THERE IS A LOGIC TO THE ORDER OF ELECTION:

DO NOT ABANDON OR REVERSE IT

By

Professor Omo Omoruyi

Research Fellow, African Studies Center

Boston University

CEO, Advancing Democracy in Africa (ADA).

There seems to be a consensus on the need to restore the rights of Nigerians to freely associate and form political parties of their choice. If the National Assembly could make do its plan to roll back the fraud inflicted on the Nigerian people by Professor Osunbor in collusion with the Presidency, the battle to ensure a level playing field for participants should not end there. There is still another threat to the voters' right to participation. It is a threat to the federalism and the integrity of the National Assembly.

INTEGRITY OF FEDERATING UNITS AND THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

There seems to be a benign neglect of an equally important part of the plot of the President and his handlers to impose a one party on Nigeria. I am referring to the order of the election, which wants to impose a reverse order of commencing the series of election with the Presidential election. The National Assembly does not know that it would amount to a slight on the institution of the National Assembly, if the Assemblymen and women do know.

The National Assembly has no business changing the order of election arbitrarily. There is a logic to the order, which commences from the base and up; we saw this under the genuine succession election in 1979 and in 1999. Those who wanted to rig in the past changed the order. This should be revisited, lest by an act of omission or commission or indiscretion, the election of the Governors and the National Assembly men and women would made to be dependent on the President. States as federating units will be dead; the National Assembly, which in the Constitution comes before the President will suffer a reversal of status.

THE EROSION OF STATUS OF STATES AND LEGISLATURE IN 1983

How many Nigerians still remember that in 1983 the order was reversed when the party in power (NPN) was hell bent on the massive rigging of the 1983 election, which it did to its peril and contributed to the truncation of democracy in 1983. In 1993 the handlers of the NPN Presidential campaign got the alteration of the order of election by putting the Presidential election first. The moment that was massively rigged the campaign was waged through the government-controlled media that voters in non-NPN States were told that they should support the President's party. In 2003, do we want this to be repeated? Do we know that the media and the machinery of election are in the executive meaning the PDP? Do we know that the power of patronage would be used to stampede the voters with the campaign to support the party that voted the President's party and those on the same ticket with him?

Distinguished Senators and Honorable House members let me warn that if you allow the President's election to determine who is elected Members of the National Assembly, that would be the end of the National Assembly as a "Legislative Legislature". We would be having what is called "non-Legislative Legislature" as we had in the one party system in Eastern Europe in the past. If that is allowed to succeed, we shall have dealt a severe blow to two principles in our democracy.

One, we shall have reduced the power of the Legislature by making its election dependent on the election of the Executive. By so doing we shall have made the President direct the Legislative Process. Can we imagine what President Obasanjo would do with that kind of power? Without that power today, he could cause the leadership to bypass the National Assembly and insert a provision in a Bill that had been passed by both Houses of the National Assembly before he appended his signature. Could we imagine what he would do if all the members of the National Assembly were elected on that kind of campaign of vote for the President's candidates?

Second, we shall have destroyed the power of the federating units as the Governors would also have been elected to support the President and not to run their states and even challenge the President if he is eroding the power of the States. That would be the end of the Federal System as all Governors would be an extension of the Presidency. Could we imagine what President Obasanjo would do with such power?

I was a witness to what I am going to say now. This is not an attempt to run down my good buddy, Chubby. He was just doing what he was paid to do to make sure that Alhaji Shehu Shagari's Second Term was made easier than what he went through in the First Term. The truth of the matter was that President Shagari was ignorant of the system of "Divided Government" where the elective branches of government are under the control of different political parties, a practice not new in the US. Dr. Chuba Okadigbo was a major operative in this campaign of amassing more votes for the NPN President to avoid the 'executive paralysis' in his first term.

Two facts are sometimes ignored and not understood by those who want to have everybody support the President. The designers of the Constitution had in mind two immutable principles.

That we are running a federation made up of the Federal Government and States Government.

That we have two elective branches (Executive and Legislature) under the system of separation of powers.

 

Running a federation could give rise to multiple system of government where the various parties could control the various levels of government.

The separation of powers could give rise to divided government where the two elective branches could be in different hands.

