By Sunday Ani
Akwa-Ibom State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mike Igini has told Nigerians that in 2023, they should reject candidates with lofty seductive promises and vote for candidates with capacity and competence to answer the ‘how and the means questions’ to accomplish those promises.
In this interview, he spoke on various issues.
As INEC prepares the country for the 2023 elections, beyond the release of the timetable for party primaries and the dates for the elections, what kind of information does the electorates require for them to make rational choices in the forthcoming election?
We must acknowledge the fact that the sustenance of democracy depends on the kind of information that the people get because that will empower them to make informed and rational choices on Election Day. The kind of messages and information given to the people through civic and voters’ education before election is very critical because democracy in its classical traditional sense is a fragile construct, extremely vulnerable to the passion of any demagogue with populist but empty ideas. That is why electoral democracy must be guarded and protected with continuous sensitisation and emphasis on empowering information about good democratic practices because poverty and the low level of literacy remain the basic weakness and fundamental flaws of liberal democracy, based on the assumption that people will make a rational choice. The question should be: What kind of rational choice do you expect uninformed and hungry people to make on Election Day? That is why vote buying has become a terrible phenomenon, with commodification and devaluation of the ballot, which ordinarily ought to be the best means of expressing the will of the people in a democracy. These weaknesses are the reason behind the statutory provision under part 1 section (2) of the Act mandating INEC, as one of the key stakeholders, to educate Nigerians and promote sound knowledge of the democratic process.
How well is INEC carrying out this very important statutory function of educating Nigerians on sound knowledge of democracy?
May l first point out that voter education is a multi-stakeholders’ responsibility and not that of INEC alone. The Commission is just one and has been doing that just as we are doing now through this interview, and we will continue on this trajectory as we approach next year’s elections. This is very important because the greatest promise of democracy is periodic election, an opportunity for a people to renew the journey of a country, policies, and more importantly, the renewal of the individuals who promoted those policies in terms of outcomes vis-a-vis expectations; a period when citizens may recall what was promised by those they elected to represent them, as against what was delivered. We must continue to provide information and technical knowledge to the people because democracy gets better when the people have all the information that will enable them to make rational choices on Election Day.
Would you attribute insufficient voters’ education to low voter turnout in our elections?
The worrisome level of voter apathy we have witnessed from one election to another in the past is a cause for concern. For instance, the abysmal 39 percent in the 2011 election, 30 percent in 2015 and a downward 28 percent in the 2019 election, when we have over 84 million registered voters. This is a clear evidence of the growing incapacity of political parties and their candidates to mobilise Nigerians around the real issues that will improve their material condition and deliver on them. My people, the Urhobo; have a saying that it is what the axe does for the farmer that makes him carry it on his shoulders. At the moment, democracy is only working at the level of the elite, members of their families and friends, and not yet at the level of the ordinary people on the street. Hence, we may say that drawing from the earlier allusion; Nigerian politicians have failed to allow democracy to give the Nigerian voter the satisfactory utility that an axe gives to the farmer. Indeed, it is the law that those who have attained the age of 18 years and those who have not registered before should take advantage of the ongoing voters’ registration. But the truth of the matter is that our problem is not about insufficient registered voters; this is evidently not the main problem responsible for voter apathy, but rather, the inability of political parties and candidates to deliver on the promises upon which voters draw faith in democracy. That is what is responsible for mass disengagement and apathy of citizens.
Now that politicians have started making promises of what they will do if voted into power, in 2023 even when past promises remain unfulfilled, what should the voters do differently to ensure that they don’t vote for politicians who make empty promises again?
