Osun guber poll as litmus test for 2023

Except anything goes wrong mid way which we do not envisaged, it is certain that the forth coming 2023 general election in the country will generate the most interest, turnout, indulgence and participation going by the current outpouring of emotions, empathy and interest of most Nigerians.

 

It may have been late in coming but the fact is now more evident that majority of citizens, having been traumatized by avalanche of oddities which define the Nigerian political and governance landscape are now more than ever before willing to actively participate in the processes leading to the election of their leaders with particular emphasis on who becomes the next president of the country at the exit of President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29, 2023.

 

Consequently, we make bold to challenge the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to urgently engage and indeed deploy its best personnel and equipment towards achieving near perfection of its processes, procedures and mandates in its organization and supervision of the forth coming off season governorship election in the State of Osun which is scheduled for Saturday July 16, 2022.

 

We are making such demand because of what transpired in the recently held governorship election in Ekiti State where troubling issues which ordinarily should be consigned to the past were allowed to prevail during the exercise and unfortunately to determine the future of the people.

 

In our view, that must not repeat itself because the State of Osun governorship election is very important as it will serve as INEC’s final litmus test before the 2023 general election which most Nigerians expect to use as the crucial turning point needed in negotiating a new beginning and their future where the electorate will decide who governs them in four years.

 

Much as the commission had tried to modify its systems and strategies toward allowing the vote of the electorate to count, the recently concluded Ekiti State governorship election points to the fact that there is still an urgent need for the umpire  to work the talk considering the bare face deployment of illegal means of winning election such as vote buying, intimidation of voters, the use of political thugs, the docility of the security agencies some of whom allegedly aided the commission of the electoral offences.

 

We strongly demand that the National Assembly urgently conclude work on the proposed Bill for the establishment of Electoral Offences Commission and Electoral Offences Tribunal now before the legislature ahead of the 2023 general election.

 

Although we commend INEC in the areas of voter verification, accreditation and seamless voting processes as well as functional Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BIVAS), we insist it strives towards attaining near perfection of the system before next year which many believe will serve as watershed in the history of elections in Nigeria where votes are expected to count and be accounted for.

 

“Sadly, the undue monetization of election and electioneering processes in the country which starts from the sale of expression of interest and nomination forms at prohibitive costs by the political parties to the selection of candidates by delegates at primaries and the main election must henceforth be controlled by the imposition of appropriate legal sanctions on offenders by relevant authorities and a better place to start should be the Osun governorship election if only to encourage voter participation as opposed to voter apathy witnessed in the past”.

 

In our view therefore, the nation is not lacking in laws and regulations to sanction electoral offences except that there have been a high level conspiracy on the part of political leaders who erroneously assume that they are above the law to the extent that they can acquire and indeed control the very institutions established to moderate their excesses. This is why we challenge both INEC and law enforcement agencies to be more alive to their statutory responsibilities in containing such malfeasance to achieve a hitch-free and credible polls.

 

In the State of Osun where intense grassroots campaign by political parties and candidates, allegations and counter allegations as well as inter party defections have characterized the build up to the July 16 governorship election, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are no doubt seen as the frontline political parties contesting the governorship election even though there could be surprises.

 

The two leading parties have recently been joined by the hitherto little known Accord Party (AP) since a former PDP governorship aspirant, Dr. Akin Ogunbiyi, defected and emerged its gubernatorial candidate. But 15 out of the 18 registered political parties in the country will be slugging it out at the  contest because INEC had in May disqualified three political parties from participating in the exercise when it  accused the parties of not complying with its guidelines on political party operations.

 

However, the fact that turnout of voters in the Ekiti election was only 360,753 voters as against the 988,923 registered voters  representing a disappointing 36.5 per cent, the lowest in the state since 2003 when turnout was 43.5 per cent and 2014 which recorded 49.1 per cent, demands that enlightenment efforts must be intensified not only by the National Orientation Agency, NOA but the INEC, media and parties to encourage massive turnout in the Osun and 2023 general elections.

 

We particularly challenge the Commission to use the Osun poll as the much needed litmus test  to motivate  the electorates into believing in the system to warrant their trooping out to cast their votes for their preferred candidates and defend such mandate.

 

Towards  this end, we commend the humility, responsiveness and patriotism of INEC to bow to public opinion on the need to extend the voter registration indefinitely as opposed to its initial position of stopping the exercise on June 30. It is also a truism that continuous voter registration will certainly eliminate the current crowd and frustration associated with the exercise at almost all the registration points across the country.

 

INEC’s capacity to bring more Nigerians into its register no doubt is one sure way of increasing the number of voters to exercise their franchise considering the dwindling voter turnout ratio to the actual number of registered electorates recorded in Ekiti. It now behooves on the electoral umpire to device more efficient ways of delivering the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to new registrants in record time.

 

It is heartwarming to observe the steady decline in electoral violence nationwide  since the gradual deployment of electronic voting equipment starting from the governorship polls in Edo, Anambra and Ekiti states hence the urgent need for  INEC to step up its activities in readiness for the Osun election if only to send a strong positive signal that the 2023 general election will be a complete break from the past where there will be zero tolerance for such malpractices as thuggery, vote buying, ballot box snatching and manipulation of results with  the introduction of electronic transmission of all results.

 

 

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