By Chiedu Uche Okoye
Nigeria attained a milestone in her political evolution and growth with the conduct of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. That election was a far departure from other presidential and parliamentary elections conducted in Nigeria since our country’s attainment of political sovereignty in 1960. It was different from other presidential elections conducted in Nigeria because it was free and fair, and because Nigerians didn’t vote along ethnic and religious lines in the election.
The result of the June 12, 1993 presidential election reflected the collective will of the Nigerian citizens. But that election, which has become a reference point in our political annals, was cancelled by the then military president, General Ibrahim Babangida (Rtd). His cancellation of that election threw Nigeria into a political cul-de-sac, which nearly caused the dismemberment of the country.
Before Ibrahim Babangida came to power via military coup on August 27, 1985, Nigeria had been under the stranglehold of military rule between 1966 and 1978. And the second republic, which existed between 1979 and 1983 was truncated by a military coup staged by the beret boys, which brought Major General Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd) to power. And it was the military government of Muhammadu Buhari that Ibrahim Babangida toppled in a palace coup to become our head of state between 1985 and 1993.
Babangida carried out a transition to civil rule programme rigmarole, which climaxed with the conduct of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. The June 12 presidential election, which was adjudged the freest and fairest presidential election in our political annals, was annulled by Babangida. Based on the results of the election announced before its annulment, Chief MKO Abiola was coasting to victory.
During the election, Nigerians who belong to diverse ethnic groups and profess many different religious faiths placed the interests of the nation above their self interests and primordial sentiments.
At that time, the Nigerian masses demonstrated their resolve to take back their country from economic predators and oppressive military rulers. However, the election was annulled.
That subversion of the political will of the people was akin to showing a red rag to a bull, then. It angered millions of Nigerians who were living below the poverty line at that time. Not unexpectedly, the leading lights in the area of political activism in Nigeria massed together to form NADECO for the restoration and revalidation of Chief MKO Abiola›s stolen political mandate. Our political elite and democracy activists› concurrence that the annulment of the June 12 election was wrong showed that Nigerians could rise above petty self-interests, primordial sentiments, and pecuniary considerations to work for the betterment of Nigeria.
Being criticized for his unjust decision on the election and for clinging to power, Babangida stepped aside for the Interim National Government (ING) headed by Chief Ernest Shonekan, which he constituted. But General Sani Abacha shoved aside the lame-duck government and instituted a reign of terror in Nigeria. Sani Abacha, who was a blend of kleptomania and sanguinary proclivities, drove many pro-democracy activists underground just as a number of them were allegedly assassinated by the government’s operatives.
It took the deaths of Sani Abacha and the incarcerated Chief MKO Abiola within one month of each other for democratic governance to return to Nigeria. It was General Abdulsalam Abubakar who executed the transition to civil rule programme in 1999 following the deaths of Sani Abacha and MKO Abiola.
Since 1999, Nigeria has been enjoying democratic rule, uninterruptedly. One civilian government will hand over the reins of political power to another government, seamlessly and peacefully. Nigeria’s transiting from one civilian government to another civilian government appears to be our chief gain from our embrace of democracy.
It should be noted that since the berth of the fourth republic on our shores in 1999, Nigeria, as a country, has been making progress in the reverse gear. This situation has arisen because the collective political will of the people has always been subverted by kingmakers. Over the years, almost all the presidential election results announced by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had been subjects of disputations in courts. Now, Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar, who contested the 2023 presidential election, are challenging INEC’s declaration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 presidential election at the Presidential Election Petition Court.
That legislative, governorship, and presidential election results are subjects of litigation at the election tribunal centres and the courts are proofs that our electoral system, which is part of our democratic culture, is deeply flawed. It shows that we have not got it right, politically. We do remember that the late Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who died in harness, owned up to the fact that the election, which brought him to power, was deeply flawed.
It is saddening and incredible that 24 years after the dawn of the fourth republic in Nigeria, our practice of democracy is still an abhorrent aberration. Rather than abide by the tenets and ethos of democratic governance, our politicians practise democracy in the breach. But the thriving of our farcical democracy is not unconnected to the sociology of our people(s). In today’s Nigeria, we are witnessing the upturning of our positive moral values; evil is perceived as good, and good as evil.
With the marking of So, the 13th anniversary of the conduct of June 12 election still fresh in our minds, let us reflect on our practice of democracy. It is obvious to us that the significance of that election is lost on us. The significance of that election is that we can conduct a free and fair general election in Nigeria, and that we can rise above pecuniary, ethnic, and religious considerations when exercising our franchise.
If we imbibe the significance of that election and live by it, we will get it right, politically. Then, Nigeria will develop, technologically and economically. May God help us to get it right, politically, in Nigeria.
• Okoye, a poet, writes from Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State