IT IS NOT ENDED UNTIL IT IS ENDED

By

Dr. Uchenna Dike

Kiev, Ukraine.

Nigerians, after long expectations went out en-masse on the 12th, 19th of April and the 3rd of May to cast their votes in order to affirm their resolve in the young democracy and the extension of the Fourth Republic. With the elections over, Nigeria has become a land of great discontent. If Nigerians went out in high spirits to cast their votes on the 12th of April, by the 3rd of May, which was the third elections in the series, many had either torn their voters’ cards or never bordered going out again to vote at all. A deadly blow was dealt on the psyche of the electorate. The conduct of the elections, the waste of life and brigandage that rained, sent awful shocks beyond comprehension to the sensibilities of all honourable citizens of the nation. People became so confused as to what or who to believe. Reports of winners and losers emerged contrary to the expectations of the honourable electorates. Those who could not win the votes of even members of their nucleus families’ talk of their extended families, for lack of credibility, were declared winners of their electoral wards, constituencies or electoral districts. The magic employed in achieving these negative feats has left a very sour taste in the mouth of many eligible voters - The honourable electorates. What a bad omen!

It has been described in different forms, the style of manipulations that made this possible. Electoral results were declared in polling centres where voting or normal democratic voting process never took place and the number of voters in many polling stations out-numbered the number of eligible voters in the voters’ register. Instances were reported where under-aged voters were recorded as eligible voters, while real adults of voting age were disenfranchised on the pretext that they were not of age to vote. Abracadabra! The more you look the less you see. What an American wonder? It was really come and see American wonder as kids used to sing in the 50s and 60s while the local magician performed in the old village square on market days, turning plates of rice into stones and vice-versa while people watched with mouths agape.

Indicting reports from the local and international observers have thrown more light to what happened in most of the places or polling stations where they were able to send monitors on the days of the election. Their report left no one in doubts that all was not well in the elections. It is saddening that instead of taking concrete steps to address the issues raised in these reports by those, whose responsibilities it were to stem these anomalies and make amends in our land, many have unnecessarily engaged or resorted in throwing words and criticizing these objective reports. While some have accused the observers as agents of destabilization, others have claimed that it is in the culture of Nigerians to cheat at elections. What an ugly misrepresentation! What an unpatriotic response to issues that is of grave importance to the nation and to our corporate existence. It may not be much to accuse foreign observers of trying to destabilize Nigeria for the mere fact that they came, observed and reported as it is, what they saw, but it definitely amounts to treason for a set of individuals in their avarice and greed to place the fate of a whole nation on the edge of a precipice and jeopardy – by aiding and abating fraud.

The events that took place in Nigeria at the elections cannot be better put than to call it real fraud by all definitions, perfected, aided, supervised by officialdom and concerted efforts being made to hoist it on the honourable electorates and the entire nation. The signs are not too good and Nigeria bleeds from the effects of the injury inflicted from this mayhem. Time there was when mere shouts of patriotism would have forced people to take shelter and resign to fate, waiting and hoping for a new dawn. A time when rigging, maybe, will not be legitimized by the powers that be again. But the stealing was too glaring that the owners of the house – the honourable electorates were forced to notice. And notice they did to an alarming rate. The government and their agents who perpetrated these unwholesome acts have become so embarrassed and even surprised to the extent they went. They have suddenly realized that there is no hiding place.

Calls by those who posit themselves as elder statesmen, that the opposition parties should concede victory and accept the out-come of the polls the way it is, most mildly put, is the highest show of disrespect and betrayal to our fatherland. Is it not the duty of elders to ask for fairness to everyone? It may be out of their wisdom to call for peace, but it must be wiser to ask that justice be done. It must be made clear once and for all times, that peace achieved without justice does not and has never had a longer life span.