The operation of these two forms of governmental organization is healthy for democracy and makes the voter the arbiter in both cases. The voter decides how he is going to split his votes at every election. Again "Split Voting" under the system of separation of powers and in federal system is to be expected. The history of the US demonstrates this very well. Unfortunately the President and the National Assembly do not appreciate these two facts. To President Obasanjo and his handlers, the Presidential System means a one-man rule. The National Assembly should create an identity for that veritable institution of our democracy and stop making the legislative branch an extension of the executive branch.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY IN SEARCH OF A ROLE

Unfortunately the National Assembly is still in search of a role since 1999 having suffered neglect since the military incursion into the Nigerian politics. It still remains one of the underdeveloped institutions in Nigeria democratic experiment through no fault of its own. But it should set out to do something about instead allowing the power grabbing President and the negligent members of the Assembly contribute to the erosion of its power.

The National Assembly is at the moment just to follow what ever the President wants to the extent that its leaders could undermine their colleagues and join the President in altering Bills in contravention of the Constitution. The Speaker had been singled out as the one who spearheaded the falsification of the Bill. We have not heard from him to give his own version of what transpired. The other element of the President assertion that the PDP caucus decided to introduce Section 80 is adding insult to already highly contentious episode. The PDP is not known in the Constitution as part of the Legislative Process.

All those who were involved from the President to the Members of the National Assembly leadership in this criminal act ought to qualify for impeachment since that is the only treatment for these officers in the Constitution, as they could not be tried in a court of law.

Nigeria has never been blessed with an elected Prime Minister or President who had a passion for the office and took a decision to genuinely seek an office based on his VISION of what he wants to achieve for the people of Nigeria. Nigeria was unfortunate to have three elected Chief Executives in her history that did not passionately seek office to pursue the vision they had. To say I was invited is inimical to democratic election. I am referring to Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and Alhaji Shehu Shagari and now General Olusegun Obasanjo, the three who never dreamt of one day that they would seek election and rule Nigeria as democratically elected Chief Executives.

Alhaji Shagari in his biography narrated how he was a witness to when Alhaji Abubakar broke down in tears when the northern leaders told him to take over as the Prime Minister. He, Alhaji Shagari gave copious analysis of the various positions he held from being the Parliamentary Secretary to being the President were made against his will. He went on to tell his readers how the presidential nomination was forced on him by the remnant of the NPC in 1978/79 led by Alhaji Makama Bida against his will. The initial effort was embarked upon even in his absence without consulting him. Of course, we knew how General Obasanjo became the Presidential candidate of the PDP.

These three leaders have one thing in common. They did not seek the office and somebody got them there. With every little problems they blamed the persons who invited them. They came to office and attempted to rule without a VISION for no fault of their own.

One should not be surprised that President Obasanjo is behaving like Alhaji Balewa in 1964 and Alhaji Shagari in 1983 when faced with the reality of seeking and losing the succession election in 1964 and in 1983 respectively. The handlers of Balewa in the 1964 Federal Elections and the handlers of Shagari in the 1983 election had to invent a formula that would make their 'reluctant' clients have no headache in their second terms. This is what President Obasanjo's handlers are planning having openly declared that there would be "no vacancy in Aso Rock for anybody in 2003' or that the 'PDP would rule 60 years' i.e. forever. If you are tired of the heat, get out of the kitchen, so the saying goes! If President Obasanjo is afraid of competitive election, he should get out of the race, after all, he is not indispensable.

Democracy is all about winning and losing periodic elections; if you contest election it is either you win or lose, there is no third way. Even if one loses the election there is still an element of success, experience, friends etc.

The handlers of the reluctant President know that the President is still afraid and he is still seeking God's face if he should make himself available for them to used a second time. On his own, he is scared of 2003 even when the handlers through the irregular method by Senator Osunbor to make him the sole candidate by the fact of the fraudulent Section 80. They came up with the winning formula used by Prime Minister Balewa in 1964 and President Shagari in 1983 to realize a 'landslide' election. In 1983, the winning formula was to reverse the order of election and make the Presidential election come first. President Obasanjo's plea to his handlers is if you love me and wants me to come back, SETTLE MINE FIRST!