Electoral promises by politicians are as old as the art of politics itself. But, the tragedy of our own electoral promises is that those who make these seductive lofty promises are never interrogated in terms of capacity. The how and the means questions to accomplish these promises are never answered by those who make the good promises. As part of voters education, the 2023 elections should be about who can answer the all-important questions of ‘How and the means to do it question’ of 2023 and not just mere sound bites of highfalutin promises. This is where the media’s credo of “the peoples’ right to know” comes in so that the electorates are guided to make informed rational choices in the forthcoming elections. In fact, your question is a call to the Nigerian people to use their votes to define the type of democracy they want. Their votes should, therefore, determine if they want a democracy, where elections are mere rituals such that every four years, we just go to the polls for the coronation of elites that were already chosen by powerful individuals within political parties, which is what Joseph Schumpeter describes as Elitist Democracy. On the other hand, they may use their votes to determine if what they want is a democracy where election is a means to development and empowerment with concrete political and social rights. These are the choices before the voters, for them to decide in the next election. The undeniable truth is that the choices, which the electorate are called upon to make on the Election Day are limited by choices already determined by socially powerful groups in the various political parties through party primaries and convention, but the voters can signal what the consequences of such party choices will be through pre-election advocacy and mass participation on the Election Day.
Are you saying that the 2023 elections should not just be about promises but about capacity to deliver on voter expectations?
Absolutely, the forthcoming elections should be about capacity, pedigree of aspirants to deal with the question of ‘how and the means;’ to deal with the issues of insecurity, economy, energy crisis, job creation, education, health, and infrastructure, to mention but a few obvious issues that matter to the Nigerian people. Aspirants must be made to now answer the question of ‘how and the means’ to realize every promise made; that is what will help voters to know those who can deliver on each promise made before the election. It will be clear who among the candidates can deliver on electoral promises. No aspirant seeking the ticket of his/her party should be allowed to avoid answering the question of how he/she intends to execute promises made and the means of doing so in the light of dwindling revenues. So, the 2023 elections should not just be about promises that aspirants may not have the capacity to deliver or promises they do not intend to keep or cannot explain the resources and timelines by which they can deliver such promises. If it’s about just promises without telling the people how and the means to deliver on those promises, then we, as a people, have chosen the type of democracy that Schumpeter describes as an elitist democracy; a mere electoral ritual for selecting elites to make public decisions for everyone without horizontal accountability. It is the type of democratic election that Karl Popper described as useful only for peaceful transfer of power to avoid wars between contending groups of elites.
In effect, you are saying that the power of the people lies in their votes and that only the aspirants who can answer the ‘how and the means to deliver’ question of electoral promises should be voted for?
An umpire should not answer a question of who and which party can answer the ‘how and the means to deliver’ question, that is outside the remit of our job. That should be for the electorates to determine. Our primary assigned constitutional duty as umpire is to midwife the process while the outcome should be determined by voters through the ballot in a free and fair manner. In a democracy, the ballot remains the most powerful tool to determine who should govern. We can only provide technical knowledge and information by way of civic and voters’ education that should help voters to make informed decisions on Election Day. If the electorates use their votes to ensure that the outcome of elections bring about the emergence of leaders that will enhance their wellbeing and improve their ability to work and earn decent livelihoods, then they would have used their votes to choose what is referred to as a maximal democracy; a democracy that goes beyond electoral rituals, wherein election is not an end in itself but a means to overall development of citizens. It is my hope that 2023 will be another opportunity for the people to renew our democracy given so many tested innovations that the Commission has initiated and secured by the 2022 Electoral Act, which should alter the trajectory of election service delivery in Nigeria.
What are the real issues that should define the choice of the 2023 election?
The Nigerian people should know that ethnicity and religion, which the political elite have always used to divide the electorate to secure elective offices, will not put food on their tables; certainly not. Unfortunately, a few months ahead of the 2023 elections, there are no conversations and debates around the real issues that matter most in our practiced democracy. The political elite are not focusing on the real issues that matter most to the people and that is what should define the path to the 2023 election. Again, it is my well considered view that the forthcoming election should be about capacity to deal with issues of security, economy, job creation, education, health and infrastructure. Nigerians need to ask simple questions about what has kept us all these years from living peacefully, securely, and prevented our economy from moving beyond a potential giant, by remaining a basket case in most spheres of development indicators. Most Nigerians have pointed to these issues and the underlying causes repeatedly at various fora, so why do we shy away from dealing with these questions? Periodic elections as an option, therefore, provides an opportunity for voters to elect those who can proffer solutions to problems of the society, and in our case, the people should make a choice of those who can make electricity, policing and security, job creation possible.
