|
THAT OUR DEMOCRACY MAY SURVIVE By Commentaries on the recent National Assembly, Gubernatorial, and Presidential elections in Nigeria are as interesting as they are disturbing. Believe it or not, the future of the Nigerian democracy, and indeed the very stability of the Nigerian nation state, will be seriously rocked not only by the alleged blatant electoral fraud, but also, and more seriously so, by the reverberating effect of the heartless celebration of the fraud by the "winners" and their arrogant reference to the aggrieved opponents as "bad losers".
The PDP, INEC, and the Nigeria Police Force have allegedly worked in tandem to fix the election. The idea that losers should seek redress in the Electoral Tribunals is farcical. The truth is that no such tribunal in Nigeria today can overturn the outcome of this syndicated "FIX". It certainly will be a waste of time, energy and other resources on the part of the "bad losers".
That our democracy may survive, in my opinion, depends on either one of the following two ways: The "almighty" PDP must climb down from its tower of fraudulent arrogance, accept some of the "lapses" (if fraud is too harsh), offer sincere proposals to contain such lapses in the future, and form a government of coalition that will cut across all party lines. Should the PDP insist on maintaining their identity as the "ruling party" with the ideology of winner-take-all, these fixed elections should and must be canceled and fresh polls scheduled. Any PDP-government formed around the outcome of this fraudulent exercise would not be credible in the eyes of the international community, just as some segments in the Nigerian society have stated that it would be illegitimate. Some credible political leaders have even voiced their opinions that "Fraudulent democracy is worse than military dictatorship". If we need our democracy to grow and develop, we must strive to meet the basic minimum standards.
Whatever the solution to the present debacle, let us find constitutional strategies to prevent incumbents from supervising their own re-election process. In the future, incumbents and their deputies desiring another tenure must be constitutionally required to resign their offices at least three months prior to the election. Experience has taught us that in the Nigerian election process only when incumbents are stripped of their power of incumbency can there be a level playing field. It only on this level playing field can the extent of fraudulent manipulation of government agencies such as INEC, the Nigeria Police Force, and the State Security Service be minimized. More importantly, this "constitutional requirement" to resign before re-contesting, may serve to discourage non-performing incumbents from bidding for second term.
May God protect and preserve the Nigerian democracy.
Usunobun Benjamin New York
April 2003
|