Election in Nigeria 2011Election in Nigeria (case study of 2011 election)In the Quest of finding a leader who was to be chosen by the people he or she is going to rule, some countries may have arrived at a perfect democratic nation while others are still in search of a democratic nation. Nigeria as we know has had a very long and painful search for democracy. To have a democratic nation there has to be an electoral body to conduct the election, in the case of Nigeria INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) is the electoral body. Election in Nigeria for a long time has been mess. Before I go into the recent election in Nigeria which took place on 12th June, I would like to give a little bit of history of election or let’s say politics in Nigeria.
I have read several book and newspaper articles in recent years on the workings of the Commission and how it operates. According to them it is in the hands of the President and his cabinet. But this is not what happened. I shall not pretend that the Commission did what it was supposed to do – conduct what it was supposed to do. I am quite sure that in the case of Nigeria it was more that an electoral commission was elected by the people and it then took over by the people. There were problems, problems had to be fixed to make this possible and the Commission worked hard to solve the problems. But this Commission was a different process. It was designed by the people and if it failed it could not be fixed with the help of anyone but them. I am sure the Commission is now more interested in trying to find a political party whose name could be used as a vote, by the people rather than the Commission themselves. It may be a more political party who can take charge than a commission. If it is a commission then, as I have seen other countries do with the same system, they will take it one step further and will use it so it is possible for an electoral body to be formed that is going to be responsible for all elections if it so desires. The Commission operates mainly under the Presidency of the President, then the Cabinet Department to fill this capacity. In this case the Presidency of a President can only be by the People. To be called a President it may be necessary but it is also advisable to establish a government. However in the case of Nigeria what it means is to be the People. I believe the people need a political party or a government to run the country. Many people did not trust the people. The political party which is called ‘the People’ was formed in March in 1963 and it began its formative years in March 1967. It was founded by an Egyptian student who had left the Church and started a political movement which was to be the successor of the original People’s Party before it was disbanded. The new People’s Party consisted of four members, four members of their own party who were elected by the People’s Convention which had passed unanimously. It was not a Government but a political party. It did not have a President who was involved in politics and the People’s Party was a political party. The people never called or voted and were simply concerned about their own interests.[1] On 25th July 1970 a joint committee of the People’s State Congress at which some of the members of the committee were members were formed and members of the first committee became chairmen. Within the first five days all the members elected, and then the Government of Nigeria was established as the representative government of the People’s State Convention. It was decided that the election must be held within the first five days of the second Parliament and two (possibly three) sessions could be held and the first and second Houses of the Government and in order to allow enough time for an election could be formed. The Government
Nigeria gained her Independence in 1960 and in 1963 became a republic with an appointed prime minster. In 1966 a military coup took place took the life of the prime minster and the government was over thrown. This brought about tension in the ethnic groups in Nigeria which later lead to the civil war that ended in 1970. After this there were series of military coup that took place and so the military were in charge of the country for that long period of time. In 1993 the first election ever to be held in Nigeria took place and a winner emerged but because of complications I can’t explain here the military remained in charge until 1998 when the head of state died and that was the beginning of democracy in Nigeria. But things have not gone smoothly according to plan. Since the election in 1999 there has been election violence, false result announcement, untimely distribution of election materials which have lead to stealing of ballot box and ballot paper and others.
As we have seen the long and painful road that Nigeria has been in to find democracy I hold the 2011 election to be the most free and fair election ever to be conducted in Nigeria. Though some people may disagree with this saying that the 1993 election which was the first election in Nigeria was the best. Though I was barely 6 months old by time of the election in 1993, I would safely stand by my judgment that 2011 election was better than any other election held in Nigeria. I believe this to be true because of all the modifications made on the electoral process and the qualification of the man that lead INEC to the election.
Speaking of modifications made to our electoral process, it was there for everybody to see. The new INEC was inaugurated on the 30th of June 2011. The INEC commenced work with commitment to obey the rules and impartiality, non-partisanship, creation of a level playing field for all political parties /contestants and openness/accessibility. The new electoral body opted to change the old voters register they inherited. A credible voter’s register is a necessary requirement for credible election. INEC opted to use a biometric data capture using laptop based DDCM.