INTRODUCTION
Following its independence from Britain in October 1960, Nigeria formally established itself as a democracy. Since its independence, Nigeria’s democracy has been vulnerable and unstable. The various regions of the nation have had varying rates of growth and democratization.
The military and political elites in Nigeria have a long-standing, dysfunctional relationship with democracy. The civil war and the military era’s concentration of power greatly crippled it. Nigeria’s political structure became authoritarian under dictators, which also hampered the development of democratic institutions and democratic culture. This is still an issue from which Nigeria has not yet fully recovered.
While some individuals think that Nigeria is a democracy, many others think that it is not at the moment because of its entrenched corrupt political class, its declining voter turnout, public mistrust of the ruling class, its eroding civil freedoms, and its poor democratic institutions. The question is, Is Nigeria truly a democratic country, though, with all the shenanigans going on?.
As we delve more into the topic of discussion, “POLITICAL ACTORS, DEMOCRACY, AND MILITARIZATION OF ELECTIONS IN NIGERIA,” using the 2023 GENERAL ELECTION as a case study, we seek an answer to this and other questions like it.
DEMOCRACY IN NIGERIA
Nigeria was the subject of the first of many military takeovers attempts on January 15, 1966, after attaining independence from Great Britain on October 1, 1960, which sparked a civil war. Popular sovereignty, which believes that a government can only be legitimated by the consent of those it rules, is the fundamental premise of democracy. Given this, it makes sense why a military coup might not be regarded as a democratic rule since Nigeria at the time did not have a democracy.
The nation was governed for the majority of its independent history by a series of military coups, with brief intervals of democratic administration, such as from 1979 to 1983 under Alhaji Shehu Shagari. Gen. Sani Abacha, who abruptly passed away in 1998, was the last significant military leader. A new constitution was enacted on May 5th, 1999, following the promise of a democratic transition made by his successor, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar. A presidential election was held, and retired general Olusegun Obasanjo, who had previously ruled Nigeria as a military man, was chosen as the winner. This marked the beginning of democratic rule in Nigeria.
Regular elections, a return to civil liberties, a free press, and an end to unlawful arrest and torture were all brought about by the end of military rule. However, human rights abuses are still frequently committed. Nigeria also started a prolonged struggle against the military and bureaucratic corruption that had plagued its economy and severely damaged its reputation abroad.
The civil war and the consolidation of power under military rule significantly undermined Nigeria’s democracy. The conflict contributed to the creation of powerful, affluent, and widely corrupt political elites. Nigeria’s political system became centralized under military rule, and democratic institutions and values were unable to flourish.
Barriers to a functioning democracy exist in Nigeria at all levels of government. Conflict, which can be sparked by political rivalry as well as disputes over communal, racial, religious, or resource allocation, poses a severe threat to democracy. Nigerians experience corruption every day. Because they don’t successfully communicate with the public or the private sector, many government agencies find it difficult to carry out their mandates. Moreso, civil society lacks the resources and ability to successfully lobby for change and engage with the government.
Given its history and current state, democracy is essential to Nigeria’s survival. Both democracy and military authority were unproductive, inefficient, and corrupt. However, the only system of government that can create a just society without resorting to oppression or excluding substantial segments of the population is democracy.
Nigeria’s democracy must strive to realize its citizens’ rights, capabilities, and ambitions for good, honorable lives. For the rest of Africa, Nigeria must maintain its democracy. Half of West Africans are from Nigeria, and if the country’s democracy were to fail, it would have a significant impact on both the rest of Africa and the rest of the world.
Only a changed political system, better political parties, more diversified and independent media, an improved electoral management body, and a court with sufficient resources can strengthen Nigeria’s democracy. In the words of Chinua Achebe ” Sustaining democracy in Nigeria will require more than just free elections. It will also mean ending a system in which corruption is not just tolerated, but widely encouraged and hugely profitable”.
ELECTORAL PROCESS IN NIGERIA
The election process is how a country’s citizens select their representatives for different political posts. Every qualification and requirement set forth by the Constitution for the nomination for the primary and general elections are included in it.
The process lays out the steps that must be taken to carry out the election. A body that has been established and given this responsibility organizes, oversees, and conducts elections for various government positions.
Elections in Nigeria are processes through which citizens come together to choose candidates they deem fit to represent their interests in various positions of authority. Since 1959, various political parties have been involved in Nigerian elections. Citizens have the option to vote and be voted for in this system of selecting leaders.