Now that the electoral results have been declared and real winners emerged as losers and losers declared winners by INEC, the Electoral Tribunals and the Courts remain the only viable option for all that want to see that justice is done. In his landmark inaugural speech after the appointment of members of the state electoral tribunals, the Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Mohammed Uwais among other things said to the appointed Judges:

"I want to warn you, the chairmen and members of the Election Tribunals, that you are under the scrutiny of the eyes of the litigants that will come before you. Any substantiated complaint of impropriety against you will go before the National Judicial Council and you will pay dearly for such" ---- he went further to say, "in most cases in this country when election petition tribunals fail in their duty the consequences had been violence resulting in murder, arson and grievous bodily harm". The honourable Chief Justice has said it all.

His bidding to the judges places the judiciary on a big trail and saddled with the following task:

1). The judiciary has the task or burden to demonstrate to the citizenry and the whole world that is keenly watching, the type of judiciary we have and the level of independence of our judicial officers.

2). That justice could still be obtained in our courts and tribunals.

3). That our legal system could still be trusted and seen to be the last hope for the oppressed and down trodden.

These will illuminate the performance of the legal officers. While it may not sound too fantastic in the ears of those who do not want to see justice done but only peace to reign, it will be heart warming that the Election tribunals sitting in Enugu, Abuja, Gombe, Imo, Benue, Delta, etc., have granted the preliminary prayers of the petitioners to have assess to the result sheets and details of the results as collated and declared to be able to file their petitions.

It may be too early to shout Uhuru, but it will be instructive for those candidates or parties who were robbed of their vital votes that could have seen them emerge victorious, to make use of the legal options afforded by the Constitution and the Electoral Act.

A lot of disservice will be done to the legal education and rule of law in our land if those who know and are supposed to use the courts and the tribunals to press their cases, decides to stay away. They just have to brace up and rise to the occasion than sit back, wiping tears and running nose. Yes! Get up and put your cases before the legal system or blame yourselves when all is done. Your options are not too many.

As many group and organizations call for the removal and or eventual prosecution of the INEC Chairman Dr. Abel Guobadia, the confusion encouraged by the same INEC chairman is not helpful at all in his defence. While the INEC Chairman may not be a lawyer by calling, the INEC has in-house lawyers whose opinion become necessary before the Chairman goes out to make press statements that border on the constitution or the electoral Act. As would be expected, the INEC Chairman have in most of his press briefings asked all aggrieved candidates or parties to avail themselves of the opportunity offered by the tribunals and courts to pursue their case. He went further to say that INEC has no right to annul eletroral results once they are announced going by the Electoral Act 2002. This, I totally agree with him. But the same INEC’s action or outing in Anambra State on the national assembly election results, leaves a lot to be desired. It is either that the INEC chairman wants to spark off trouble in the whole Southeast starting from Anambra State or the INEC Chairman deserves some pathological examination. It may not be wise for Dr. Goubadia to encourage destabilization in the country starting from the Southeast, but it will be wise to understand those working in league with him.

Till date, Dr Abel Goubabia have not explained to the people of the South-east how their population of eligible voters have so declined in 2003 from what it was in 1983 and1993. What an interesting downward trend in 2003 made possible by the Guobadia factor. Does any one have clues as to what the INEC Chairman is up to? We will come back to this in our next write-up. But let no one be deceived that it was not masterminded to reduce the number of votes from this zone in the presidential elections and place some candidates at great disadvantage. Can the INEC Chairman publish the breakdown of the seven million registered voters that were disqualified before the elections? Who are they? Please prove otherwise that most of them are not from the Southeast if you can. This clearly shows that Dr. Guobadia set out to do his master’s bidding earlier. INEC must have done a smart rigging rehearsal before the mother of all riggings that were perfected at the elections proper.

