- Identify vote-buying, violence during polls as factors weakening democracy
- Edo will be last election APC will win – PDP
Stakeholders have identified worsening vote-buying and violence during elections as factors weakening democracy in the country, saying if it is not checked, the country may be dominated by one political party.
The fear is being expressed as the ruling All Progressives Congress continues to grab more states in its kitty.
Recall that out of the three states – Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa – that contested governorship elections in November, last year, candidates of APC, Hope Uzodimma of Imo and Usman Ododo of Kogi won the polls while PDP candidate, Duoye Diri of Bayelsa was able to retain the governorship seat.
With the result of the Edo governorship elections favouring the ruling party, APC has increased the numbers of states under its controls.
The national chairman of the party, Umar Ganduje, has also promised that the party will win the forthcoming Ondo and Anambra States’ elections.
However, stakeholders have expressed worry that the country is inching towards a one-party state.
They described vote-buying and violence as factors making elections to be controversial and lacking credibility in the country.
Speaking in an interview with The Point, Victor Akande, the Osun State chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council, the umbrella body of registered political parties in Nigeria, identified people who buy and sell votes as threats to the nation’s nasty democracy, saying until the menace is tackled headlong, the nation may not experience true electoral process that would acceptable to all.
Akande exonerated the Independent National Electoral Commission amid allegations of rigging against the commission, insisting that with the technological advancement in the nation’s electioneering process; it has become difficult for political parties or candidates to manipulate results.
“We all know what happened in Edo. Even in Shaibu’s hometown alone, we know the very high margin of votes that Shaibu got for APC and if that had been added to PDP votes, would APC have won? Also, look at Oshiomole’s local government; look at the chunk of votes from there. So, the PDP is just crying foul”
Insisting that politically motivated violence during elections has been a major threat to the nation’s democracy, he said crisis and vote-buying are tools employed by political parties to grab power from contenders.
He maintained that the electoral umpire is not to be blamed for the victory of APC in Edo, saying, “What happened in Edo, we will need to discuss whether the election is credible, free and fair or if there is any violations or non-compliance with any extant laws that are guiding our electoral process. As far as INEC is concerned to the best of my knowledge, they have improved their abilities to carry out their mandate and they have improved technologically which made it difficult to rig elections. It is not easy to rig an election again as far as this country is concerned.”
Reiterating the need for violence and vote-buying to be addressed squarely, the Osun State Chairman of Accord, said, “The only area where we need to work on in order to make our elections credible, fair and free is in the area of vote-buying and violence. In the area of electoral umpire, they have done their best, it is not easy for them to rig an election. The issue now lies on the politicians. They should play according to rules. The factors that affected Edo election is the division within the PDP, the infighting among Governor Obaseki and his deputy, Philip Shaibu, lack of understanding between the sitting governor and the Obas of Benin.
These are factors that played out, that made the election go that way. We have never had any outcry from citizens of Edo, we have only had outcries from the politicians.
“So, it is the vote-buying that plays the role of which we need to fight. These are the two things bedeviling our democracy, violence and vote-buying. For the umpire, I will give them kudos because they are trying their best. It is not easy to rig elections as far as our electoral process is concerned again. The only thing politicians are using now is violence and vote-buying.”
Reacting to Ganduje’s boast of APC winning Ondo and Anambra forthcoming polls, Akande stated, “As far as I am concerned, every party can boast of winning elections. So, APC can boast because they won in Edo and that doesn’t mean they will win future elections. We all know what happened in Edo. Even in Shaibu’s hometown alone, we know the very high margin of votes that Shaibu got for APC and if that had been added to PDP votes, would APC have won? Also, look at Oshiomole’s local government; look at the chunk of votes from there. So, the PDP is just crying foul.”
He disclosed that IPAC would soon begin sensitisation against vote-buying and violence in the country, starting from Osun, noting that the council would be aggressively moving campaigns against the menace.
