Beyond Elections In Nigeria

In a healthy democracy,
elections are the starting point for a stable government that protects minority rights, ensures freedom of speech, respects the Rule of Law and promotes a strong civil society. Elections are widely recognized as the foundation of legitimate government. By allowing citizens to choose the manner in which they are governed, elections form the starting point for all other democratic institutions and practices. Genuine democracy, however, requires substantially more.
In addition to elections, democracy requires constitutional limits on government power, guarantees of basic rights, tolerance of religious or ethnic minorities and representation of diverse viewpoints, among other things. To build authentic democracy, societies and citizens must foster a democratic culture and rule of law that govern behaviour between elections and constrain those who might be tempted to undermine election processes.
While as Secretary of State in the United States of America, Hillary Clinton at Georgetown University remarked; “Democracy means not only elections to choose leaders, but also active citizens and a free press, an independent judiciary and transparent and responsive institutions that are accountable to all citizens and protect their rights equally and fairly. In democracies all over the world, respecting rights is not just a choice leaders make day by day, but it is the reason they govern.”
Some political transitions after elections are essential. In a healthy democracy, candidates who lose elections relinquish power gracefully and peacefully and by doing so, defeated candidates can emerge with their dignity intact and through example contribute to the strength of their nation’s democratic traditions, practices and customs.
Likewise, by reaching out to and showing respect for their political opponents, wining candidates help bridge differences and minimize the potential for conflict that can undermine democracy and development.
But in Nigeria, because of the crude and Fettish way and manner the so-called politicians play the game, politics have been rendered useless and uninteresting in the eyes of right thinking and responsible citizens. Since the end of the 2015 general elections seven months ago, several states have been embroidering election petitions in various tribunals and courts. The most disappointing aspect being that the Presidency seems to be influencing the judiciary, not giving it the freedom to exercise its function rightly. Must all the 36 states be controlled by the All Progressives Congress (APC)?
Democracy requires respect for the rule of law, which survives regardless of the outcome of elections. The United Nations Security Council defines the rule of law as when “all persons, institutions and entitles, public and private, including the state itself, are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced and independently adjudicated and which are consistent with international human rights norms and standards.”
The rule of law comprises legitimacy, fairness, effectiveness and checks and balances. Legitimacy requires that laws reflect a general social consensus that they be enacted in an open and democratic process. Fairness includes equal application of the law, procedural fairness, protection of civil liberties and reasonable access to justice. Effectiveness refers to the consistent application and enforcement of laws.
Fairly enforced laws that protect all citizens help establish a democratic state’s legitimacy. Because such laws in a healthy democracy command public respect ad loyalty, citizens accept disappointing election results. For example, Nigeria skew that the election that brought President Muhammadu Buhari into power was unacceptable but former President Goodluck Jonathan conceded the defeat for peace to reign in the country, and in obedience to the rule of law. Who has ever done that in the political history of Nigeria? Nigerian politicians should borrow a leaf from Jonathan’s example if actually we are one and want the country to remain as an entity.
A nation where laws are implemented fairly and disputes adjudicated impartially is more stable. Unjust or discriminatory laws, on the other hand, undermine public respect. If completely egregious or extremely bad, such laws risk public disobedience or even revolt and create a climate less tolerant of unsatisfactory electoral outcomes.
This is why a one-time US President Dwight D. Eisenhower observed, “The clearest way to show what the rule of law means to us in everyday life is to recall what has happened when there is no rule of law.”
Rule of law implies respect for fundamental civil rights and procedural norms and requires that these transcend the outcome of any given election. In a democracy, the election returns cannot affect protections for freedom of speech, freedom of the press, or the independence of the judiciary.  New leaders, regardless of how broad their electoral mandate, should neither call these norms into question nor threaten the rights of any citizens, including those who supported a losing candidate. Respect for the rule of law encourages peaceful transitions of democracy.
A defeated candidate who refuses to accept election results will find himself lacking support, as citizens instead will view such a candidate as a lawbreaker and definitely a threat to their shared civil culture.
Citizens are less likely to support revolts or to back candidates who refuse to accept election results  in a country where legal processes are respected and the state is seen as legitimate. In the United States, an independent judiciary, with the US Supreme Court as the highest authority, has the ultimate responsibility for ensuring the government respects the rule of law and that all citizens are treated equally under the law. This is what we expected from Nigeria’s Supreme Court and the judiciary as an autonomous entity.
The US Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kenndy during the American Bar Association’s International Rule of Law symposium on November 11, 2005, outlined what he believed were the three major components of the rule of law, which include, “the government is bound by the law, all people are treated equally under the law and the law recognizes that in each person, there is a core of spirituality and dignity and humanity.”
At the conclusion of the 2015 elections, the electorate expected a forward march towards infrastructural development, provision of social amenities, job creation, among others. The country has been on a stand-still with complaints here and there. The newly elected leaders needed to have settled down for work to bring the desired change as proclaimed by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). But rather than this, visionary governors, such as Chief (Barrister) Ezenwo Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, are being distracted by those who have nothing to offer due to their selfish tendencies and greed, just to fan the embers of disunity.
Now is the time for Nigeria’s leaders and its people to come together and build the future that they deserve-a multiparty democracy that addresses the aspirations of all Nigerians, especially its youth, who did so much to make recent elections a success and will define the nation’s future. As African’s most populous country, Nigeria can show what is possible when people of different parties, ethnicities and faith backgrounds come together to seek peace, provide for their families and give their children a better future.
Today, Nigerians have an opportunity to move forward together and make their nation a model for Africa and ensure free, fair and peaceful elections devoid of violence.

Shedie Okpara