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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Over the years, there have been clamour for the inclusion of Diasporan voting in the Electoral law, so as to enable Nigerians living outside the country participate in elections in the country.
However, a member of the House of Representatives, representing Lagos Mainland Federal Constituency, Hon, Moshood Oshun, says the country is not ripe for Diasporan voting. Oshun, who spoke in an interview with Daily Sun, also bared his mind on state police, electronic voting amongst other issues.
There are divergent views over the establishment of state police in the country, with some persons arguing that state governors are likely to use it against political opponents. There are also concerns about the ability of state to effectively fund it.
For me, I support the creation of state police totally. I believe it is the best thing that can happen to us. The advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Like in every other thing in life, there will be advantages and disadvantages. I will give you some of the advantages.
One, it creates employment. It will create familiarity. State police will make it possible for people to know the people policing them and when they have information. They will give it to that person. If for example I am a policeman from Kaduna and I am posted to Lagos, I may not have clue about the culture traditions and everything. So, I am going to come there and cause more trouble than solutions.
Because, if for example in Lagos, there is something against their tradition, I don’t know. And there is every possibility that I am going to trample on that thing. But if you choose somebody, who happens to be from that area, who knows the culture, who knows the dos and don’ts of the people, there is every possibility that he is going to do a better job. That is number one.
Number two, is the fact that when people have information, they know who to talk to. They know who to give the information, without fear. Many feel that going to the police to give information will put them in problem.
But if I know somebody who happens to live in my area or somebody, I have known since secondary school days, I believe I will have every peace of mind to go to him and give him information.
The issue of governors using them against the people, I am not saying it won’t happen but there will be rules guiding the creation of state police. There would be laws guiding the creation and any governor that wants to go against that law can be challenged.
Funding it shouldn’t be an issue. Each state will fund it according to its power according to what it can afford. Take for example, Lagos with about 25 million people might need two million policemen; might need one million policemen. And they will only employ on what they need.
If Ogun State with about 3 million people only needs 50 or 100 police, they will employ according to their needs; not just because Lagos has employed one million, Ogun must employ one million or Ondo must employ one million. They will look at their purse.
Talking about the governors using the police, are we saying the President is using the police to victimise his opponents? Are we saying there are no laws? Are we saying that if that is done, people cannot go to court?
So, if we have state police and they are doing something wrong either through the governors, people know what to do. There is a constitution. And the constitution supersedes every other thing. Nobody is above the law.
Yes, the funding is very critical. One of the things that must be done is that the state police must be on first line charge. They don’t have to go cap in hand begging the governor for money every month. It is only when you start going to the governor cap in hand that the governor will say do this for me. If you don’t do this for me , I won’t do this for you.
Three issues have always generated concerns during amendment of the Electoral Act -electronic voting, independent candidacy and diaspora voting. What do you think of these issues?
I don’t think we are ready for Diasporan voting. For you to have Diasporan voting, there must be data; unless you can tell me today that you know the number of Nigerians living in all other countries- the UK, US, Germany, France, Spain, even in Ghana here. Unless you can tell me the number of Nigerians living there. If you can’t tell me, how do they vote? Are you saying anybody can vote as a Nigerian? I don’t think we are ready.
We need to have the data. For me, Dispoaran voting, we are not ready for it; with time, why not. Even the so called Western world, their Dispoaran voting is restricted to certain groups.
In UK, they will tell you maybe the army, which are fighting in other countries, because they know their number. They know them. They have their data. If for example, you are a British citizen and you are fighting the war in Iraq, and there is an election, they know that you are in Iraq; they have your details, they have your address, so you can actually vote. And that is why they will allow you to vote days or months before the election, so that you can post it back.
But we don’t have that information. I don’t think we are ready for that. That is number one.
Number two, independent candidacy for me is a good idea. I am sure we will get there with time. But one thing you need to look at is that if you say independent candidacy, you will realize that your ballot paper will be so long that it might be a problem. Every Tom, Dick and Harry that thinks he can pay the fee will want to be a candidate. Some people know they can’t win. They know that they won’t get 10 votes, but just to say I am a candidate.
It may be a good idea, because they are some people that are very competent and are the leaders we want, who might not get a ticket from a party, who can actually be independent candidate. So for me, it is a 50/50 thing; with time, I think it is something we should do.
We should look at the Constitution. We should look at how easy it is going to be. Then there must be conditions. It is not every Tom, Dick and Harry.
Now, what we are voting for is the party, not the candidate. That is why you don’t have the name of candidates on our ballot papers. All you have is the party.
But by the time you start talking about independent candidacy, that means you are now voting for somebody, you will need the name on the ballot paper.
So, it means that if an 18 or 20 years boy, who has some money, who has done some Yahoo and thinks he can afford it, will be a candidate for the presidency and our ballot paper will be so long. That for every ballot paper, you might need a trailer to roll it before you can vote.
But if you have laws guiding some things, limiting some things, making some requirements, making some demands of you, before you can become an independent candidate, I think it is a good one.
On electronic voting, if you don’t have WiFi, your internet is not working; what happened to IREV? What happened to BVAS? BVAS is not working. Electronic voting is about Internet. All these are beautiful ideas. Good ideas. But you don’t put the cart before the horse. Let’s do the right thing. Let us make sure that our internet is okay.
You sitting in front of me, if I need to call you, I might call you and they will tell me that your phone is not available or is switched off. That is the kind of internet we have in Nigeria. How many times have you gone to a store and you give them your card and they will say declined, when you know you have money in that account?
Electronic voting is about internet. But I cannot even use my card at times. Electronic voting when we are ready is a beautiful idea.
The PDP says the current hardship in the country is caused by alleged wrong policies of the present administration, how would you respond to that?
PDP is just a party in disarray, looking for something to be heard. Yes, there is hardship in the country. I agree with that. I am sure that with time, things will be better. I will give you an example, when you plant a seed, the seed must get rotten before it begins to grow. I think we are at that stage now.
So many things have gone wrong in this country. So many things were wrong. Talking about hardship in the country, it didn’t just start eight months ago. It has always been there. We are only just trying to get it better. We all feel the same thing.
But again, we will continue to work on it. We will continue to make sure we look at how things can be better. How Nigerians can enjoy. How we can have a lasting solution. It is not just a solution for now. I know it is tough. But I believe so much in the President and I believe he is going to change this country for the better.
