The National Assembly recently passed a new Electoral law and transmitted same on 19th November 2021, to the the President, for assent. The Electoral Bill has several innovative provisions aimed at improving election operations and providing legal backing to the use of technology in elections, including for transmission of results. A key amendment is the introduction of direct primaries for party nominations. The President has 30 days from November 19th to sign the bill or issue a veto and has received calls from civil society organisations (CSOs), the National Assembly, religious leaders and other stakeholders to sign the Electoral Bill, 2021.
The nomination of candidates has been a major source of angst and a threat to the integrity of the electoral process. If the president signs it into law, the imposition of candidates on voters by the godfathers and state governors would have been drastically reduced. It would not eliminate outright control, but it would give aspirants to public office the need to reach out to the people and not rely solely on adoption. A plus for democracy.
Since the 1999 elections, civil society have taken the conduct of elections as a priority project as they worked to consolidate democracy in Nigeria. Groups such as the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) and lately, the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room have mobilized citizens and leaders of various civil society groups to work with National Assembly committees, the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, leaders of political parties, and security agencies to ensure that Nigeria overcomes the peril of failed elections and facilitate peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the other. It has been an arduous task, but they have been undaunted.
State governors and political godfathers had resolutely opposed any reform that would curb their influence and powers over candidates, and this had also been a major source of corruption. The ‘’ do or die’’ or zero-sum nature of the contests has also led to violence and a burden for the judiciary which had assumed the role of final arbiter on election matters, instead of the ballot box. It has also led to the high cost of elections both to the state and the candidates. The integrity of elections won at the courtrooms has also been a source of rabid jokes, thus eroding the integrity of the electoral process and faith in the electoral body and the judiciary.
Perhaps the greatest threat to democracy since independence has been the failure to conduct free and fair elections. The 1964 elections in the defunct Western Region and the heated contest all over the country afterward were largely responsible for the first opportunity for the military to intervene. The failure of the military to respect the outcome of the June 12, 1993, election also led to a protracted crisis that has plagued the nation since.
The next two years shall witness two mutually reinforcing variables in the history of Nigeria: the survival of the nation as one political entity and as a democracy. And these boil down to the successful conduct of the 2023 presidential election and the peaceful transfer of power from President Muhammadu Buhari to a new president. If this process survives, it will boost the democratization project in Nigeria and Africa. If democracy survives and is consolidated in Nigeria, Nigeria survives. If democracy is threatened, degraded, or closed, then Nigeria may follow the tragic path. But the nation and democracy may yet survive.
Here is how this would be possible. If the 2023 elections pass off peacefully and generally acceptable to the majority of Nigerians and the military can sufficiently degrade the forces of violence tearing at the fabrics of society, including insurgents and bandits, then Nigerians can be hopeful that democracy can be consolidated, and national unity secured. As the Federal Government and non-state actors contest the space all over the country, democracy, it would seem, has been put on the path of reversal.
The end of military rule 22 years ago, was thought to be the end of the cause of a mismanaged infancy and abused childhood after independence. It is now obvious that the demons that flowed from that tragic era have remained very resilient and overwhelming. The military, the political leadership, the civil society are now charged by the forces of history to ensure the nation and democracy survive. Was it not said that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty? Is it not clear that politicians and the military cannot be depended on to secure the nation and sustain democracy in the present circumstance?
Civil society in the next two years would have to work more together as partners with the state, the National Assembly, INEC, and the police on strengthening institutions that would lead to the successful conduct of elections, preventing the escalation of post-election violence in Nigeria. Although the election project is the most important challenge facing civil society, there is no question that insecurity, poverty, corruption, and a heated political environment that feeds on ethno-religious grievances would remain daunting challenges, and civil society would have to be more creative and innovative in tackling them without losing sight of the election project.
The successful intervention of Civil Society Organisations in all aspects of society, from climate change and environmental pollution, gender equality, domestic violence, monitoring of budget performances and public procurement, law enforcement reforms, restructuring of the federation through constitutional amendments, and respect for basic human rights and civil liberties must continue with renewed dynamism. Civil society has proved beyond all doubts that its role in transforming society and democratic consolidation is secured. Although collaborating with government agencies is inevitable and desirable, this must not compromise or undermine the independence of civil society.
Photo Credit: Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room