Politics
Right And Responsibility Of The Electorate (1)
This is a paper Celestina C. Nwankwoala presented at a One-Day Sensitisation and Mobilisation Zonal Workshop on 2011 general election in Port Harcourt.
United States President Abraham Lincoln defined democracy as “Government of the people, by the people and for the people”. Democracy is by far the most challenging form of government – both for politicians and for the people. The term democracy comes from the Greek language and means “rule by the (simple) people”. Democracy is a political government either carried out directly by the people (direct democracy) or by means of elected representatives of the people (representative democracy).
Even though there is no specific, universally accepted definition of ‘democracy’, there are two principles that any definition of democracy includes, equality and freedom. These principles are reflected by all citizens being equal before the law, and having equal access to power, and freedom is secured by legitimised rights and liberties, which are generally protected by a constitution.
Democracy is a form of government, where a constitution guarantees basic personal and political rights, fair and free elections, and independent courts of law.
A country can be said to be democratic when the people participate in choosing their leaders. How do we choose our leaders, we choose our leaders by voting. We cannot say we are democratic when we have about 20% turn out during elections. One of the most important things I have learnt by reading is that no problem is unsolvable. You solve most problems by asking the right questions, right questions can always give you the right answers, and with the right answers, there is a chance that a problem is half solved.
The question I want to ask is what is our right and responsibility in the electoral process? How are we going to make sure that our vote counts? Why are we allowing only a few people to make decisions on what is actually of great importance to us, our children, our country and our future?
Why are we not making our vote to count. I will not be telling the truth if I say that there are no good reasons why we stay at home during elections. The electoral process in the country had disappointed us and we are helpless because our effort had not made any difference in the electoral process all these years. Is that our answer?
There are a lot of reasons, and some of them are valid and justified. We are coming from an era where polling stations are barricaded by political touts, where ballot papers never arrived in time or not at all, where votes that are legitimately casted are discarded and the votes that counts are those cast by few people in secluded houses and brought to polling stations on gun points. Where political hooliganism is the order of the day, where assassinations of political opponents are thriving and the honest ones had no option than to stay at home.
Politics was left to the strongest, most connected, and most daring. That is the era we are coming from and that is why we do not cast our vote because at the end of the day, our votes do not count. It was the era of selection and not election and we have paid dearly for it. You are not alone and you are not wrong.
But now there is reason to believe that our country is changing. We have a new beginning and a new consciousness, a new atmosphere for change, a new Nigeria where the courts are gradually becoming relevant, where their decision is more binding than before, where change is on course. The INEC is not left out. There is so much evidence that a new life has come in, it cannot allow the old way to prevail for at least one reason, the world is watching, Nigerians are watching, things are changing and we have a responsibility to our country to change how our children think and to our future, to choose who will rule us, to make our votes count by coming out to vote, to make our voice be heard and our mandate to make the difference by coming out to vote.
The question is, are we ready to change too? We cannot condemn the politicians when we sell our conscience for a bag of rice and some cash, when we sell our votes; we forfeit putting the most qualified in office. We forfeit our chance for a better life and good health care, we forfeit our change for a better life and good health care, we forfeit good and affordable education, we forfeit electrification and constant light, we forfeit good roads and good social welfare scheme, we forfeit jobs for our youths and affordable accommodation for all. These are some of the things we missed by selling our votes.
Now is the time we must change and do it better, time to change our attitude toward politics. Time for the voter to refuse money politics, and imbibe the politics of ideas and principles in choosing charismatic leadership.
The Right of Electorate.
As a Nigerian voter, you have the following rights
*To be treated with courtesy and respect by the election officials.
*To be notified if your voter registration has been accepted or denied.
*To vote if you have registered at your current address
*To seek help from the election officials if you are unsure about anything relating to the voting process.
*To have your paper ballot voided before it is cast and be given a new one if you want to change your vote.
*To enter the full name of a write-in candidate if the candidate of your choice is not on the ballot (except in party primaries).
*To have a ballot brought to your vehicle instead of entering the polling place if you are 65 years of age or older, or if you are physically disabled.
*To have an officer of election or other person help you vote if you are physically disabled or unable to read or write (or need the ballot translated into another language).
*Blind voters may have any person assist them. Other voters may have anyone who is not their employer or union representative assist them.
Note: The officer of election or other person who assists you must follow your instructions, without trying to influence your vote, and shall not tell or signal how you voted on any office or question.
* To vote even if you have no identification with you at the polling place. You must sign the “Affirmation of Identity” statement before voting if you have no ID
* To vote a Provisional Ballot if your status as a qualified voter is in question.
* To bring your minor child (age 15 or younger) into the voting booth with you to observe you vote.
*To vote if you are in line when the polls close.
* You cannot be denied the right to vote if you are legally qualified to do so.
* Government officials must not apply standards or practices which deny or abridge the right to vote on account of tribe and ethnicity, and must not deny any individual the right to vote on account of errors or omissions in registration applications which are not materials to determining whether such individual is qualified to vote. Officials must not apply different standards and procedures to voters in the same circumstances in determining whether they are qualified to vote.
Celestina Chinwenwa Nwankwoala
Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has revealed that the reforms initiated and implemented by his administration led to the saving of the sum of N2.3 billion for the local government councils.
The governor disclosed this recently at the opening ceremony of an orientation programme organised for newly-elected local government council chairmen, vice chairmen, councilors and principal officers at Perdis Hotel, Akenfa.
Gov Diri stated that on assumption of office in 2020, some local government councils were highly indebted and unable to pay salaries but his administration took measures that resulted in regular payment of salaries, execution of projects and saving of funds.