“The major thing is for all stakeholders to fight against vote-buying and violence because they are really wrecking our democracy. The people of the country should guide their conscience in deciding whosoever will lead us. I am personally against violence and vote-buying and very soon, precisely, next month, IPAC in Osun will start a serious campaign against violence and vote-buying. You know we have local government elections coming up next year and we want to sensitise Nigerians, especially the citizens of the state. We will also organise symposiums for political leaders and we will discuss the effect of these on our democracy. We will also launch campaigns on media outlets because these violence and vote-buying are robbing Nigerians of the dividends of democracy.
“So, I don’t believe that we will have one party ruling Nigeria. All that I know is that it is not easy to rig elections like before. But when people have already taken their dividends of democracy from politicians before they get to power, what else do they want those elected to do after elections? We the citizens need behavioural change if we will have true democratic experience in the country, not just pointing accusing fingers on leaders,” he submitted.
In his remarks, Kolapo Alimi, Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment in the state, asked APC to forget winning any further elections in the country because the party has failed the people.
The chieftain of the PDP said it would be difficult, if not impossible for the ruling party in the country to campaign for any elections moving forward, not to talk of winning any polls, judging by the widespread complaints of hunger and hardship in Nigeria.
“The APC can say anything but the people know the truth. What indices are they placing their hallucinations on? What parameters do they have to say they would win Osun or any other state for that matter? They are talking of winning elections in the midst of this hunger, hardship and pain in the country?
“I want you to write this down, with the way things are in the country, no APC politician will be bold to campaign starting from next year not to talk of winning an election. Even in 2022 in Osun when we won, we won with a very wide margin. Is it now that we have turned Osun around with a plethora of projects that the APC now wants to dislodge us?
“There is nothing like one party in Nigeria with the very woeful performance of APC. President Bola Tinubu even knows that he cannot talk of a second term, not with the way he has disappointed his supporters and the entire citizens.
“Everyone who is familiar with Edo politics and some things that might have happened underground would not be surprised at the outcome of the Edo election. So, APC should stop day-dreaming about winning Osun or any other state for that matter,” he stated.
Although the recently conducted Edo State governorship election may have been won by Nigeria’s ruling party, the All Progressives Congress, the party’s victory, however, has underscored the fears held by many Nigerians that the country could be turning into a one-party state.
The Edo State election, which has given more credence to the meteoric rise and popularity of the APC in Nigeria, also highlights, according to analysts, the ease with which the party has been scoring victories in federal, state and local government elections under the direction of Bola Tinubu, the President of Nigeria who doubles as the national leader of the APC.
Once known as the perennial underachievers of Nigerian politics, the APC played second fiddle to the then might and popularity of its more established and illustrious rival political party, the People’s Democratic Party, which was in power from 1999 to 2015.
The PDP started out as Nigeria’s dominant party in 1999 and rode roughshod over the other political parties. The PDP was also the party to beat and a former national chairman of the party, Vincent Ogbulafor, even said that the party would rule Nigeria for 60 years.
For that and many other reasons, the PDP was accused of being brash and full of braggadocio. But in its characteristic fashion, the party was not bothered about the smear campaign.
It did not also take too long before the PDP was accused of having a plan to turn Nigeria into a one-party state, an allegation that the party continued to refute until it was sacked by an alliance of opposition political parties.
In 2015, there was a changing of the guard. The APC miraculously beat the PDP in the presidential race, and since then, the party (APC) has remained in power to this day.
Funnily enough, the APC was also accused of turning Nigeria into a one-party state after the 2019 general elections. However, the party, in 2020, blamed it on the ineptitude of the PDP that was battling multiple defections of its members to the APC.
The APC even challenged any other “viable” opposition party to take over the role of main opposition party from the PDP.
“It is disheartening that the PDP is pushing Nigeria into a largely one-party state. As a party that believes in democracy and progressive politics, the APC does not subscribe to this.
“We, therefore, challenge other opposition political parties to take the place of the PDP because even as the governing party, we recognize the importance of rigorous and intelligent interrogation of our policies and programmes by the opposition which the PDP has woefully failed to do,” the party stated.
