Nigeria’s Tribunals Raise the Commoners' Hope

It began with the governors, then the Senate President and it seems the election petition tribunals all over Nigeria have embarked on a revolution of some sort. It was previously an anathema to rule against the party in power. Nigerian judges appear to have suddenly realized they had the constitutional right to differ. Whatever it is, however, Nigeria is the winner. I had delayed this post hoping the presidential election tribunal would follow but ….
While I do not agree with all the tribunal judgments, or reasons for ruling the way they did, the very fact that they are overturning election results is admirable, especially in a country where election process is more of selection by the privileged. You are a winner if the leaders of the ruling party give their blessing. The incontrovertible truth remains the 2007 elections ware a display of shame by the electoral commission and the political parties.
I do not particularly care about any of the politicians or their parties, not Buhari, not Atiku, not Yar’Adua. In fact none of them strike me as ideal presidential material; not with Atiku’s controversial involvement with Obasanjo and the shady contract deals they accused each other of. Definitely not the quartermaster image of Buhari or the weakling portrayed by Yar’Adua appeal to me.
What the tribunals have done of recent confirms what election observers said after the polls, that they were flawed. The tribunals have given the masses hope, hope in the polity that has eluded the common Nigerian for decades. The aggrieved can now hope for equity when he gets to the courts. The aggrieved will now be more willing to avail himself of the judicial avenue to settle scores. And we can only hope that this momentum never dies.
The tribunals have also signaled to those in power that the manipulation of the system cannot be without limits. What remains is to entrench these bold steps in every facet of Nigerian life. And the job should not be left to the judiciary alone. We still need a political reform built on reorientation of the people and the system to ensure that such widespread manipulation of the process, as seen last year never happens again. A reorientation is necessary to erase the mentality that “ winning at all costs” from the minds of politicians and their supporters.
The novelty of government is in its dynamism ensured by the peoples’ right to change their leadership when the leaders fail. Nigeria is yet to get there but it is moving.

Where is the Political Reform?

"A SHOOTOUT in Awka. Postponement in Delta State. Parallel congresses in Edo. That is the story of the ward congresses of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) scheduled for yesterday across the country"

This is how The Guardian begins its report of the PDP local congresses across Nigeria. A typical picture of politics as usual in a country where the biggest industry is still government. The violence results from a struggle to control the ruling party, even at the local levels, because the perpetrators believe it is a stepping stone to large contracts and other patronage from the seat of power.
This is the ruling party, Yar' Adua's party and the party that is supposed to lead the way in the effort at electoral reform. This is the party that control majority in the National Assembly and most local assemblies in the country. This is the party that will wield a lot of influence in any effort to amend the constitution to take care of the lapses in our electoral laws and the polity as a whole. Yet this is the party that cannot organise simple ward congresses without bickering and violence. It is always a do-or-die affair. When will it end? When is Nigeria going to mature? the United States, our people so admire, is also going through its own process. The primaries are like Nigeria's ward and state congresses but no one has heard anything about people killing each other yet this is the country where guns can be bought off the shelf.

Justice Ogebe's Elevation Could Wait

President Yar'Adua just committed a blunder by submitting Justice Ogebe's name for elevation to the Supreme Court at this time. The honourable justice of the Court of Appeal, who is also the chairman of the presidential elections petition tribunal has by so doing become handicapped in the discharge of the case currently before him. Do not get me wrong. Justice Ogebe is certainly qualified to sit on the higher bench, now or in the future. There is no reason at this time to question his integrity or that of his colleagues but he has been placed in a difficult position by the timing of this appointment. How could he now sit over judgment in a case involving the same president whose election is being challenged? This appointment could have waited until the case is over.
What Yar' Adua has done is taint the image of the Justice before hand. What would the public think if the tribunal eventually rules in Yar' Adua's favour? Would the people understand that the justices ruled based on the evidence before them? Would the people understand that this appointment did not influence that judgment? The loser here is justice Ogebe who no matter how genuinely he does his job will have to face this dilemma. The only way out of this will be to rule against Yar' Adua even if in a minority judgment but that may not be in the best interest of justice and that may not serve the man's conscience. Just why didn't the president wait?

This brings me to my earlier blog on the issue of election reforms. Is Yar’ Adua’s move “self serving” as is being suggested by some parties? Is the president genuine? Is he really interested in electoral reforms?

The independence of the judiciary cannot be compromised in whatever manner. There should not be any perception of interference in the affairs of the judiciary.

NIGERIA, Yar’Adua and Election Reform

I have just finished reading a story in which President Yar Adua said only credible elections will guarantee peace in Nigeria. Coming from a sitting president, this is commendable but an obvious reality that has faced Nigeria since the run up to independence. Flash back to the 1950s and ever since, Nigeria has hardly had an election without violence associated with rigging and other manipulations of the electoral process.
May we recall the Western Nigeria violence that preceded the coups of 1966? We learnt from history that it was the continued crisis that followed the parliamentary elections that led to the first coup in the country’s history. Or at least it gave the military a plausible excuse to interfere and dominate Nigeria’s politics until recently. We know the rest of that history.
One would not want to recall the failed promises of the Gowon era, or worse the charade of the Babangida years. The then military rulers took the country for a ride, toying with the interest and enthusiasm shown by Nigerians in 1992 leading up to nothing as the Abiola election was annulled. We do not want to remember the landslide victories of the Shagari era when NPN swept through the entire country, leaving a few pockets of victories for Awolowo’s UPN and NPP where they desired. Let’s also think back to 2003 elections and PDP and of course the 2007 million-vote margins of victories even where the turnout was hardly a hundred thousand.
These antecedents create apathy in the helpless public and breed violence among the more involved manipulable rabble. Besides, no incumbent party ever loses election in Nigeria. It is unheard of. They must rig and inflate numbers. They must win at all costs. The margins of victory are sometimes so absurd that you wonder at the brazen disregard for decency. Some of the last gubernatorial elections indicate such.
Nigerian elections also have the novelty of last minute substitution of candidates to favour party leaders’ choices. The last general elections had many such instances where voters would go in to vote for one candidate and ended up having their votes counted for someone different, substituted in the last minute.
The recent comment by Yar’Adua is commendable, if he seriously intends to do something about it. Also commendable is the setting up of electoral reform committees last year. However, past experiences with committees have not been encouraging. Nigeria needs to move faster than that. And it is ironic that Yar' Adua is making some effort given that the process that brought him to power has remained controversial and still sub judice. Yar’ Adua can begin by sacking the electoral commission and sending a bill to the National Assembly that creates a completely independent INEC with direct budgetary allocation and commissioners who cannot be sacked by the executive unless impeached by the Assembly. The same should be applicable to state electoral commissions for the purposes of local government elections.
Yar’ Adua should also encourage the independence of the judiciary.
Law enforcement is another subject matter.