2023: Poverty, insecurity, others pose serious threat to credible election – Former INEC Chief

 

From Geoffrey Anyanwu, Enugu

 

A former National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Okechukwu Ibeanu, has lamented that despite the massive improvement 4made by the electoral body, poverty, insecurity, poor infrastructure, fake news and lack of trust remained serious threats to the credibility of the forthcoming general election.

 

He said that credible elections would likely remain a mirage in the country with the present poor communication facilities, inefficient power (electricity) and ineffective transportation system among others issues bedeviling Nigeria.

 

Ibeanu, was speaking on a topic “Electoral Process in Nigeria and 2023 Elections,” at a public lecture in Enugu organized by the Institute for Development Studies (IDS), University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus (UNEC) and Hope Givers Initiative (HOGI).

 

The former INEC chief who represented the South East region in the commission spoke as the Executive Director of HOGI, Mrs. Onyeka Okey-Udegbunam, called on the academics and Igbo elites to initiate a campaign to encourage the students/youths who have shown enthusiasm to participate fully in the coming elections going by the way they registered and to douse security fears in the South East region to enable the people of the region come out to vote.

 

She disclosed that with the support of the Christian Aid Nigeria, HOGI carried out awareness campaigns in the rural areas of the region and expressed the fear that if nothing serious was done within the remaining days before the election to restore hope and assure the people of their safety, the area might witness voter apathy.

 

But Ibeanu, in his lecture regretted that Nigerians had always placed the blame for poor conduct of elections on INEC, “rather than focus attention on how to improve interconnectivity, power, transportation services, security and what have you.”

 

He said, “Because in spite of everything we’ve heard about elections in Nigeria, all the preparations, all the innovations, all the new technology that will make it a great election, behind the minds of almost every Nigeria and behind the minds of every observer practically is that lingering question, will it be credible.

 

“In spite of all the improvements that we see in elections in Nigeria especially since 2011, this remains a lingering concern in the minds of people. So in theorizing the electoral process in Nigeria I will spend some time trying to explain why this challenge of credibility persists.”

 

Speaking about electoral culture, he said, “Any country that practices or conducts elections over time, a certain kind of culture builds around, certain practices, certain norms, certain expectations about how things are done, that’s what I mean by electoral culture.

 

“In Nigeria there are three very critical elements in understanding our political and by that fact, electoral culture, what I called the three Ms. One, a culture of mistrust, extremely important and voters don’t trust the INEC, they don’t trust the legislature, they don’t trust the politicians. The politicians don’t trust the Commission, they don’t trust the Judiciary, nobody trusts anybody at all.

 

“You may wonder the importance of this but it is extremely important because election in itself is based on trust all through, in terms of those who organize it but also even in terms of those who have won, people wining, election is about investing in people saying we trust that when you get there your promises to build school, build road will be kept, so trust is critical and if trust is eroded the whole electoral process is being put in jeopardy.’

 

Giving his three Ms he said the first is mistrust, second money and the third, the madness of Nigeria politics.

 

“There is structure, there is culture and there is also infrastructure. You cannot conduct election with the kind of parlous infrastructure that we have in Nigeria and we see it on a daily bases.

 

“I define electoral integrity or credible election so to speak, I think that election is credible and is to be adjudged of high integrity if first, it is designed based on a legal framework that promotes and protects the rights of citizens to choose or select those who make decisions on their behalf within a time limit.

 

“The election must be administered by agencies whose members must be knowledgeable, courageous and accountable. Finally, it is implemented in an environment that guarantees one, freedom of choice by the voters, two, fairness of contest by those who seek to be elected and three, fair and credible outcome.”