by Rotimi Fasan
Nobody with some knowledge of Nigerian politics would be surprised by the outcome of the so-called election that took place in Anambra on November 16. The result of the charade which has been declared inconclusive by INEC was always going to end up as such.
This was not because that was the only outcome possible. No, not in the least. But the determination of APGA symbolised by the outgoing governor of the State, Peter Obi, to hold on to power could never have produced a result different from what we now have today. This is terrible for a man whose path to power ought to have taught him some lessons in fair play.
But fair play is the most unlikely attribute of a Nigerian politician. Given the harmful use of what is known as the power of incumbency in our parts of the world, perhaps, APGA could still have won the election even if narrowly. But the fact that the other parties, especially APC, paraded candidates whose names carry some weight no doubt led APGA down the path of devilry, leaving it no use for caution.
That APC had a formidable candidate in the person of Chris Ngige, a former governor of Anambra State and now a senator on the APC platform, definitely made matters more complicated for APGA.
This goaded it into leaving ‘no stone unturned’ in its effort to win the election, including taking its campaign into a religious camp and thereby causing the death of at least 27 people, dispensable fodder in its power mongering.
The Adoration Ground deaths for which Gov Obi should bear full responsibility, even though he has failed to do this, only promising to pick the medical expenses of the injured aside setting up a panel of inquiry into the sordid affair- the disaster at this religious camp-turned-political rally foreshadowed the extent to which Obi would go to hold on to power by proxy. No option was foreclosed. And in this, the party appeared to have enjoyed the tacit support of INEC.
What more is there to say about INEC other than the fact that its role as an impartial umpire following the 2011 elections now looks overhyped? It has progressively failed to live up to expectation and followed the path of previous electoral bodies before it such as the Federal Electoral Commission and the National Electoral Commission of Nigeria. With polls in no less than 208 units cancelled by official account, one wonders what credibility can be attached to votes in the many other units declared satisfactory.
After the annulment of the June 12 elections, Nigerians have been very wary of polls cancellation. This has left the field clear for electoral fraudsters to operate, knowing outcomes of cancelled polls are often fraught and even more contentious than what led to them. But which is better, to turn a blind eye to electoral frauds or to insist on the sanctity and integrity of the electoral process? The latter option is in my view the better and appropriate choice.
In a situation as Nigerians find themselves in Anambra the role of a supposed impartial arbiter as INEC ought to be clear, to be on the side of probity.
But this appears too much to ask of a body that sees itself as the sidekick of the ruling parties in the states or Abuja. INEC seems to have abdicated its role of impartial arbiter implicit in the ‘independent’ bit of its name for that of an appendage of the party that controls any of the state where it operates. The reason for this is obvious.
It is less demanding and indeed far rewarding to align with the powers-that-be than to function as an impartial judge of impeccable repute with nothing by way of material reward which only a ‘ruling’ party can adequately provide.
Where INEC has failed, as is obviously the case now, one ought to expect that Abuja would try to be upright without usurping the powers of the courts which INEC says has authority to void elections. But Abuja is under the control of a rival party, the PDP, which is more at home with its dog-in-the- manger role right now.
The PDP knows the only party able to give APGA a real run for its money and possibly beat it at its own game in Anambra is APC. But it would rather have APGA retain Anambra by both fair and fouls means than see APC spread its tentacles at a time it, the PDP, is reeling from internal combustion.
The impasse in Anambra requires statesmen not mere politicians. The PDP government, even President Goodluck Jonathan, must therefore learn to view events leading to the 2015 election in less partisan light because even though theirs is one of several political parties, it has a historic duty it must not balk as the face of Nigerian democracy.
The event in Anambra has highlighted the fault line in our electoral process where members of the electoral body assume partisan responsibilities and work in the pay of rival political parties.
It is a shame that in spite of the promises by INEC to live up to its arbiter role and the overt militarisation of a civil process by Abuja, all in a bid to convince the skeptical of its good faith and determination to ensure respect for the electoral process- in spite of its display of good faith, INEC managed to sabotage itself. Cases of missing electoral registers, missing names of registered voters and late or non-provision of electoral materials are means through which electoral frauds are increasingly perpetrated by INEC.
This is a dangerous and unacceptable trend that must be addressed now or we would have laid the foundation, yet again, for the reversal of what few steps have been taken in our march towards constitutional democracy in the post-military years.