Elections for the presidential and parliamentary offices are held separately yet concurrently in Nigeria because it has a presidential system of government. In contrast to parliamentary elections, which take place every four years and a half a term, presidential elections are held every four years.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is Nigeria’s electoral body in charge of conducting elections. Elections are organized and their integrity is guaranteed by the Commission, which is independent and mandated by the constitution.
Voters have a choice of the presidential candidate, as well as the candidates for the National Assembly, State Assembly, and Governorship positions in their respective states.
Since there are many different ethnic groups and cultures in Nigeria, holding elections there has recently proven problematic due to issues like violence, rigging, logistics, security, and the politicization of the process, etc.
There have been six general election cycles since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999: 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019. The seventh general election is the just concluded 2023 general election held on 25 February and 18 March for the presidential and national assembly elections and the governorship and state house of assembly elections respectively. Each election has also served as a test of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) ability to hold credible, free, and fair elections with the assistance of law enforcement agencies, particularly in light of Nigeria’s troubled democratic past. Is this the case in Nigeria, though?
POLITICAL ACTORS IN NIGERIA’S ELECTORAL PROCESS
Nigeria is a nation with multiple ethnic groups and a variety of political ideologies. Every political party in power wants to maintain its position of power for its self-interest. They plan out strategies that will enable them to rig the election either by hook or crook. Most of the leaders and candidates even come out openly to declare they are ready to do whatever it takes to remain in or get into positions of power no matter who they have to do away with or what it takes to win.
No different was the recent 2023 general election. The 2023 election was as usual marred by many irregularities, including rigging, thuggery, godfatherism, and corruption among the majority of electoral officers and security personnel nationwide, even though the new electoral act of 2022 gave millions of Nigerians hope that their vote would matter this time and the assurance that the election would be free and fair.
Political actors in this context refer to politicians, godfathers, thugs, as well as electoral officers and law enforcement agents who mar electoral processes in Nigeria as seen in the just concluded Presidential and governorship election across the country, especially in States like Rivers, Lagos, Enugu, Ebonyi, and Delta, to mention but a few.
As was previously mentioned, several irregularities and election fraud, including vote buying and vote rigging, plagued the 2023 general elections. Several instances where certain results obtained from various polling units differed from the results declared by INEC have been reported, including images and video evidence. In several polling units, results were also announced even when voters claimed they were unable to cast a ballot. Where were the results manufactured, if the voters didn’t cast their ballots in these polling places?
Of course, we can’t talk about rigging without discussing how the BVAS and IREV, which cost over N100 billion to buy and took years to configure, were unable to work on the date they were intended to. Ironic, huh? Can we discuss irregularities without bringing up instances of vote buying? a scenario in which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission detained suspects carrying millions of Naira, some on election day and others the day before the polls opened. One illustration is the press release made by the EFCC, which stated that more than 65 people were apprehended in 26 states on the day of the governorship election for allegedly buying votes, according to the Premium Times Newspaper. How many people were able to carry out their nasty schemes if these many people were caught in the act?
A report by Thisday Newspaper regarding the issue of rigging that was released on March 10, 2023 states “February 25, 2023 presidential election is a counterfeit of the June 12, 1993, presidential election. Whereas June 12 is the freest and fairest election in Nigeria, the February 25 election is the most rigged and most robbed presidential election in Nigeria. On June 12, 1993, the freest presidential election took place in Nigerian politics, but on February 25, 2023, exactly 30 years after June 12, the most rigged presidential election in Nigerian political history took place. February 25 was a brazen and barbaric display of impunity and imbecility by INEC, which ought to be an unbiased umpire in an electoral contest”. The report also claimed that INEC had rendered the BVAS and IREv dysfunctional, which forced manual compilation of the results and enabled the INEC’s corrupt officials to rig the election in favor of a supposed candidate.
The problem of thuggery was another electoral irregularity and malpractice that ravaged Nigeria’s general election at the federal and state levels. Twitter has always served as the voice of the voiceless, and it did so once again. Several videos showing the beatings, injuries, deprivations of voting rights, and obstruction of civic duties have been made public online thanks to Twitter. Several instances of thugs breaking into voting centers, stealing ballot boxes and other election-related items, and even intimidating voters with bottles, knives, and other weapons while security personnel looked on have been reported. Yet, we cannot help but recognize the efforts of a few well-intentioned security guards who defended individuals and acted honorably. We salute them.
The most recent instance of this type of thuggery involved a viral video showing a well-known thug in Lagos and other unsavory members of society threatening members of a certain tribe in Nigeria, telling them to stay at home and forgo voting. Those who persisted and eventually went to the polls were told to return home and to their various states because they were not wanted in Lagos, despite our cries for a new and one Nigeria. A painful aspect of the whole situation is that, while the thugs’ victims are writhing in agony in the hospital, these touts and thugs are free to walk the streets, showing no regret or compassion for their victims, which is another major issue with Nigeria and the election.