The Bayelsa State Chief Executive restated his call on the Federal Government to create additional local councils in the state, saying it was injustice for some states to have more than 40 councils and receiving monthly allocation from the Federation Accounts Allocation Commission (FAAC), while the state had only eight.
He charged the newly elected local government officials to make good use of the two-day workshop to equip themselves with the requisite knowledge to carry out their responsibilities.
The governor also called on them to work as a team to ensure that development was felt at the grassroots.
“Local governments as at 2020 were unable to pay salaries, particularly Nembe, Ogbia, Ekeremor and Sagbama. There was some form of dissatisfaction in the system.
“After I went through the recommendations of the Deputy Governor, whom I entrusted with investigating the local government, I wasted no time in approving the recommendations.
“The recommendations included the ban on loans from any source by local government chairmen without approval of the governor; compulsory savings by every council; and the division of balance after payment of salaries into 60 and 40 per cent respectively. One part was for compulsory savings and the other to project implementation and immediate commencement of computerisation of their payroll as well as compulsory quarterly award of projects by each council chairman.
“We found a lot of fraud in the local government system. But as it stands today, our councils have N2.3billion as a result of the combination of the factors of reforms and proper supervision of that tier of government.
“The breakdown is N400million compulsory savings while N1.9 billion for capital projects. This is aside from the one done by caretaker committees in terms of project execution within the short period they stayed”, the governor said.
Gov Diri assured of his administration’s commitment to support the councils to achieve their goals and expressed confidence that the new officials would meet the expectations of the people.
“We firmly believe that good governance begins at the grassroots level. That is precisely why we have gathered here to equip you with the necessary skills and knowledge to improve our local government administration and enhance service delivery.
Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa
The Eze Oruamara/Regent of Okwuzi Kingdom in Ogba/ Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of the State, Eze Victor Afaka, has sued for peace among the political class in the State.
Eze Afaka made the appeal while speaking with The Tide on the sidelines of the governorship victory thanksgiving service by the Ogba Egbema /Ndoni Chapter of the Simplified Movement in Omoku.
He said Governor Fubara should be allowed to display the vision that God has given to him to govern the state.
According to him, since every administration has its term and tenure, the man presently at the helm of affairs in Rivers State must be given the opportunity to complete his own term and tenure.
“I advise politicians to sheathe their sword and allow peace to reign. Politics and governance have their terms and tenure. When it is your tenure, you have your vision to display; when you conclude that vision God has given you as a leader of your community or of a state, you step aside and leave the next person to display the vision God has given to him” he said.
The traditional ruler said he and his people, including the youth, women and the Ogbakor Egbema, decided to attend the service because of the excellent vision of Governor Fubara
“We are happy, Okwuzi people are in full support of the government, the government of His Excellency, Sir Siminalayi Fubara”, he added.
He said that the governor’s peaceful disposition to governance has endeared him to His Kingdom, noting that Okwuzi kingdom was already a beneficiary of the present administration’s purposeful governance as the Omoku/Okwuzi road abandoned 10 years ago, was nearing completion.
“ONELGA, Okwuzi are benefitting from his government.The road that was abandoned for ten years is being completed right now and we know that there are so many other things he will do for us”, he said.
While urging the state government to give desired attention to the Okwuzi General Hospital that is in a state of dilapidation, Eze Afaka entreated Governor Fubara not to be distracted, but to continue to promote peace and development across the State.
John Bibor
A group of North Central stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress (APC) has stormed the national secretariat of the party in Abuja, demanding the resignation of the National Chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja yesterday, the protesters said their demand followed his recent suspension by a faction of his ward executives and the alleged bribery allegation levelled against him by the Kano State government.
While they chanted solidarity songs and displayed several banners some of which read, “Ganduje must resign” and “Return the APC chairmanship to North Central,” the protesters appealed to President Bola Tinubu and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, to consider returning the leadership of the party to the North Central.
Only on Tuesday, the Forum of APC State Chairmen had passed a vote of confidence on Ganduje, affirming their unalloyed support to him.
The protesters under the aegis of Concerned North Central APC Stakeholders lamented that the continued stay of Ganduje in office was a clear violation of the zoning principle in the party.
Mohammed Saba, who led the protesters, said unlike the 37 APC state chairmen, his people in the North Central have passed a vote of no confidence on the national chairman and equally demanded his immediate resignation.
Saba reiterated that the people of North Central felt betrayed when the position of APC national chairman was hijacked from them following the exit of Senator Abdullahi Adamu despite giving Tinubu the third highest votes after North West and South West at the 2023 presidential election.
He said, “We, the North Central APC Concerned Stakeholders, have resolved to unanimously agitate for our right and reclaim our mandate which was handed unto us by the National Convention of our great Party in 2022.
“Various sections of our constitution have established the procedure of replacing an executive member at all levels of the party in the event of death, resignation, incapacitation or expulsion from the party by any executive member.
“It is a fact that the emergence of Dr. Umar Ganduje as national chairman was done against the spirit and soul of the APC which is the constitution of our great party. This singular act has impacted negatively on us as a people in the North Central.
-
Maritime4 days agoNPA Secures $700m Citibank Loan For Tin Can, Apapa Ports Rehabilitation
-
News4 days agoJAMB Sanctions Officials For Asking Candidate To Remove Hijab
-
News10 hours agoRHI: Lady Fubara Donates 50,000 Books To Public Schools In Rivers
-
Women8 hours ago
The Wise Woman
-
Opinion4 days agoCautious Optimism As Naira Rebounds
-
News4 days ago
Waive Tax On Electronic Imports, Women Engineers Appeal To Tinubu
-
Niger Delta9 hours ago
Steer Clear Of NNS Delta, Commander Warns Criminals
-
Business8 hours ago
‘Gas Infrastructure Devt, Key To Energy Sector Growth’