Now that the elections seems to be over, it will be proper to have a national headcount so as to ascertain the real population and eligible voters in each of the six geopolitical zones. A declining population, the best Dr. Goubadia can wish the Southeast. Could it be another form of genocide, not satisfied by the earlier ones or the ones carried out in Okigwe, Odi and Zaki-Biam lately? The INEC Chairman probably, wants more bloodshed in the Southeast to satisfy himself. Let it be clearly stated that Dr. Goubadia and his cohorts are a bunch to be closely watched. Patriotism does not start and end with mere declarations. It has to be practically shown in carrying out assigned national responsibilities. That Dr. Goubadia woefully failed the nation in the last elections is self-evident. A lot may have been said of what the opposition parties tend to do before and after 29th of May 2003, but their protests cannot be swept under the carpet. Their protests are quite genuine and patriotic. The injustices perpetrated during these elections, stinks to the extent that any attempt to sweep them under the carpet will have a decomposing effect the magnitude that will keep the inhabitants out-doors for a long time.

Really, INEC cannot heave a sigh of relief as the INEC Chairman observed in his Voice of Nigeria interview, until all the cases referred to the tribunals and law courts are disposed of. INEC Chairman’s regret of the huge material waste in printing 66 million ballot papers and voters not turning out on the 3rd of May, sounds funny as well as hypocritical. Did it surprise the Chairman that after the killings that took place and the injustices visited on the honourable electorates on the 12th and 19th of April by INEC, that their faith in his INEC would not be destroyed or shaken to its foundation? If the Chairman pretends not to know, he should be told in clear terms, that the voters’ apathy or protest witnessed on the state assembly election on the 3rd of May, was a resultant effect of the damages his INEC has done to the psyche of the voters and a prove of INEC’s disservice to the nation.

Everyone of us would want to be remembered for something. I wonder what Dr. Guobadia would want to be remembered for by the great majority of Nigerians, after presiding over an institution that have set the hands of the clock twenty years back in our march to true democracy. It might be necessary to remind Dr. Guobadia that while we may play with everything, we should not play with history because history has a way of taking its own revenge by giving people the judgement they deserve. This is a good time for atonement. A real time, for true confession. For Dr. Goubadia, an apology to the whole nation will be a positive and the right step for a new beginning. Go ahead and toe this line of honour. You owe the nation an apology for your failure and betrayal of the confidence reposed in you by the entire citizenry. Move away from your fair is foul and foul is fair position.

It will be in place to say that courage and respect for one’s integrity are no common virtues to come by. This, the INEC Chairman may have lacked, but the courageous and those that have respect for integrity always triumph. Those who were privileged to know or still remember what happened in 1983 gubernatorial elections in the old Imo State will recall the tension that pervaded for almost three days after that election. There was massive pressure from the then NPN to win by all means the elections in the South-eastern states of Anambra and Imo, where Chief Jim Nwobodo and Dee Sam Mbakwe of the NPP were respectively incumbents. The pressure was mounted on the then Imo State Resident Electoral Commissioner Mrs. Elizabeth Pam to declare the result in favour of NPN but met a stiff wall. Courage stood and spoke. She stood her ground and declared the results as she saw it. Her action was a show of real courage, love for the truth and respect for personal integrity. Those who knew will agree that real trouble was averted in the heart of Igboland by her single courage. Where are the likes of Mrs. Elizabeth Pam in 2003 elections? Don’t we have such people in Nigeria again? Of course we have them. Why must we wait to see the Anambra and Ondo state experiences of 1983 where bloodshed was a free spectacle?

While the nation awaits the tribunals and courts to rule on the petitions filled before them, there is the urgent need to negotiate for a way out of this long jam. While the opposition parties and other well-meaning Nigerians have called for fresh polls, government of national unity etc, what still sounds very funny is the tone of defiance earlier raised by the PDP. Confused by their "Sunslide" victory as it was put by Chuba Okadigbo in his open letter, the PDP suggested giving up six states where they raped justice or where the known and the unknown, the living and the dead, voted for the PDP. If elections were actually held in those places and seen to have been won, PDP will not "hypothetically suggest" to give up those states. Haba! Who is fooling whom! In the spirit of national unity, let the truth be told. PDP was caught red-handed stealing and there are no half measures for violating the laws. Let the Courts of the land speak. Let the Tribunals speak. Let the People speak.