The worst thing that could have happened to Nigeria is godfatherism. This mother of all evil has given birth to several naughty offspring, including favoritism and nepotism, corruption and bribery, evil gangs, syndicates, etc.
Godfatherism is a corrupt form of government in which a powerful party member supports a less powerful party member in exercising leadership. In layman’s terms, political party godfathers are known as the ‘Jagabans’ who control the socio-political events of the state or political party. These are people who consistently destroy opportunities for underprivileged credible candidates and interfere with the citizens’ right to free will. These people not only have the financial clout to influence a state or an election, but also the veto power, which frequently results from intimidation, violence, and corruption.
Just like the 2015 general election where candidates were imposed on citizens by these godfathers, the same scenario played out too in the 2023 general elections, particularly in States like Lagos, Rivers, Enugu, and Ebonyi. Even though it was obvious they were not qualified for the job and weren’t the people’s choice, candidates of the ruling party in Nigeria were forcibly installed in these states. Because it serves their selfish interests, these “jagabans” go against the preferences of the people to position their self-appointed candidates. If nothing is done to address it, this issue has tarnished and will continue to mar elections in Nigeria.
These cases of election malpractices and irregularities have turned Nigeria into a laughing stock, not just to other African countries but the world at large. This is due to the numerous negative reports by International communities on the said election. Examples of such reports was the report from the European Union, which noted that the election held in Nigeria lacked transparency. Similarly, The Financial Times report of March 2, 2023, noted that “Nigeria’s badly flawed election fails to set an example.” Also, the New York Times reported that “Many Nigerians had looked to the election to put the country back on track after eight years of rule by an ailing president, Muhammadu Buhari — a military dictator turned democrat.
Notwithstanding everything that is going on, there is one critical question that must be on everyone’s mind: What role do law enforcement agencies play in this?
MILITARIZATION OF ELECTIONS IN NIGERIA
Election militancy is a mediocre method of rigging elections. In a democracy, it is the deployment of state security forces to undermine popular will. It is a system that intimidates eligible voters and denies the populace their right to vote. Nigeria has always struggled with this and will continue to do so. Political puppets that dance to the beat that politicians want them to have over time progressively replaced our security agencies. There was no difference in the general election.
One can say that certain law enforcement agents carry out their function superficially, as though to appear like they are functioning. The constitution which is the grund norm and the mother from whence other laws proceed, vests sovereignty in the people of Nigeria. However, just occurrences in the 2023 elections alone leaves very serious doubts as to what sovereignty for us really is. Beside thuggery which was the major setback to the elections, followed by rigging, the next thing was the seeming silence and passiveness of law enforcement agents during the electoral process. We will not deny the fact like was pointed out above that there were agents who actively followed up on their functions, but then, how were cases of rigging and thuggery openly experienced by Nigerians able to succeed if law enforcement agents were deployed to polling units?
How were law enforcement agents seen giving covering to thugs while they carted away ballot boxes? How were there law enforcement agents on ground yet Nigerians were openly intimidated and threatened in various polling units and many eventually could not exercise their franchise? How were law enforcement agents present yet in certain polling units, people had to take laws into their hands just to counter the intimidations of thugs?
One can say that Nigerians, the same people with ‘ultimate sovereignty’ are losing their voices, electoral processes are now like decrees, unchallengeable and imposed. The idea of democracy continually distances itself from us by the trends of governance we have experienced. Is democracy in any way by, of, and for the people in Nigeria?
There is no question that with time these politicians, their families, and their pawns will eventually be left to vote for themselves (which is already happening), as it is clear that many Nigerians are giving up on the state of governance as we have and it would soon be, “there was a country”.
CONCLUSION
By carefully examining the topic “political actors, democracy, and militarization of elections in Nigeria-2023 general election in perspective,” we have highlighted how politicians, electoral officials, thugs, godfathers, and law enforcement officials—collectively known as political actors—have undermined democracy in Nigeria with regard to the recently concluded general election. Although the future of Nigeria may seem bleak right now, there is still a glimmer of hope for her if only we all work together as one Nigeria, putting aside differences in tribe, religion, ethnicity, ideology, and background, to fight and remove these evils in godfathers, political actors, and their pawns from our political system. Nigeria will be great once more if we work together. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Sampson Ekigbo, Esq
Legal practitioner, Human Rights Activist, Public Affairs Analyst, Social Commentator and a Teacher (Contact :+234(0)27263296)
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