The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Prince Uche Secondus, recently said that the party had lost confidence in the Independent National Electoral Commission and the security agencies, and that the party was consulting with its relevant organs and reviewing the outcome of the recent Ekiti governorship election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission, with a view to boycotting the 2019
polls.
Secondus, who was receiving a Joint International Election Observation Mission fielded by two American international civil agencies, the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute recently at the party’s headquarters in Abuja, alleged that the PDP contested against the INEC and the security agencies at the Ekiti election, and not against the All Progressives Congress.
The politics of the First Republic featured election boycotts and thus resulted in political violence, particularly in the South-West, leaving ugly scars on the zone’s socio-political history, till date. Owners of many of the houses burnt during the political mayhem in the Western Region never recovered from the losses and their attendant trauma
The statement by the PDP chairman is not only worrisome but also capable of spelling political doom for the country and giving a dangerous dimension to Nigeria’s democratic experience, as another round of polls beckons.
While it is indubitable that the PDP is sufficiently displeased with the conduct of the Ekiti election as to make the party get infuriated, it is equally important that politicians must resist the temptation of making inflammatory statements capable of heating up the polity, knowing that there are veritable channels open to seek redress. The political players must, therefore, be careful in the way they go about politicking, especially between now and March
next year.
On its part, the INEC must be conscious of its delicate position as an umpire in the elections. It must be seen by all Nigerians to be unbiased and non-partisan in any form, while conducting elections.
It must also conduct the polls strictly in accordance with the provisions of the electoral law. Anything that detracts from this thus exposes the INEC to sordid accusations and this can in tow affect the credibility of elections conducted by the electoral
body.
There is nothing wrong if a political party embarks on alignment and realignment of forces as it faces a coming election. It is also a good thing if a political party learns one or two things from the Ekiti election and decides to consult widely on what steps it should take to position itself for the 2019 elections. It is, however, wrong for any political party to consider the option of boycotting the 2019 elections for a number of reasons. First, boycotting election is inimical to democracy and could throw the political landscape in chaos, especially in a country like Nigeria, where the majority of the people is impoverished and more than 60 per cent of such can be found among the youth; youngsters that could easily be drawn into negative political activism such as thuggery and other violent acts like pillaging, arson and killing.
Secondly, the politics of the First Republic featured election boycotts and thus resulted in political violence, particularly in the South-West, leaving ugly scars on the zone’s socio-political history, till date. Owners of many of the houses burnt during the political mayhem in the Western Region never recovered from the losses and their attendant trauma.
There is no doubting that Nigeria has had more than its share of political violence and crises in the past. Such crises and violence have, to a large extent, denied the country the opportunity of having accelerated political and economic development. Political leaders must, therefore, engage in the politicking that is devoid of violence. They must play by the rules and refrain from doing anything that will ignite political violence in the country.
In addition, other countries, particularly those in the western world, are watching Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and most populous country, to see how it will manage its election, knowing well that whatever happens in Nigeria politically has a tendency to go round and be replicated by other African countries. As such, political leaders in Nigeria should not provide excuses for other African countries to copy political violence from
Nigeria.
We, therefore, caution that boycott is not the right answer to allegations of rigging, as it is capable of spelling doom for the country’s nascent democracy and truncating democratic governance in the country.
The electoral law has provided recourse to the court of law as the right thing to do by all those who are displeased by the result of elections. Rather than boycotting the rest of the election, we
advise that the PDP should seek redress in the law court. That is the right thing
to do and that is what it should do, if it feels aggrieved by INEC’s conduct of the last election in Ekiti
State.
