Politics
In Search Of Solution To Nigeria’s Electoral Problems
Recently the Senate annual retreat ended in Enugu with issues bordering on the proposed constitutional and electoral reform taking centre stage. Apart from using the brimming opportunity afforded by the retreat to reminiscence on their activities in the preceding year, the Senate also uses the forum to search for functional electoral system.
Also, late last month the launching of the Face of a Nation: Democracy in Nigeria, Foreign Relations and National Image at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) in Lagos opened another window for Nigerians to chart a new course for the nation’s problematic electoral system. The current efforts at reforming the nation’s electoral system formed major part of the discussion.
President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua declared the readiness of his administration to provide the necessary support for the National Assembly in the ongoing process to amend the constitution and the Electoral Act preparatory to 2011 election insisting that once the process was effectively completed, it would go a long way in checking the myriads of social ills bedeviling the country.
He noted that once the issue of election was addressed, every other thing would fall in place, adding that since the people were very eager to be counted in the process of governance, getting their confidence had become paramount.
The President of the Senate, Senator David Mark stated that the Senate had a number of significant bills before it for consideration, noting that one of the most pressing issues has been that of electoral review. According to him, the major issue before the Senate and as the elected representatives of the people was how to provide the nation with an enduring electoral system, true representation of the wishes and aspirations of the people of Nigeria.
He made it clear that transparent, free and fair elections bestow legitimacy on leadership and create the vital link between government and people. In his words: “We cannot overemphasise the need for a well articulated and functional electoral system that meets all standards of creditability, acceptability, goodwill, fairness and justice”. Basically, as it were Mark then took on those calling for the removal of the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Maurice Iwu, as panacea to the problems plaguing the nation’s electoral system as only trivialising an important national issue. He said that removing the chief electoral officer should not be the utmost importance at this point, but that efforts should be made to ensure that the on-going review of the electoral process be conclude before next general election.
The Senate President stated that the theme of the retreat “legislating for an Enduring Electoral System in Nigeria” was apt as it has come at a time when the Nation is working assiduously to catch up with other developed democracies of the world by ensuring that the process that throw up a transparent electoral process is entrenched. Admittedly he said, “there is room for improvement in our electoral system and I also admit that there is need for reform in our system. But may I quickly add that our process is certainly not the worst in the world as some self-styled political analysts would want to believe and let me say further and more emphatically this time that the removal of Prof. Maurice Iwu is not the review or reform of our electoral process. Removal of Iwu is not synonymous with electoral reform or review. Those calling for the removal of Iwu as the first step are trivializing a very serious national issue.
“There are some people who however, are of the opinion that the electoral system in Nigeria has progressively posed problems since our Independence. What is before us now, is to see how best we can reverse this trend and opinion so as to ensure that subsequent elections, there is less rancour, acrimony and disagreement.
And also as Nigeria has been at the forefront of championing democratic processes, regionally in West Africa and on the continent, we cannot afford to fail.”
Mark also emphasised the need for an enduring electoral system in order to sustain democracy and for Nigeria to play her role in the international arena, where many countries look up to the country for support and leadership.
Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi who presided at the launching of the Face of a nation. Democracy in Nigeria, set the ball rolling by drawing attention to some issues in the electoral reform and the need for the elected National Assembly members to ensure the completion of the electoral process before 2011 elections.
He also made comparison between option A4 and open-secret ballot system, insisting that the latter is the best system for the electoral system in the country.
There is now a consensus that it is the better part of wisdom for the National Assembly to concentrate on just electoral reform than lump them with constitutional reforms.
According to him, 2011 is too critical for the survival of this country for us to miss the opportunity to put a credible electoral system in place, at least, a year before the actual elections starts. Therefore, he appealed to the National Assembly to forgo the exercise of a wholesale revision of the 1999 constitution and concentrate on the various electoral reform bills before it.
Secondly, he noted we need to be careful that the solution which we propose will not do more damage than good.
Let me say with all the emphasis at my command that option A4 is not the solution. It is inappropriate and inapplicable. The historical facts are that option A4 was used for party primaries was that contests started at ward level and state level before the national level. So much has been said about voters queuing behind pictures of candidates. It did not happen all over the country. The common feature in all the elections was the use of the open-secret system, where ballots are marked secretly but cast openly, is the best system. That is what we should be emphasising and advocating. The use of the open secret system, where ballots are marked secretly but cast openly, is the best system”.
Former Senate President Senator Ken Nnamani, in his own presentation submitted that every development starts from the ballot box, not necessarily election, even as he admitted that the 2006 Electoral Act passed under his leadership in the Senate omitted certain things that would have helped the electoral process in the country.
He listed four things that National Assembly should endeavour to include in the electoral reform namely: Appointment of the chairman of the electoral body not be done by a sitting executive recommended by the Justice Mohammed Uwais-led Electoral Reform Committee, no candidate must be declared winner until all judicial interventions have been concluded, onus of proof should be on the candidate not the electoral management body and the Independent National Electoral Commission should be autonomous.
