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
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday brushed aside the order of the Court of Appeal in Abuja which ordered him to stay proceedings in a suit that sought deregistration of the African Democratic Party (ADC), Accord Party and three others.
The Court of Appeal in a unanimous decision of a panel of three Justices had on May 22, 2026 directed the Federal High Court Judge not to proceed with the suit until an appeal pending before them and filed by Accord Party is resolved.
In a Certified True Copy Enrol Order of the Superior Court, Justices Mohammed Danjuma, Adebukola Banjoko and Oyejoju Oyewumi asked the lower Court Judge to stay proceedings until all issues on the appeal filed by the Accord Party were resolved
Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State had, through the Accord Party, applied to justice Lifu to join him as a defendant in the deregistration legal battle instituted by a group of former legislators.
The contention of the Osun State governor was that he had a stake in the Accord Party, being the platform he was seeking re-election in the August 15 gubernatorial poll in the state.
In his ruling, Justice Lifu on April 27 ruled against the Osun State governor, rejecting his request to be joined in the suit to defend his own position and interest.
Not satisfied with the Federal High Court decision, the Osun State governor, through his lawyer, Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), moved to the Court of Appeal in Abuja where he challenged the Justice Lifu decision to refuse to allow him join the suit.
After listening to the argument canvassed, especially that he has interest to protect as Accord Party gubernatorial candidate for Osun State governorship election, the three Justices of the Court of Appeal, unanimously directed Justice Lifu to allow them look into the grievances of the governor.
In specific terms, the Court of Appeal Justices directed Justice Lifu not to proceed further with the matter and fixed October 27 to determine the interlocutory appeal of the appellant.
However, when the certified enroll order and notice of appeal were served on Justice Peter Lifu by Mr Adetunbi (SAN), the judge rejected it on the ground that it was a ploy to arrest his judgment in the matter.
Although the judge had adjourned his judgment delivery in the matter indefinitely, he finally made a dramatic turn around on Monday and proceeded to deliver the judgment that has now proscribed the five political parties.
Actor turned politician, Mr Kenneth Okonkwo, has rejected the choice of former Rivers State Governor, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, as the running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in the 2027 presidential election on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
In a statement on Monday, Mallam Bolaji Abdulllahi, the National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, announced the party’s choice of Mr Amaechi.
However in a statement, Mr Okonkwo said that the choice of Mr Amaechi from the South South strengthens the continued marginalization of people from the South East.
According to the former spokesperson of the Labour Party, any arrangement that would not factor a person from the South East either as president or vice president in the party is anti-Igbo.
He contended that Chief Raph Nwosu, who founded the ADC in 2005 and willingly surrendered it’s leadership to Senator David Mark did not do so to entrench Igbo marginalization in the party.
The former actor said: “I heard from the social media that ADC has picked its vice presidential candidate from the South-South. If this is true, it is unfortunate, as this will continue the crude marginalisation of the South-East.
“This geo-political zone has neither produced a president or vice president since 1999. To deny the South-East the opportunity to produce the president or vice president in the ADC in 2027, will amount to perpetuating the marginalisation.
“The ADC was founded by Ralphs Nwosu from the South-East in 2005. He made the sacrifice to give up the party in 2025 for the coalition to usher in a better Nigeria. He couldn’t have made that sacrifice to marginalise his own people.
“I did not join the coalition to assist in marginalisation of my own people further. I am of the opinion that if we made a sacrifice to give up the national chairman and the president, it will amount to unpardonable injustice to deny us the vice president in 2027.
“I joined politics to fight for a better Nigeria where no region, geo-political zone, or person will be marginalised.
“The only favour I asked Atiku Abubakar, who openly declared that he is the pathway to the presidency of the South-East, is to show it by choosing someone from the South-East to be his vice.
“If it is confirmed that he has chosen a candidate from the South-South, I wish him well. I am not favourably disposed to campaigning for any presidential ticket that does not have a person of South-East origin as president or vice in 2027”
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, on Monday said that the numerous projects being executed by President Bola Tinubu across the states in the southeast will give him upper hand over other presidential candidates during next year’s general elections.
Prof. Yilwatda stated this at the Abakaliki Township Stadium during a mega rally organized by the Ebonyi State government and Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, during which President Tinubu and other APC candidates for the 2027 general elections were adopted.
According to the APC National Chairman, no President had done for the southeast region what President Tinubu has done for them and expressed the confidence that the president would not only win in Ebonyi State but in the entire South East.
Prof. Yilwatda also used the occasion to address growing insinuations in some quarters that Ebonyi State had been conceded to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Dismissing the claim, Prof. Yilwatda said the state would not allow the PDP to win any position in the forthcoming general election.
“We will return President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Francis Nwifuru as Governor of Ebonyi State in 2027.
“We want to return all APC senators, members of the House of Representatives and House of Assembly candidates in 2027.
“Nobody has conceded Ebonyi to the PDP. Therefore, there is no vacancy in Ebonyi State. Ebonyi PDP has no place, and there is no vacancy at all in the Government House come 2027,” the APC National Chairman declared.
He commended the people of the state for their support for President Tinubu and urged them to re-elect him in the next presidential election in appreciation of what he has done for the state and the entire South-East through infrastructural transformation and human capital development.
Governor Francis Nwifuru, who also spoke at the event, said the state had no other presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections apart from President Tinubu.
He declared that Ebonyi remained a stronghold of the APC and vowed that the party would deliver the President in the state.
Gov. Nwifuru said President Tinubu had shown exceptional commitment to the state and deserved total support for appointing Senator Umahi as Minister of Works, a role he said Senator Umahi had performed creditably.
“Ebonyi has no other presidential candidate apart from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and we will return him in the presidential election.
“We are standing here today to tell the whole world, especially those using the President’s name to orchestrate division and confusion in this great state, that we have only one party, and that is the APC.
“This statement became necessary because some people are going around claiming they have discussed with Mr President and that he has handed Ebonyi over to the PDP. They are also saying that Chief Nyesom Wike is their leader and that Wike said the President has given Ebonyi to him.
“Ebonyi is not for sale. We are restraining ourselves because the people are with us. Nobody should push us because we have what it takes to confront anyone trying to destabilise us.
“We want to tell Mr President that he has earned our votes. He gave us what we had never had in Eastern Nigeria — the office of the Minister of Works. And this Minister of Works is not sitting idle; he is working,” he stated.
Senator Umahi, in his remarks, said President Tinubu had done what no other President had done for Ebonyi State and the entire South-East by executing numerous projects across the state and the region.
“Ebonyi State is a one-party state under Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru. We are not going to repeat the mistakes of the past.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done a lot, not just for Ebonyi State but for the entire South-East and other geopolitical zones,” he said.