Of course, the PDP, through a party chieftain, Adolphus Wabara, later made a counterclaim. He said the defections in the PDP were orchestrated by the APC to accomplish a one-party state.
Wabara, at another time, also said that the survival of Nigeria’s democracy was tied to the survival of the embattled party.
He said, “If PDP goes under, definitely, democracy will go under in Nigeria. We know that there are plans to turn this country into a one-party state, but that will only happen when we allow it.
“So, we must fight for democracy in Nigeria, and it is only the PDP that can do that.”
Now in its ninth year as Nigeria’s governing party, the APC has taken on, all over again, the identity of a political party planning on turning Nigeria into a one-party state.
Although the opposition has consistently alluded to such ploy, this fear may have been heightened by the election in Edo State that the APC won.
This is because after the gubernatorial poll, which was contested mainly between Monday Okpebholo of the APC, Asuerinme Ighodalo of the PDP and Olumide Akpata of the Labour Party, Tinubu was viewed to have inadvertently affirmed the “one-party state” concerns through an “unstatesmanlike” promise he once made.
As it were, when Okpebholo emerged as the victor in the hotly contested election, Tinubu fulfilled an old campaign promise he made in 2022 before he became President, and the opposition in Edo State is livid about this and not letting it slide.
As a matter of fact, in May 2022 when he (Tinubu) was still campaigning to be the flag bearer of the APC in last year’s presidential election, the former Lagos State Governor had told Edo State voters that as President, he would “give” Edo State back to them.
“You know me well. You know Adams Oshiomhole well,” Tinubu said in Edo State as he received rapturous support from the party faithful.
“We are still going to fight further. Don’t worry, we are with you. You will not walk alone. One thing that I can assure you is this; do you want Edo back?
“I think the Edo State election was the wish of the people. No one or political party influenced the votes. Yes, the election might not have been perfect, but overall, it was free, fair and credible”
“As the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I will give Edo back to you.
“Edo will become beautiful. And if not more beautiful than Lagos, it will be equal to Lagos. Be assured of that,” Tinubu added.
Following the victory of the APC in the September 21 governorship election, this controversial promise made by Tinubu is now being revisited and is already stirring not a little controversy in the polity.
Among those who could not be prevented from venting their displeasure on the outcome of the election in Edo State, is the Deputy Director General of the PDP Governorship Election Campaign Council, Olu Martins.
Martins said, “The president wants to turn this nation to a one-party state, because, this is not an election, this is state capture.
They captured the security agents, they captured the INEC.
“We hold the president of Nigeria responsible for this sham that happened in Edo State.
“Because when he made that unstatesmanlike statement that ‘I will give Edo state to you,’ he backed it up with ‘I am the President and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and it was a clear invitation to anarchy.”
A Lagos-based political analyst, Solomon Usanga, told The Point, “It is unacceptable that ruling parties, whether APC or PDP, always want to turn the country to a one-party state. It happens all the time and it is not good for our democracy.
“If you study the Nigerian situation critically, you will realise that it is the Independent National Electoral Commission that is usually the cause of these one-party state issues.
“INEC has a lot of sober reflection to do. Almost every Nigerian knows that most of the time, the electoral body conducts elections to favour only the ruling party.
“You will find a situation where all the agents of the various parties say that there were widespread irregularities during an election, but INEC will simply wave them aside, telling aggrieved parties to go to court.
They did it during the presidential election last year. They asked everyone to go to court because they know that the judiciary will not be of much help to anyone.”
Another analyst, Emmanuel Oviri, said, “I think the Edo State election was the wish of the people. No one or political party influenced the votes. Yes, the election might not have been perfect, but overall, it was free, fair and credible.
“About the promise Tinubu made to Edo voters that he would give them the state, it was just a political gimmick to win votes during the APC primary. The President did not pocket the police or INEC in Edo State.”
