Welcome
to the new Nigeria! Sequel to the general elections held on March 28
and April 11, 2015 in the country, power has finally changed hands from
one political party to another at the centre as well as in many states.
The
routing of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party by the main opposition
party, the All Progressives Congress, which began on March 28 was
completed on April 11. During the first leg of the polls, the APC
defeated the PDP at the presidential, senatorial and House of
Representatives elections. By the results of governorship election thus
far released as of Monday, April 13, 2015 by the Independent National
Electoral Commission, the APC has won in 19 states namely Sokoto, Kebbi,
Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna, Jigawa, Kano, Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, Adamawa,
Plateau, Benue, Kwara, Niger, Nasarawa, Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states. The
PDP has only managed to win in seven states. They are Rivers, Gombe,
Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Delta states. Unfortunately,
elections were stalemated and declared inconclusive in three states –
Abia, Imo and Taraba. It will be recalled that there were no
governorship elections in seven states – Kogi, Bayelsa, Ondo, Osun, Edo,
Ekiti and Anambra.
These elections had thrown
up a number of firsts. It is the first time in this Fourth Republic
(i.e. 1999 to 2015) that the PDP would lose power at the centre and many
of the states (Both executive and legislative arms). It is the first
time two deputy governors would be elected governors to succeed their
principals. This happened in Kano and Ebonyi states. It is the first
time three governorship elections will be declared inconclusive. It is
the first time an opposition political party would defeat the ruling
party in states like Kaduna, Niger, Katsina, Adamawa, Plateau, and
Benue. It is the first time peace accords would be signed by political
parties and their candidates contesting presidential and governorship
elections.
Furthermore, it is the first time many candidates
would concede defeat and call to congratulate the winners. This happened
first at the national level when President Goodluck Jonathan called to
congratulate Muhammadu Buhari on March 31, 2015. This exemplary conduct
had been emulated by defeated governorship candidates in Niger, Benue,
Adamawa, Lagos, Kaduna, and Oyo States. It is also the first time so
many incumbent governors will lose their senatorial ambitions to the
opposition party. This happened in Adamawa, Niger, Bauchi, Kebbi and
Benue. Lastly, it is the first time that an incumbent governor would win
re-election in Oyo State. That feat was performed by Governor Abiola
Ajimobi of Oyo State.
At the level of the Independent National
Electoral Commission, it is the first time machine readable Permanent
Voter Cards and Smart Card Readers would be used. On a lighter note, it
is interesting to note that the two frontline governorship candidates in
Sokoto State were brothers-in-law. I learnt the governor-elect who is
also the incumbent Speaker of the House of Representatives is married to
the younger sister of the PDP governorship candidate, Ambassador
Abdallah Wali. It was also reported that the governor-elect in Niger
State, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, will be sworn in by his
mother-in-law, Justice Fati Abubakar, who is said to be the state’s
Chief Judge. Well, congratulations to all the winners of the March 28
and April 11 polls. I wish them all fruitful and successful tenures in
office.
As the curtain draws on the elections, a number of
issues need to be dealt with. It is saddening that many lives are still
being lost to election-related violence. The APC in Rivers State alleged
that about 55 of its members had been murdered prior to the April 11
governorship poll. Some few lives were again lost last Saturday while
multimillion naira properties were also destroyed. INEC in a press
statement released on April 12 said, inter-alia, that, “Overall, many
parts of the country remained relatively peaceful during the elections.
Some states, however, recorded a significant number of violent
incidents, the most affected being Rivers, AkwaIbom, Cross River, Ebonyi
and Ondo states. INEC’s records show that there were 66 reports of
violent incidents targeted at polling units, the Commission’s officials,
voters and election materials. These were in Rivers State (16
incidents), Ondo (eight), Cross River and Ebonyi (six each), Akwa Ibom
(five), Bayelsa (four), Lagos and Kaduna (three each), Jigawa, Enugu,
Ekiti and Osun (two each), Katsina, Plateau, Kogi, Abia, Imo, Kano and
Ogun (one each).” Some deaths had also been recorded in Taraba State
after the violent protests of April 13, 2015.
INEC during its
forthcoming post-election audit retreat should do well to find lasting
solutions to the glitches still being experienced on the Smartcard
Readers and logistic challenges. Distribution of the PVCs should resume
forthwith to enable those who still have interest to collect their cards
to so do. Public enlightenment on how to transfer registration details
by those who are interested in doing so should also be embarked on.
Now
that we sought change of government and we have had our noble heart
desires granted, our job as the electorate have not ended. In fact, it
just began. We need to set an agenda for the incoming administration
both at the centre and at the state levels. We need to hold our newly
elected representatives to account. We need to demand the implementation
of their campaign promises. We need to revisit their party manifestoes
and start to demand of them full actualisation of those promises. There
are several ways we can do this: Through advocacy visits, newspaper
articles and letters to the editor, press releases, press conferences,
memoranda and petitions to their constituency offices, town hall
meetings, newspaper advertorials, social media commentaries, peaceful
street protests, etc. Impeachment and recall are also two legal
instruments we can use to bring an unpopular and failing government down
rather than tolerating four years of maladministration.
My own
agenda to the incoming APC administration at the centre is that the new
government should not throw away the baby with the bathwater. It should
audit all the ongoing projects of the Federal Government, study all
committee reports and continue with the good ones while discontinuing
with the bad ones. I want Buhari to run a small government. We don’t
need a cabinet of 42 ministers. Yes, the constitution recommends that
each state should have a representative in the Federal Executive
Council, the ceiling of that should be 36. The incoming administration
should discontinue with sponsorship of pilgrimages to Holy Lands be it
Hajj or Isreal. He should do well to sell off the 11 aircraft in the
presidential fleet and retain only two. The APC government should not
only fight corruption but should be seen to do so without minding whose
ox is gored. The culture of impunity should be broken in our society.
Perpetrators of electoral violence should be investigated, arrested and
prosecuted. Oil theft should be decisively dealt with the same for the
insurgency plaguing the country. The perennial problem of the energy
sector (oil and gas as well as electricity) should be solved. Best
wishes in your new Herculean assignments.
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