At this time the Presidency tries to manage self-made crisis, many options really come to mind. Will Obasanjo be losing any face if he goes down to negotiate with the opposition parties for a way out of this national embarrassment? What will be Obasanjo’s personal loss and what will be the national gain. The Nigerian national interest is and would always remain paramount to the interests of one individual or group of persons. Nigeria is bigger than one individual. While Nigerians moan about the loss inflicted on the country during the dark years under the military dictatorships, Nigerians will never allow civilian dictatorship to replace the former. The blood of our compatriots whose lives were lost within the last four years of Obasanjo’s tenure will definitely hunt those who prepared the grounds that led to them. Enough of blood letting and avoiding situations that leads to bloodshed should be a priority to the present government and a good legacy for posterity. As the opposition parties internationalize their campaign for the cancellation of the election results, the government should be concerned as how to meet the demands of the opposition parties. This is not the best of times to call names or threaten the use of force or both.

It will be very important to observe that the foreseen dangers of the present stalemate are that the angers caused by the present rigging cuts across the entire spectrum of the society. The intelligentsia while feeling insulted, would be difficult to win as partners to sustain the present farce and would be a force to use in drumming up public and international support for a positive reaction. The political class will have issues of honour to protect and would insist on seeing that the real tenets of democracy, which truly involves free and fair elections, are maintained. This of course, is far from the real situation on the ground at the moment. This also implies giving all stakeholders the chance to express themselves and agitate for votes within the limits of the law. This was not the case as many opposition members ranging from party stalwarts, candidates and their party agents were, either detained, restricted or incapacitated in different ways before, during and after the elections. A condemnable act that is not only anti-democratic but serious infringement on the constitutional rights of the people.

We shall of course not lose sight of most ethnic movements whose leaders were hounded and arrested before the elections. Most of their followers were wounded, arrested or killed in the process. Till date, no charges have been brought against those arrested and detained for violation of the laws of the land if any. It will be difficult to explain to ordinary Nigerians, why they are still held in custody, a situation not in any way different from what was obtainable during the military era.

The masses or the honourable electorates who in the performance of their civic duties went out, got registered as prospective voters for the last elections but could not find their names in the voters’ register at the end, will definitely need explanations. This is a new era. The same voters who went out to cast their votes and were convinced that they voted for candidates other than those declared as winners will not stop asking questions. Their questions will only be answered and properly too, if the tribunals and courts return verdicts that truly express the wish of the honourable electorates. Anything to the contrary will not hold water. Rather, it will make them question the usefulness of the ballot box and casting of votes, a development that is very dangerous to our nation and mankind. It is dangerous in the sense that they will hate or have distaste for this vital instrument of democracy. Developments that will make them see any other solution or alternative as a welcome one as long as it replaces this nightmare they have suffered. A very negative damage to the society in general and to the psyche of the people. What a bad omen! But may God forbid that these issues will not be re-dressed in good time.

These and more are the main reasons why the tribunals should not fail in getting the Nation back on the right track by the quality of judgements they will deliver using all available facts before them. This task is onerous. It is the type only those with large hearts and patriots can perform for the benefit of their fatherland. It is not for the whims and caprices of any individual or group of persons. It definitely requires courage and respect for one’s integrity: personal endowments we believe our judicial officers have.

Let the tribunals speak. Let the courts speak. Let the people speak. The truth must be told and those, whose handiwork it was to impose falsehood on the honourable electorates and Nigerians in general, should not only be shown the way out, but must be made to answer within the ambits of the law for their atrocities. This hour of reckoning should not be postponed. It is now or never.

The signs look really bad but a lot can be done to arrest this ugly situation before it gets out of hand. The following solutions will go a long way in re-addressing the present impasse:

May, 2003.