Tomorrow, Saturday 2nd of April, most of the 73 million Nigerians who have registered as voters will go out to vote in the first of three elections. They will decide those who will be Senators and Members of the Federal House of Representatives. Tomorrow, we will also test the effectiveness of all the preparations which INEC and the Security agencies, Non-Governmental and Civil Society Organizations have made to ensure that the elections are free, fair and credible.
The National Assembly elections, which will hold tomorrow, will determine the quality of people who make the laws under which we live in this country. The legislature is a most vital institution in a democratic system, because it not only checks and balances the power of the executive, but it also makes laws which directly determine the quality of our lives. Legislators should therefore be citizens of unquestionable integrity, possess vast knowledge and a transparent commitment to the public good. People who will make laws for us must first of all show the highest respect for the laws of the land and of the public. One way of judging them is by the manner they have run their campaigns. If we are satisfied that they have respect for the law, and have run honest campaigns devoid of corruption and violence, then they deserve our consideration and possible votes. On the other hand, if they are merely interested in going to Abuja to make money, and have spent huge amounts just to get there, or remain there, then this is the time to let them know that we have the power to say no.
The image of members of our National Assembly has been severely dented in the recent past. Revelations regarding the huge amounts of take-home pays of our lawmakers, as well as the huge overall cost of the legislature on our public resources should make it necessary for us to elect honest and knowledgeable people who will serve, rather than give themselves huge amounts as salaries and allowances. On a number of occasions, legislators have attempted to make or amend our laws in such a way as to specifically favor them. The nation had to rise on a number of occasions against these attempts, and although on a number of occasions they retreated, the state of our amended Electoral Act is a good example of how legislators can damage the democratic system by imposing their own interests in our laws. Legislators who receive our mandate and disappear in Abuja until another election, and who therefore do not render account of their participation in legislative activities to their constituencies would be judged in tomorrow’s elections. By all means, Nigerians should avoid electing, or re-electing Senators or Members, House of Representatives who simply want to be rich, since being one these days is a guarantee to personal wealth.
Tomorrow’s elections are also important because they will test INEC’s preparations and the patience and commitment of citizens who have registered to vote. Since accreditation will commence at 8. am, and actual voting will only start at 12.30 p.m, voters should be patient. It may be useful to advise voters to eat well before they leave home, because they may stay long at polling units. It is also important that voters show discipline and self-control in terms of respecting electoral rules. The current controversies on whether voters who choose to stay behind after voting to observe the counting and declaration of vote should be cleared by the authorities. The way things stand, there is likely to be much confusion and possibly some violence if security agencies, particularly soldiers and police insist that voters must leave the polling premises; and political parties instruct their supporters to stay put.
Tomorrow is also important because we will know whether INEC has prepared well to make sure that officials and materials are at all polling centres on time; whether polling units including many which may have been broken up due to size are easily identifiable; whether the register of voters is as good as INEC says it is; whether those who will conduct themselves in a violent manner can be contained and isolated by security agencies; and whether our fears and apprehensions are without foundation.
Tomorrow is important because if enough honest and decent Nigerians come out to vote, they will limit or eliminate any damage which election riggers and those who plan frighten us away from voting or observing the collating process through organized violence. It is important that we all go out and vote, so that our numbers can give each other comfort and security. It is important we vote tomorrow because legislators are important to our lives, and the parties we support need us to vote for them so that they will have Legislators, Governors and a President. Just voting for Governor or President alone will not do. Let us go out tomorrow in large numbers, conduct ourselves well, and make the next two elections easier.
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