Lessons From Edo Poll

The recent Edo State governorship election has proved to be a turning point in the manage
ment of election in Nigeria, notwithstanding the few skirmishes and whirlwind it generated. For one, the outcome of the poll proved pundits wrong, that there is high possibility of having free, fair and violence-free election in the country.
There is no gainsaying the fact that before the curtain closed on the democratic soap opera that was the 2020 governorship election in Edo State on September 19, there were palpable fears of the election turning into war, going by dizzying and febrile campaigns, hate speeches and frightful political mudslinging that rent the political air.
Although the election was not without the usual voter apathy, alleged vote buying and inducement, physical assault and even death, it was adjudged to be better and fairer than most previous elections in the country, thus, raising the hope of a better electoral contest in the future.
Besides an improved management and conduct of the poll by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), there was also an obvious improvement in the activities of the security agencies compared to past elections, as the electorate were allowed to exercise their civic rights without fear of harassment or molestation.
The Tide commends both the electoral body and the security agencies for this feat and hopes that what we have witnessed in Edo State will not be an off-season procedure, but a new culture that will be imbibed and replicated in the Ondo State governorship election coming up next month, and indeed in future general elections.
We particularly applaud the use of virtual portal by INEC to upload results directly from the polling unit which made it impossible for electoral violators to hijack the electoral process. It is our hope that this innovation by INEC will gather more thresholds in future elections, including the October 10, 2020 Ondo governorship election.
However, we call on INEC to strengthen its processes for future elections, particularly in the area of card readers, to forestall the type of delays witnessed in accreditation of voters during the Edo election. The commission also has the onerous duty of addressing the worrying issues of vote-buying, multiple voting, election violence, among others.
Worthy of note is President Muhammadu Buhari’s impartial posture throughout the election. The President’s non-interference in the electoral process and his non-alignment to any contestant despite his political affiliation, are signs of political maturity and progress for the nation’s democracy. His pre-election charges to the political parties, their candidates and security agents to behave responsibly is as commendable as his advice to the winner of the contest, Governor Godwin Obaseki, to show grace and humility in victory. We urge the President to maintain this unbiased stance in future elections.
The quick intervention of the Oba of Benin, Eheneden Erediauwa II, prior to the election, most especially his fatherly role in moderating the conduct of actors, is also highly commendable. We recommend this royal gesture to other traditional rulers in the country.
We also commend the Abdulsalami Abubakar-led National Peace Initiative for facilitating the peace accord that eventually led to the peaceful conducts exhibited by all actors, including candidates and their supporters.
Meanwhile, The Tide notes the roles played by the international community towards ensuring free, fair and violence-free election in Edo State. Notable among them was the step taken by the United States and United Kingdom in banning electoral violators from visiting their countries. We restate our support for this restriction and urge these advanced democracies not to restrain on further sanctions against individuals who are bent on undermining our fledgling democracy.
We expect the Edo election to serve a loud, useful lesson to the “political godfathers” that power belongs only to God, which He confers through the people. This is because the outcome of the Edo election clearly shows that no matter how an individual strives to lord it over others, the will of God, through the people, will always prevail.
It is obvious that the uncertainty that preceded the Edo election was unnecessary and could have been averted if the political gladiators had not taken the election as a matter of life and death. It is imperative therefore, for politicians to regard every election as a mere window that provides opportunity to serve the people and not a do-or-die affair.
That the Edo election was finally concluded without rancour is a great relief and a big testimony that credible elections are possible in our country if all stakeholders play by the rules. We, therefore, urge INEC, the security agencies, politicians and other stakeholders in the nation’s electoral system to replicate the Edo example in Ondo State on October 10 in order to consolidate on the gains of the nation’s democracy.
We congratulate and commend the people of Edo State for their peaceful conduct while the election lasted. We also salute their resilience and resoluteness in ensuring that their votes counted. We advise the people of Ondo State to emulate this example by playing by the rules and ensuring that their wish prevails in the forthcoming election.
Also commendable is the spirit of sportsmanship displayed by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the first runner-up in the election, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu. We, however, admonish him to go beyond conceding defeat and congratulating his opponent. He should join hands with the governor in providing good governance for the people of Edo State. Such conduct will surely deepen the nation’s democracy.
Meanwhile, we congratulate Governor Obaseki and his new party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on this electoral triumph and urge him to be magnanimous in victory. His victory shows, without doubt, that he maintains a reasonable level of popularity among the people of Edo State and should strive to improve upon his first-term performance, in the next four years. He has a chance to prove that governors can do better in their second term.