In all that you have said about the absence of debates around issues that matter to the Nigerian people as we approach the 2023 election, what actually should be the role of the political parties and what should they represent?
Irrespective of the weak and attenuated state of political parties in the country, modern democracy is inconceivable without political parties. However, and to your question, it is difficult to say at the moment what the parties we have represent due to what is called in Warri parlance ‘up and down’ movement of politicians. But ideally, political parties are essential organs of the democratic praxis, and as a pillar of democracy, must stand for a distinct vision, an idea of a common good for which they are known and referenced as a party. Beyond being organs for contesting elections, creating a broader community of commitment around common issues of interest to citizens, political parties should be the platforms for mobilising citizens for the interpretation of the common good.
Many Nigerians are raising concerns and are worried about the quality of people seeking elective leadership positions and the implications for moving the country forward. Are you worried too?
If you want to find out how well or why a company is making progress and how shareholders are getting dividends and are happy or why some countries prosper and others fail, you go and check the leadership recruitment process and you will find that they employed the best among those who applied for the job. The tragedy of our country is that many people who have little or no philosophical insight to what leadership and service are all about and many more that are uneducated governmentally are either seeking to occupy positions of leadership or are already occupying such sensitive positions of responsibility and accountability. Our value pyramid is upside down. We now use monetary wealth as criteria for leadership. Once you have money irrespective of how you acquire the money, you suddenly become a leader. The value of honesty, integrity and good background no longer matter in our society anymore. What a country and morally bankrupt elite that promotes roadside values! What it takes now to occupy elective public office is enough deep pockets and you get a party ticket. We now worship money in our country. Even those who have been used as leaders of thugs to disrupt and rig elections in the past are also now in public offices and are now being promoted for higher offices in the land. It is our hope that voters will take advantage of the many innovations the Commission has and are still putting in place to secure their votes because their votes will not be counted but shall be taken into account in determining who becomes what in 2023.
The new electoral law has given INEC the power to conduct elections using electronic means; do you think that will curb rigging and electoral fraud and bring about a rancour-free, fair and credible election in 2023 and beyond?
It is a welcome development that with the 2022 Act, the Commission will deploy several of its technological innovations that have been used in the various off-season and bye elections for the 2023 elections. But, as we all know, implementation is usually the devil. There are political elites out there that may likely fund the sabotage of every good innovation on election. As always, the Commission, despite its demonstrable commitment to its mandate, is not in control of all the actors whose actions or inactions will determine the success of elections. What we have done so far as a Commission with these innovations is to reduce the degree of human agency and insulate the process from manipulation with the deployment of technology. For instance, unlike in the past, polling units results declared and uploaded to the cloud can no longer be manipulated or altered at Wards, LGAs or any of the stages of collation. This is a massive blow to all places and axes of electoral evil across the country, where invidious votes are usually manufactured to change the will of the people. Certainly, the Commission’s incremental deployment of technological innovations will help largely to put the outcome of elections on a positive trajectory. From our records of deployment so far in the various off-season elections, these innovations eliminated and minimized the human elements that lead to electoral irregularities, malpractices and fraud. However, it should be stated clearly that these innovations are not self-implementing, they work best if all stakeholders are willing to play by the rules, but unfortunately except for a few, many politicians are out to rig elections. They prefer chaos to orderly conduct of elections by engaging thugs to disrupt the process. Do you know that just as we have association of people whose business is to hire or rent people as crowd for politicians to swell up venues of campaign rallies, so do we have a network and association of thugs in each state of the federation engaged and funded by politicians, whose sole purpose is to unleash violence, maim or kill people in opponents’ perceived electoral strongholds. They are even hired to do inter-state thuggery service during election; ‘imported’ from one state to another to carry out dirty election thuggery duty. What kind of people and branch of human race are we really and what type of society are we building that we now have violent groups across the country for different purposes. This is how democracy dies. According to Levitsky, the moment politicians begin to deny opponents and citizens their legitimate participation by curtailing them with the use of violence, when they reject and deviate from the norms and values on which democracy is practiced.
