By Adefolarin A. Olamilekan
Elections into the thirteen local governments in Nasarawa State are billed to hold on 6th October 2021. This is believes to be one of the finest decision to engender democracy at the grassroots by the Governor Abdullahi Sule lead APC administration. Controversies as traded the inertial postponement of the polls in February and April date earlier in the year.
For many, the forthcoming LG polls exercise is politically, socially and economically necessarily going by the importance of local government administration in Nigeria. The elections time table was released on 7th July signifying electoral process that demand active preparation and campaign machinery setting in motion all over the 13 local governments and 147 electoral wards in the state.
With a mushroom of appreciation, the Nasarawa State Government deserves commendation for putting all resource in place in conducting local elections. Importantly, it must also be noted that we anticipate the standard will not be short of public expectation. Nasarawa state has always pride itself as a modern state in North central geopolitical zone of Nigeria.
However, one of the key activities the state electoral umpire must ensure is to avoid hitches that would make registered citizens complained that they were disenfranchised by the Nasarawa State Independent Electoral Commission (NASIEC), the body charged with conducting the elections. Democracy is all about free will that thrives on the power of free expression and the ballot box is the sole determinant of who gets an office. Nobody should be compelled or prevented from exercising that inalienable right.
Ballot boxes and ballot papers and all sensitive materials must get to voting pulling unit on time, and we hope arrangement are already concluded with the National Union of Road Transport Union (NURTW) on movement of adhoc staffs and elections materials. Significantly, we want to enjoy NASIEC to do all in it best to encourage Voter turn-out and this would require serious media advocacy through all available media channels in the state from TV, Radio, Newspapers and Social Media platforms.
On the security situation in the country, especially banditry and kidnapping that has now compound our ways of life. We expect NASIEC should have a robust synergy with security agencies to protect voters, voting materials and as well as election observers and journalist. Mainly, Election Day in Nigeria has always been preceded by insensate violence in which lives could be lost and injuries as internal party wrangling created so much tension. This, in fact, would seem to be one of the setbacks of Nigeria’s democracy which is yet to be tamed. Since the first republic, implosions within parties have often snowballed into state-wide or nationwide violent crises in the form of pre-election violence, election violence and post election violence’s. The opposition parties especially the People Democratic Party has shown interest in participating in the election. Nevertheless, PDP latest protest on the nomination fee of N200, 000 for Ward councilors and N500, 000 for Chairman Position is generating another controversy off which we hope this would not be a ground not to participate in the polls.
Predictably, the reigning party in the state, the All Peoples’ Congress (APC) is expected to sweep the polls without ceding an inch to other parties. Nonetheless, democracy is a contest of ideas and programmes. It has the power to put a man in office just as it has the capacity to remove him. So, we expect a credible, free, and fair local government polls in Nasarawa state come 6th October, 2021, and less any change of date.
We expect active partisans in politics to recognize that the beauty of democracy is its competition that all parties play by the rules. Exterminating or intimidating voters, imposing incumbent office holders on the people are certainly antithetical to the tenets of government of the people by the people for the people that is the hall mark of democratic tents.
As a way forward in Nigeria, local government elections should be routinely conducted without violence. Resting on the mandate of political parties in the state has fielding candidates. The pre-election preparations, producing candidates through free and fair primaries as well as party endorsement must entail the promotion of internal democracy. The parties should practice internal democracy by allowing candidates to emerge fairly and the elections should be free and fair in order that democracy may thrive at the local level. It is only when the right examples are set with local government elections that Nigeria can rightly claim significant progress has been made in the experience with democracy. Candidates on their part must prepare to canvass for votes with inducing voters with monetary or materials gift in the form of vote buying. As a matter of facts all the political parties have to school themselves on how to manage internal democracy. Imposing candidates on the people who are then backed by hook and crook by party leaders and wealthy overlords will not strengthen democracy; instead it weakens the democratic culture. As beneficiaries would end up being loyal to their godfathers and not the electorate. This would continue to raise tension in the polity and hinder development. Voters also should be ready to exercise their voting right without selling it.
We are in era were the culture of imperial over-lordship by the state governors appointing interim administration in the local governments must stop. Local government election in Nigeria has become too sensitive as ‘godfathers’ often seek to ensure that their serfs win the seats. This is against the logic bringing government closer to the grassroots, local governments have virtually become appendages to the state governors and sundry power brokers in total contravention of democracy and its purpose. Thus securing the office is often a fight-to-finish for the powers-that-be. Once the chairmen and ward councilors are elected they become stooges to the bosses in the corridors of power. This is the reigning travesty of democracy in all the states of the federation from which Nasarawa state has sadly failed to exempt itself. But it should not be so. Additionally, election violators must be identified and made to face the full wrath of the law. Even, has we anticipate that the new electoral law and the Election Offenders Commission would be in place before the October LG polls, has this would straighten election proceedings in Nigeria.