This is how it would work for the interest of those who are sleeping. In 1983, communities were told that if they wanted to get anything done for their communities, they should send NPN Senators and NPN House Members to Lagos who could work with President Shagari. It worked in many cases among our people who did not know anything about 'divided government' under the principle of separation of powers.

The same campaign was waged in some key States that elected UPN, NPP, GNPP and PRP Governors in 1979 who were dominating the media with their G-12 meeting of Progressive Governors. The voters in these States were told that the Governors elected in these States were enemies of the President hence they were deprived of Federal Presence. They were further told that if they want Federal Presence, they should support the President by voting for a candidate who could pick up the telephone and speak to the President or meet the President in regular party meetings. In fact, there was another sophisticated form of campaign that they did not need to declare for the NPN; all they needed to do was to go to the polling booth and vote for the NPN and in effect reject the candidate of their party. It worked in many cases especially where our people did not know that Nigeria is a Federation that is built on the system of multiple governments.

Those who designed the order of election to begin with the simple to the complex are no fools. But those who want to reverse the order are bent on reducing the Nigerian people into robots and making them follow the President and turn the country into a one-party rule and by implication a one-man rule. The National Assembly should revisit this section of the Bill and make the voters commence the series of election in accordance with what was done in 1979 and in 1999 by General Obasanjo and Abubakar respectively as follows.

Local Government;

State Government;

National Assembly; finally

Presidential Election.

 

There is another confusion with respect to two Days or Dates. Why should there be confusion this time around other than that someone wants to embark on a mischief? The terms of office for the various offices ought to end with the Day they were elected and NOT with the day they were inaugurated.

The fixing of Election Day has nothing to do with the Day of inauguration but of the Day of the last election for the office. The election to the local government came first and Presidential election came last. This means that the term of the local government should end first followed by that of the State Government and followed by that of the National Assembly and finally the term of the President.

The National Assembly and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should take this order as given and not subject to the capricious whims of the party in power or of the President who is scared and wants to get his election over and quickly. It should not be at the expense of democracy.

Experience from the US will be in order here. In the US the US the Election Day is fixed as the First Tuesday of November of every year for the whole country and it is not subject to the capricious whims of the Congress. For example, the Election Day for 2002 is Tuesday November 5, 2003 and for 2003 is Tuesday November 4, 2003 and States and Local Government as the case maybe would have to adjust their Election to fall on this Day every year. And of course, politicians would have to adjust their careers accordingly. President George Bush and those to oppose him know when the Presidential Election would be in 2004. Senators and Congressmen and other office holders are not waiting for some one to tell them when their election is due. The dates of inauguration beside that of the Federal Government vary from State to State. In fact, we all witness the inauguration of the Mayor of New York on January 1, 2002 as the term of the former mayor ended mid-night of December 31, 2001.

What can the National Assembly learn from the practice in the US? Let me identify them:

Election Day is fixed in accordance with the original order in 1999;

Election Day is not subject to the capricious whims of the Congress and should not be subject to that Nigerian national Assembly.

Election Day is known to all concerned and this is the way to ensure a level playing field for all participants, as Election Day is not used to ambush the opponents.

Election Day is not used to make the President continue to lock the door of Aso Rock against others and Election Day is not meant to make one continue to rule for 60 years.

 

May I reiterate once again

that Nigeria is a federation, with multiple units of Government where the election of various units should be independently organized and

that Nigeria is also a Presidential System where the election of the National Assembly should be separated from that of the President.

 

Consequently, Election Day under the system of multiple units of government and Separation of Power is not a catch as in the Parliamentary System, which the ruling party would have to use to its advantage.

From the foregoing,

President Obasanjo and the National Assembly should allow the series of election to follow the pattern of 1979 and 1998/1999 as its elective office has a character of its own; and

They should allow the Nigerian people to express themselves as often as possible through the staggered election as a learning experience commencing with the simple to the complex and from the local to the distant government

 

The National Assembly men and women owe it for the future of the institution of the National Assembly as a CO-equal branch of government with the Presidency not to allow its fortunes rise or fall with that of the President. They should not be shortsighted and unwittingly yield a pride of place to the Presidency through the reversal of the order of elections.

January 2002