleged plans to truncate the electoral process by bypassing the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in the February election. The CUPP accused some governors of plotting the removal of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, and some of his national commissioners for allegedly failing to drop the idea of using the BVAS for the election. There has not been any concrete proof to back up this allegation though.
It is pertinent to note that President Muhammadu Buhari has always reiterated his promise to bequeath a legacy of free, fair and credible election to Nigerians. This is encouraging. But it is not enough to just mouth this promise. The President must back it up with concrete actions. For instance, there have been serious complaints in some quarters that many people who registered for the election have not been able to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs). This is despite assurances by INEC that the new PVCs would be ready as from November last year. These complaints have been persistent in certain areas of Lagos like Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area. There had been reports also that the new PVCs were being buried in dumping sites in some places. The President should show interest in what is going on at INEC and demand speedy resolution of any identifiable problem. On no account should any eligible voter be disenfranchised on account of not being able to collect his PVC.
The President should also find urgent solutions to the spate of insecurity which may negatively affect the election. In some states, for instance, arsonists and gunmen have set some of the offices of INEC ablaze, destroying valuable materials like voting cubicles, ballot boxes, and uncollected PVCs in the process. Over 50 of such offices in about 14 states of the country have been affected. There has to be a solution to this, else election in some of these crime-prone areas may be affected. One major solution is to ensure that the perpetrators of these attacks and their sponsors are apprehended, investigated and prosecuted according to the laws of our land.
Besides, the President must call our security agencies to order. They played ignoble roles in some previous elections. This may harm the current process if not checked. They must remain neutral in their conduct throughout the period of the election. But government must provide their essential needs so as to avoid any compromise on their part.
Our politicians should help by not arming thugs to unleash violence on the people. They should also avoid vote buying, use of underage voters or financially inducing voters to harvest their voter identification numbers or any other act that could undermine the conduct of the election. They must also caution their supporters against any conduct that could cause a breach of the peace or affect the smooth conduct of the election. It is incumbent on all Nigerians to ensure that the forthcoming election is a huge success. We have no choice but to do that because if the election is scuttled, it will spell doom for the country.