FEATURE ARTICLE

Barth Amakihe, Ph.D.Thursday, November 18, 2010
[email protected]
Atlanta, Georgia, USA

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THE EKITI STATE ELECTION

he quest for a better democratic governance in Nigeria was given a boost in Ekiti state in the Southwest zone of the country. The nullification of the gubernatorial mandate of the state's sitting governor by the nation's appeals court has reinforced and re-invigorated the hopes and aspirations of democracy lovers all over the nation, as well as in the diaspora. The Nigerian Court of Appeal judges has consistently rendered verdicts to nullify some of the stolen mandates of the 2003 and 2007 national elections. A trip down memory lane reminds one of the Anambra elections of 2003 in which the courts nullified Dr. Chris Ngige's election and reinstated Mr. Peter Obi. In the same vein, the Nigerian courts nullified the Edo state's gubernatorial election and declared Mr. Oshiomole the rightful person to occupy the governor's seat.


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Currently in a verdict which the ruling party (PDP)declared as shocking, the courts again fulfilled their constitutional duty by nullifying the Ekiti state gubernatorial elections. It must be noted that the ousted Governor Mr. Oni, had completed three and half years of the constitutional mandatory term limit of four years. The questions Nigerian citizens and other lovers of democracy in Africa must as a matter of urgency find the answers to are: Has the Nigerian electoral laws not been broken by the political class including INEC officials? The institution which has the responsibility of supervising free and fair elections in the country is again in the spotlight.

Secondly, should election riggers (whether politicians or electoral officers) continue to walk free after committing electoral crimes? Must the criminal perpetrators that connive to thwart the will of the people be allowed to go free and continue to enjoy freedom, when they should be serving time in prison? Currently, the news media are awash with political candidates and their hired aids running all over the country to woo voters and actualize their political ambitions. Will our country men and women continue to shout hurrah because the courts have done wonderful jobs without establishing punitive measures to rid the country of future electoral malpractices? Will continuous amendment of the nation's electoral laws be of any use, if electoral malpractices and other voting malfeasance are not dismantled and criminal perpetrators severely sanctioned, or jailed? The answers to these vexing questions do not require any soothsayer to discern that our people need complete political and social orientation in order for democracy to establish complete foothold in the country.

Political parties that have been proven beyond reasonable doubt to have aided or participated in election fraud or out right rigging, must be made to pay hefty fines or in severe cases proscribed as a political party. Scholars and other electoral watchers in Nigeria saw the nasty game being played out in Ekiti State, especially, when the resident electoral commisioner of the state was being intimidated and the officer had to go into hiding, and only to come out and announce a result that could not withstand the eagle eyes of the law.

The nation and its people must not be subjected to criminal activities of some politicians and corrupt electoral officers. Justice and equity demand that people who indulge in electoral crimes are law breakers. The nation's law enforcement agencies must therefore swing into action whenever the law courts reach a verdict of nullification and removal of a purported elected official. The federal and state law enforcement agencies should conduct very thorough investigations to unravel the people behind the electoral charade. In order to prove to Nigerians that credible elections are possible in 2011, the president should empower Professor Jega and his Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately dispatch units of the commission's legal division to investigate the Ekiti gubernatorial elections. The commission of enquiry must unravel the brains behind the election saga and to spare no sacred cows, it must thereby prosecute all persons found to have contravened the electoral laws of Ekiti state as well as that of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. These drastic measures must be pursued to deter political candidates perfecting plans to rig the 2011 national elections.

In addition, Nigerians particularly the civil society organizations including the Nigerian Bar Association, The Nigerian Union of Journalists, The Nigerian Political Science Association, the Civil Liberties Organization and other civil watch groups must rise from lethargy and demand for justice in the past elections where the electoral laws of the nation have been trampled upon. The time has passed when government enforcement officers seem to be helpless and afraid to enforce the laws of the land, especially when the fat cats are culpable.

It must also be noted that recent local government elections in the core north and the southeast parts of the country have not fared better. Observers and several reports have indicated politicians and their thugs snatching ballot boxes, while scaring helpless citizens with guns and other weapons. Nigerian democracy lovers must applaud the citizens of Ekiti state for standing up to defend their votes, and testifying in the law courts for justice to prevail. Voters all over Nigeria must re-enact the Ekiti efforts to stop once and for all electoral malpractices in 2011. Voters in the core North as well as the Southeast heartland of Nigeria must re-enact the Ekiti efforts to stop once and for all these electoral malpractices in the country.

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