By Boma Nwuke
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had in February announced calendar for the 2023 election.
According to the commission, Presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on the 23rd of February while Governorship election will be conducted on 11th March.
A total of sixteen registered parties will be jostling to make gains at the polls, but history has shown that not all parties succeed at the polling stations.
While one or two parties record bumper victories,a good number of those labelled as parties,do not have the wherewithal that necessitates breakthroughs at the polls.
Globally, several factors determine the conduct and outcomes of election be it local or national,.Some of the determinants are Finance, credentials of the candidate,Fame and Personality .
The same factors not only prevail in Nigeria but dominant . although the mode of operation differs. . In some countries of the world where democracy is securely entrenched, money is spent on logistics and sundry items that swell the chances of the candidate. Campaigns are also focused on issues that upgrade Welfare, Medicare, insurance Employment, Taxes, Education to mention but a few.
But in Nigeria, the choices of what a candidate should do or not pre- election is a prerogative of the electorates..For instance, a House of Assembly or National Assembly aspirant has his destiny in the hands of his constituents as every given problem including marriages, child dedication and christening and burial of close and far relatives become his responsibility.
This ,is in addition to logistics he would provide wherever his campaign train berths.
Frankly, election in Nigeria is not easy as it comes with a heavy price.
For instance, the 2023 elections is estimated to gulp a total . of Three Hundred and five billion naira (N305 billion) tax payers money.in a country where starvation daily stares the faces of the poor and average.
As said, candidates pay electorates to get elected. At the same time, the electorates pay heavier prices as people they traded their votes on getting elected i turn their back on them
Independent Findings on electioneering in Nigeria show that 68 percent of those who paid heavily to scale the polls usually turn their back after they are sworn in to office as the first thing they do is to recoup what they had spent.to get victory.
As the campaign season zooms in, drums signaling Campaigns,songs chiefly reflecting direct and indirect familiar political messages and manifestos are being arranged waiting for the right moment in September to roll to the masses.
Before now, some parties have drawn up organogram of their campaign while others are either doing theirs behind the scenes or yet to do so.
Now that campaigns will start within a short time, It has become expedient to once again bring to the knowledge and consciousness of the political class and the larger Nigerian audience, acceptable behavioral conducts.
it is important that Political parties and candidates educate the electorates on what their mission for the office they are seeking is, and do so in the language they understand. It is improper to use big grammar that causes confusion except where interpreters are readily available. Parties should also refrain from calumnious campaigns which invite corresponding brickbats and violence in some cases.
For the electorate, campaign period is the period of agenda setting. The Electorates in whose hands lie victory or defeat of candidates, have the right to ask candidates pertinent questions that border on needs especially those that center on job creation, infrastructure, and services.
Honestly, election season is a beehive of activities for most Nigerians. It is a busy period for the political class, for the mass media and business men and women.
Unarguably, It is a period of Joy for those who win and sadly, gloom, for those who lose at the polls and others who lose loved ones to election related deaths.
Already,songs of discontent, songs created to spike ethnic tensions or disparage perceived political opponents are in public domain and campaigns are yet to officially kick off .
This should not be encouraged at this period of nsecure present, unsure future
It would not be out of place to describe Nigeria’s democracy as one springing from infinitesimal beginning even though it has seen twenty three uninterrupted years after elongated military rule .
It is often said that the worst democratic government is better than angelic military rule as military regimes provide only temporary relief but end up causing the people pain
Nigerians who witnessed the coups between 1984 – 1999 saw the roll out of draconic decrees which infringed fundamental rights.
That period in history was dreaded, stunted. . It was a period of silence of the majority.the civilians, Death of the Man who could not raise his voice. Food was scarce, Money was equally out of reach of many.
During that era, , residents in Port Harcourt rose up early morning for months to que at the SUPABOD stores in order to get rations of grains which they pay with their sweat.
Although the signs of that era are very much with us, in extreme poverty, naira gliding towards N1000, and increasing lay off of workers and exponential deaths, , the love for country should make us engage in constructive devises that break the jinx of a jaundiced nation.
As the campaigns season starts, a lot is expected from INEC especially on the commission’s guidelines and penalty for breaches by political parties and candidates.
It is expected that INEC would do justice to the humongous sums approved for the commission to engage the services of the media and other groups for timely dissemination of information to the masses.
As a matter of fact , not much is known about INEC’s programmes at the grassroots .this is not good and absolutely unacceptable.
Often times, the Chairman or spokesman for INEC would speak to a few individuals,who they refer to as stakeholders but how much of the information passed on to the so-called stakeholders get to those in the rural areas?.
The electorates deserve adequate information that their PVCs collected some years back are still valid. They need to know that protecting their votes is good for democracy.They need to know that voting in an election is a right, not a privilege.
Obviously, lNEC has scored good points in the few off cycle elections it conducted recently in the country but allegations of fraud in the electoral process- vote buying and Voter intimidation still make headlines.
On Saturday, an election observer group,Yiaga Africa unveiled worrisome findings in the recently concluded governorship elections in Osun and Ekiti States.
According to the report, over 87 results were not captured by the Election Result Analysis Dashboard ( ERAD,)
This is disturbing as it poses a threat to determining the actual winners of the 2023 general elections if not checked immediately.
INEC had blamed the problem on hackers.
Gladly, President Muhammadu Buhari has said he would do all he can to bequeath an impressive legacy of electioneering conduct in the country.
He has also promised that he would not interfere in the elections.
To actualise this, the President has warned those in the habit of buying votes and intimidating Nigerians to steer clear .
Although no one knows what penalty awaits those caught in the president’s fit of rage, yet, the point is clear that it is a clarion call for all those involved in elections,INEC, Political parties and candidates to put their house in order before the start of campaigns to avert emergence of circumstances that result in sorrow and regret.
This sacrifice is not too much to make.