What is your take on the court’s nullification of section 84(12) of the Electoral Act?
Until there is a pronouncement by the apex court, if the matter gets there, opinions particularly among those of us who are lawyers will remain divided and diverse. But as an umpire whose remit is to provide a level playing field at all times for a fair electoral contest, l will rather raise some posers for contenders on this volatile issue to ponder about; namely, whether it is fair that in a situation where there are several aspirants in a party primary election, whether a sitting governor on his second term should have thousands of his appointees as automatic delegates when the governor has interest in one of the aspirants.? Should this scenario be called a fair process? I think that the main objective of the law is to create a level playing field for all aspirants by mitigating unfair and unjust processes that do not give equal opportunity and chance for all contestants. We should hopefully embrace an interpretation that ensures the goal of fairness without unduly restraining political rights.
The issue of which zone should produce the next president between the North and South is still very contentious; where do you stand on this?
Come on! Why should an umpire take a stand on a purely volatile political question of where a candidate should come from; an issue that may be decisive in the election? No. That should be left for practicing politicians and political parties to decide and not the umpire. In fact, may a time never come when an umpire will get into the arena of who should be a candidate and where he or she must come from. Our political elites can borrow best practices of managing diversities for stability of a polity from segmented societies, that is societies divided by religion, ethnicity and such differences and it will be well with us, otherwise democracy will result in continuing divisions deepened by politicians and elites who will play identity politics and use demagogue techniques that favour them to divide the people as long as it favours them. And of course, frustrations by those not favoured will create uprisings and recurrent civil strife. To minimize and mitigate such divisions and get the most from democracy, particularly in segmented societies, administrative and political techniques such as federalism, consociation, designing of the electoral representation systems in the form of proportional representation are used. So, there are best practices around the world that our practising political elites can adopt and modify to deal with this subject matter.
The level of insecurity in Nigeria is so alarming that no part of the country is safe anymore, yet we are preparing for a general election in 2023. What are your concerns with respect to security?
Election is an evolving, complex and massive activity that nations embark on in peace time. That is why the state of insecurity is not only worrisome, but also very disturbing and all hands of security agencies must be on deck to deal with the issue as we approach the 2023 election. But, more concern with respect to election is the issue of neutrality or compromise of security agencies personnel in the build up to the election itself starting with political primary elections. Is it right and fair for security to be under the control and direction of an aspirant for abuses and intimidation against other opponents of the same party? Is it also proper that during the inter-party general elections, the security personnel should be for one party against others in a very partisan manner? We will remain neutral as an umpire but very concerning is neutrality or otherwise of security agencies. In the various off-season governorship elections that were conducted recently, security personnel were exemplary in their conduct and neutral. If they continue on that part to compliment the Commission to deliver a credible election as a common mission, that would be good for our democracy. But to do otherwise and be partisan, will be a disservice to the nation and against the spirit of global democratic norms and standards to which Nigeria has committed.
What do you think are the possible technical or administrative issues that have made it impossible for both the police and members of the armed forces to succeed in dealing with insecurity in the country yet they are often exceptional in foreign security missions?
Security is a binary subject; it’s either there is security or none. Also, safety and security are both technical and administrative. More often, failures of security and safety happen long before the incident. Our security architecture is such that even though every security breach happens within a local government area and within a state, these two levels of governments have no control over security to deal with such local issues promptly except by the faraway central government; this is the tragedy of our security situation. There is a hierarchy of control measures that are standard for ensuring safety and security, beginning with how to eliminate sources of security threats. But, the bigger question begging for answer is: how can we police and secure our vast nation from a central command and control without devolving some responsibility to the grassroots through community policing? What modern technologies are we using and also ensuring that human elements do not undermine them? We honestly need to address these issues and the gaps were acknowledged by security authorities a few days ago in the wake of killings of some soldiers in Kaduna. We need to tell ourselves the inconvenient truths in order to deal with the insecurity in the country.