Paul Akan Obi
3 November 2009
analysis
Lagos — With the release of a damning report on the 2007 general election by the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), a civil society organization, with vast experience in the conduct and monitoring of election, the prospect of a free and fair election comes 2011, looks like a tall order.
The report x-rayed the grey areas in the said 2007 election conducted by the Prof Maurice Iwu-led Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and simultaneously prescribed the way out of such a perceived national calamity in the future elections.
An extract of the report stated that "the 2007 election, like most electoral contest in Nigeria, assumed the features of warfare, rather than open and civil competition for political power," adding that the poor handling of pre-election activities by the electoral umpire, showed that the 2007 election was "programmed to fail," thereby generating fears that 2011 election will not deviate from the same direction.
Since the conduct of the 2007 general election, both the Election Petitions Tribunals as well as the Appeal Tribunals have continued to upturn the results declared by INEC, while a number of such cases have continued to linger in courts. Till date, there are still pending court cases over the 2007 gubernatorial election in some states like Imo.
Besides, TMG noted that several re-run elections have failed to dispel doubts on the capability of the Iwu-led INEC to conduct any credible election in 2011. It held that the body language of the INEC Chairman in the power tussle between Chiefs Victor Umeh and Chekwas Okorie in the All progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), underscores the fears of those who are aggrieved by Iwu's continued stay as INEC Chairman.
Despite making a U-turn in his earlier recognition for Okorie as APGA Chairman, by accepting the candidature of Governor Peter Obi on the party's platform for the forthcoming February 6, 2010 gubernatorial election in Anambra State, fears are rife that Iwu has a prepared script to act.
This is moreso that prior to the 2007 general election, Iwu had boasted of his commitment INEC to conduct a free and fair election. To convince people about his ability, Iwu took the then Ken Nnamani-led Senate on an inspection tour of INEC's equipment, preparatory to the election, informing the lawmakers that INEC had opted to employ the use of electronic voting system to enhance the success of the election. But the output of the election later turned out to be what literary writers termed would describe as a tragic play. The election created the impression that Iwu only played on the intelligence of Nigerians.
First, there were no electronic voting machines as he promised. Second, outrageous results were announced. Hence, critics believe that Iwu is at it again. This time around, Iwu is asking for more powers as he continues to blame politicians for the woes of INEC at the 2007 election.
Speaking to THISDAY during a media parley last week, the Acting National Coordinator of the Transitional Monitoring Group, Chibuike Mgbahuruike, stated that the current INEC lacked the capacity and the will to prosecute any meaningful election in 2011. "Looking at INEC as it is constituted today, we don't think they have the capacity to prosecute the 2011 elections."
He stated that "the ongoing electoral reforms should concentrate more on INEC source of funding, which ought to be channeled to the Consolidated Revenue as much as the neutrality of INEC officials in the conduct of the elections."
The group is not only skeptical about INEC's seriousness towards the forthcoming 2011 election, but also wary of the activities of the security agencies, notably the Nigerian Police. TMG noted that "security agents did not display important principles of democratic policing such as fairness, neutrality, impartiality and proportionality in the use of force and alertness in their conducts in many states, which resulted in security agents being used and manipulated by the ruling party to an unfair advantage of the party in control of the Federal Government." Mgbahuruike believes that the hopes of the Police turning over a new leaf in 2011 still remain a tall dream.
As uncertainty hangs in the air over INEC's credibility to champion the conduct of another election, TMG has called for a speedy implementation of Uwais report alongside a concerted effort in the reform of electoral system through the ongoing Constitution amendment taking place simultaneously in the two chambers of the National Assembly. The group has also called for a unified front in the process, such as the type witnessed during the third term debacle. "As the National Assembly prepares to start the plenary on the debate of the 1999 Constitution amendment, we are asking for a repeat performance like what happened in the third term debate. We don't want a closed door session. We want to know where our lawmakers stand on this very issue."
Within the policy trust of the President Umaru Yar'Adua administration, the independence of INEC from the whims and caprices of the executive, remains another tall order. The Uwais' panel report, which recommended the appointment of INEC Chairman by an independent body, preferably the National Judicial Council (NJC) and subject to confirmation by the Nigerian Senate, has been thrown out by a Presidential Review Committee headed by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Micheal Aondokaa (SAN).
Pundits believe that the recommendation of the appointment of INEC chairman and commissioners by a neutral body like NJC, remains the nucleus of the Uwais' committee, arguing that to tamper with such a recommendation, amounts to trampling upon the entire reforms itself. Echoes from the National Assembly also seems to be supportive of the actions of the executive. Thus the comment by the Senate President David Mark, few months back, lambasting the United States Secretary of State, Senator Hillary Clinton on her comment about Nigeria's democratic system, may likely attest to that fact. Not done yet, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekwremadu, was recently quoted to have said: "There is nothing sacrosanct about the Uwais report," a remark which has earned him condemnation from the civil society and social crusaders.
There are also growing concerns over the sincerity of the National Assembly in amending the 1999 Constitution. Ekweremadu seems to have affirmed this, when he complained about the activities of the fifth columnists trying to scuttle the process. Beyond the commitment of the lawmakers, the rigorous task required in amending the Constitution itself as enshrined in Section 9(2) and(3) of the 1999 Constitution, rather compounds the situation.
In a chat with THISDAY, Paul Erokoro, an Abuja based lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) said: "It is almost impossible to amend the constitution going by what the provision of Section 9 stipulates. In America, it takes decades to amend the constitution. They have to go round lobbying the state Assemblies' members before any amendment can be carried out," adding: "We can still amend the constitution if the executive and the legislature are united in purpose. There must be unity of purpose among the two-third State Assemblies' members before such an amendment can be feasible. On a serious note, amending the Nigerian constitution as it is now, is one of the most difficult tasks to do," the SAN noted.
Other commentators have also reasoned that the amendment of the constitution has become so indispensable that even the performance of INEC at the next election will be tied to new laws which they believe that the constitutional amendment process can guarantee. Many believe that until that is done, coupled with the passage of new electoral laws, the dream of fair polls in 2011 will ever remain a mere hallucination. INEC itself is calling for more powers to be given to it, "to be able to deal with critical issues." This was Iwu's submission during the public hearing on the constitution amendment organized by the Senate. The controversial professor also called for internal democracy within the political party system.
Again, the TMG group led by Mgbahuruike is calling for drastic reforms both in the constitutional amendment and electoral reform process with the commencement of "major restructuring of INEC, beginning with Iwu's removal." The group also called for "the composition of INEC Board to guarantee its full and financial independence as well as the source of its funding, appointment principle, the burden or onus of proof to justify that all facts are proved on a balance of probability, time limit for holding elections and limit for disposing election petitions, right to monitor elections and a new computerized voters' registration based on biometric data collection in pursuant of the 2011 elections and many more."
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