INCH by inch, step by step, our ever “young” democracy is moving forward. Much remains to be done in every aspect: political party formation; party principles, manifestoes and internal party democracy; election laws, regulation, security, supervision, monitoring and results announcement processes; election crime punishment; popular participation in governance; et cetera.
In the slow-motion democratic forward march, alot has been achieved over the years of hard struggle by the people, civil society, the electoral umpires and some of its most innovative leaders. A few must-mention personalities are the Late President Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, Justice Mohammed Lawal Uwais and his Electoral Reform Panel Report, Professor Attahiru Muhammadu Jega, and Former President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan who conceded defeat to an opposition party candidate as an incumbent President. On the villain side, the list equally has as many notable mentions, not the least infamous being former “Military President” Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and Elder Peter Godsday Orubebe.
The process of sanitising the vote and making it count began with the cleanup of the voters register decades ago and continuously till date. There was a time when any vote-fraud could register in a dozen polling units and end up voting in all! In our Nigerian Voters Register, Michael Jackson and Muhammad Ali were once there as voters, complete with their portrait pictures, and they did vote! All those were done away with on account of the Permanent Voters Cards replacing Voters Slips that were printable at hundreds per penny. Today, we have voters register, accreditation and voting, and result announcement system that is not yet foolproof but has minimised ballot snatching, rigging and electoral violence. However, unscrupulous politicians, and they are the majority, are forever hellbent finding ways to cut corners rather than follow the rules. Their stock in trade today remains harassment, creating climate of fear, intimidations, violent assaults and basically vote-buying.
Today, all-round electronic voting system is possible, where there is no need for restriction of movement, expensive ballot papers and boxes, gargantuan manpower and security deployment, etc. A two- or three-days voting window is announced and every voter simply finds time, in those days, to go to Voting Centres to vote at any Voting Machines much like ATMs. You can vote anywhere you are in the country. Once you insert your Voter Card and put your face and fingers where designated, it recognises and accredits all your particulars and poling unit of choice, then the machine brings up your ballots, turn by turn, for all elective contests from President to Sate House of assembly, including allowed independent candidates. You click on your party/person of choice for each elective position and when done, you simply press okay. No voided votes, no over-voting – no negativities; all correct, as they say.
But trust the majority of our politicians; they will always have a problem for every solution! Network problem, rural areas, etc, will come up as excuses! It is the people that will eventually struggle to get us to that not far future of complete electronic voting – a day when the vote will significantly count, as no human system can be perfect, and devious politicians will forever keep at their sabotaging hustles.
Between that future and today, it is clearly in the hands of the voters to make their votes count. The pitfalls to avoid are clear: never sell your vote for any amount, be it N20,000 or much more or less. If you must collect money, collect and go and thumb print for your candidate of choice. Be courageous and refuse to be intimidated with violence and threats of violence. Stand together and conduct yourselves with confidence, and peacefully so. Wait at an allowed distance with clear view of the vote count and result announcement – which will be done loudly to everyone’s hearing, and the appropriate result sheets filled, photographed, and immediately transmitted electronically to collation portals.
Election is the people’s festival of democracy. It is their judgement day for people holding their sovereign power in trust, and those seeking. The un-federal structure of Nigeria, its stunted economy and underdevelopment, mass poverty, ignorance, ethnic and religious divides – all manipulated and exploited by moneybags and reactionary politicians – discolours its present democracy. However, when the people stand resolute, they take democracy one step further into a cleaner future. May the votes count.
