April 2011 General Elections: A Post-Mortem

The April 2011 general elections have come and gone. They were largely successful and an improvement on our past general elections since the inception of the Fourth Republic in 1999. The Senate and the lower chamber elections took place on April 9, 2011. That of the president was held on April 16, 2011, and the Gubernatorial and state Houses of Assembly elections were conducted on April 26, 2011. The original date of April 2,2011 was postponed twice. First to April 4, 2011 and again to April 9, 2011 due mainly to logistics problems and late arrival of result sheets.

In the National Assembly, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) maintained its lead even though it lost some of its seats. At the Presidential level, the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Dr Goodluck Jonathan won by a wide margin. Out of the thirty-six states of the country, he won thirty-one. He also won the Federal Capital Territory. The total votes cast in the presidential race were 39,469,484. Of these, 1,259,506 were made invalid votes while 38,209,978 were made valid votes. Of the valid votes, President Jonathan scored 22,495,187. General Buhari of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) was a distant second with 12,214,853 votes while Mallam Nuhu Ribadu of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) was a poor third with 2,790,151 votes.

In the Gubernatorial and the state Houses of Assembly elections the PDP and ACN also acquitted themselves creditably with their impressive performance. The elections were largely free, fair and convincing. International observers such as the Commonwealth, the European Union and the African Union observers said the elections were credible. Nonetheless, they identified some shortcomings in the polls. Because of this, they called for vigilance over the’ electoral process and appealed to all parties, their supporters and the electorate to accept the results as declared and adhere to the code of conduct prohibiting acts of violence, threats, intimidation and other violations of the Electoral Act. They gave credit to the Independent National Electoral Commission for doing a good job. The National Democratic Institute also gave a pass mark to INEC for a job well done.

However, as already noted, the April 2011 elections were an improvement on past elections in the Fourth Republic. Apart from the initial hitches, the exercise turned out to be a success. We therefore appeal to all parties and the citizens to accept the outcome in good faith so that we can move forward.

All those who did not succeed in this exercise should extend a hand of fellowship to those who pulled through. It is in such a spirit that we can make meaning out of any situation and circumstance. This  country should be made to come out of her predicament of underdevelopment, poverty and ignorance. And it is when we extend the hands of fellowship to one another that we can surmount our problems.

Howbeit, in spite of the clear success of the elections some parts of the country were thrown into violence soon after the presidential elections on April 16, 2011. For instance, on April 17, 2011, political violence enveloped such places as Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi and Niger States. The violence broke out when it became clear that President Goodluck Jonathan had won the presidential elections.

Following the violence, business premises, houses and churches were razed. The house of the Vice President Namadi Sambo in Zaria was burnt. The house was at the Tudun Wada area of Zaria. The death toll as a result of the violence was given as two hundred and more than twenty houses were set ablaze in the affected northern states. An INEC office in Bajoga, Funakaye local government area of Nasarawa State was razed.

In Minna, Niger State, about fifty National Youth Service Corps members were locked up in the Nigerian Christian Corpers Fellowship Secretariat by some youths protesting the result of the presidential elections. They later set the building on fire while the youth corps members were still locked inside.

According to reports, eleven of the youth corps members were killed by the protesters. This is indeed barbaric. What have we gained from all these. Political violence has not done this country any good apart from bringing sorrow and destruction of properties that are estimated at millions and billions of naira. Innocent lives are also lost because of political violence. In the current violence lives have been lost. Properties have been destroyed. What then do we gain? Absolutely nothing.

Unruly behaviour such as this should be condemned by all well-meaning and civilized persons in this country. We all should preach against political violence in this country. Political violence has not done any good to this country. Instead it has brought instability, bloodbath and retrogression to Nigeria. Political parties should therefore do away with thuggery and violence in Nigerian politics. It is when we check this criminality in our politics that we can experience political stability and progress.

In his reaction, President Goodluck Jonathan said these acts of mayhem were sad reminders of the events which plunged our country into thirty months of an unfortunate civil war. He adds that as a country we are yet to come to terms with the level of human suffering, destruction and displacement including that of our children to far away countries occasioned by those dark days. The president stressed that in recent years we had also witnessed other acts of intolerance, violence and destruction of human lives perpetrated by unpatriotic elements for no justifiable reason. He pointed out that democracy was about the rule of law.

It was to its credit that in recent years our judiciary had demonstrated great courage, fortitude and independence in the discharge of its duties, adding that “there are therefore no grievances that our laws and courts cannot address”. Dr Jonathan emphasised that as president it was his solemn duty to defend the constitution of this country and that included the obligation to protect lives and properties of Nigerians wherever they chose to live.

He promised Nigerians that he would defend the rights of all citizens to express their democratic choice freely any where in the country. The president averred that he was greatly pained by the loss of lives and properties in some parts of the country as a result of political violence. As indicated already, all political parties should check their thugs during and after elections in order to eradicate violence in our politics. Nigeria gains nothing from political violence. Violence in our politics should therefore stop.

Dr.  Tolofari, a distinguished fellow, Institute of Corporate Administration of Nigeria, resides in Port Harcourt.

Mann Tolofari