Nnamani appealed to the National Assembly to conclude everything on the electoral reform before 2011 election, adding that the Electoral Act is not the problem but the inability to apply it properly by the relevant institutions entrusted by law with such power.
Noting that the electoral process would be better if things are done accordingly.
Our problem is not electoral reform, our biggest problem is the lack of free and fair election in the country.
Politics
Alia Denies Calling For Ganduje’s Resignation
Governor of Benue State, Hyacinth Alia, has denied calling for the resignation of the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje.
This was contained in a press statement issued on Wednesday in Makurdi by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Mr Tersoo Kula.
The Tide source reports that the CPS was reacting to some media reports that the governor had called for the resignation of the APC national chairman.
Kula said the governor at no time called for the resignation of the APC national chairman.
He said the governor enjoyed a good relationship with the Ganduje-led leadership of the APC.
“It is imperative to clarify that at no point did Governor Alia assembled, attended and sent a representative or participated in any meeting to discuss the removal or call for resignation of Alhaji. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
“The Benue State governor remains firm in his support and allegiance to the leadership of the National Working Committee of the APC, under the leadership of Alhaji Ganduje.
“Furthermore, at no point, whether publicly or privately, has the governor advocated or expressed any desire for the resignation of the national party chairman”, he said.
He said the governor was focused on positively changing the fortunes of the state.
“He is alive to his responsibilities as the leader of APC in Benue State and is doing everything legitimate to reposition the party for future victories,” Kula said.
Politics
LP Re-Elects Abure As National Chairman
The embattled national chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Julius Abure, has been re-elected for a second term by a unanimous affirmation of delegates despite the protests by the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
The Chairman of the National Convention and Deputy Governor of Abia State, Mr. Ikechukwu Emetu declared him the winner during the party’s national convention that held in Nnewi, Anambra State, on Wednesday.
Other serving officers of the party were also returned unopposed.
Recall that the NLC had called for Abure’s resignation as party chairman and the immediate constitution of a caretaker transition committee to organize an all-inclusive national convention for the party.
Meanwhile, a factional chairman of the Labour Party in Anambra State, Mr Peter Okoye has boasted that the Nnewi national convention will not stand.
Describing the convention as a sham, Okoye said: “This is not a convention. We are on top of the matter. It’s purely illegal.
“There was no ward congress, no local government congress, no state congress, and now who and who are the elected delegates that are electing the National Working Committee, NWC, members?
“The NLC was not there, TUC was not there, the owners of the party and members of the NEC and BOT members were not there too. So, who is holding the convention?”
Politics
Suswam Blames External Forces For Problems In PDP
Former Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam, has said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is being undermined by external forces which have rendered the party ineffective as a viable opposition.
Senator Suswam stated this during a live television interview on Wednesday.
He lamented that the party had since after the 2023 general elections failed to live up to expectations of Nigerians as a viable opposition.
Senator Suswam, who blamed the current PDP leadership for the ineffective state of the largest opposition party in the country, said unless there is an overhaul of its leadership, the party would “go nowhere” because the current leadership has lost focus.
He said, “I think there are subterranean forces inferring in the party and they are determining what is going on in the party. And the leadership is acquiescing to it.
“Subterranean suggests that people are trying to control the party from the outside. They are controlling the party from the outside and they are keeping the party in a comatose state.”
The Benue senator accused the party of refusing to call a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting to help resolve some of the issues arising in the party.
He regretted the inability of the party to resolve the fallout of the 2022 presidential primary election which saw a group of five governors work against the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential election.
He added that the inability of the Iliya Damagum-led leadership to discipline erring party members worsened the situation.
Senator Suswam said it was wrong for the party not to have sanctioned the G-5 governors and their allies who openly declared that they would remain in the party and work against its interest.
“They were not sanctioned which made others become emboldened to act anyway they wanted. PDP has been weakened since then,” he said.
He said no serious organisation does that, stressing that, “A serious organisation would apply sanctions” based on the laid down rules as contained in its constitution.
He further accused the acting national chairman of the party, Ambassador Iliya Damagum, of occupying the position which belongs to the North-Central zone, following the removal of the substantive chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, who hails from the zone.
Amb. Damagum, who was the Deputy National Chairman (North), hails from the North-East zone but was, as permitted by the party’s constitution, made acting chairman after Ayu’s removal by a court order.
The party’s law provides that the deputy chairman from the same region as the chairman takes over in the event of the latter’s removal from office.
Senator Suswam further lamented that “PDP is comatose now, and nothing can happen now,” adding that it was regrettable that politicians are now preferring to hold talks with smaller parties and not the PDP.
Noting that the PDP was at the precipice, Senator Suswam said, “Until we provide that leadership, PDP will not be a viable platform. We need to overhaul the leadership of the party. There is no pretence about it, everybody in PDP knows it. Without discipline and reconciliation, the party goes nowhere.”
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