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Onu, ex-gov, warns of one-party state
•Wabara pleads for INEC, others
NDIDI OKAFOR, Abuja and EMMA OGU, Owerri
FORMER civilian governor of Abia
State, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, has urged Nigerians to resist what he calls one-party
rule and looming dictatorship in the country.
Dr. Onu, a former presidential candidate of the defunct All
Peoples Party (now All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP)) in the 1999 election, made
the call even as he canvassed electoral reforms with emphasis on ensuring the
true independence of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and
sanctity of the ballot box.
Similar sentiment on INEC was echoed by
Senate President Adolphus Wabara at a workshop in Owerri, Imo State, where he
said financial independence for the commission would guarantee free and fair
polls.
Chairman of INEC, Dr. Abel Guobadia, who
also spoke at the workshop, regretted that soldiers and police had to be
involved in election matters due to repeated electoral violence.
Dr. Onu who read from an 88-page work at a
lecture organised by the joint caucus of the ANPP at the National Assembly
Complex, Abuja, said "Nigerians should not allow one party rule," noted that the
nation was gradually drifting towards a one-party state.
He accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led
Federal Government of deliberately stiffling and intimidating the opposition.
He alleged that the party has hatched a
comprehensive plan to perpetuate itself in power for at least the next 30 years
and enjoined Nigerians to resist it as ultimate sovereignty lies with the
people.
He pointed to what he called the
"unprecedented majority" the PDP "allocated to itself" as a way of perpetuating
itself in power through the legislature.
He feared that given the dominant hold of
the PDP-led government in the National Assembly, the constitution can be amended
to suit the whims and caprices of the executive irrespective of the "feelings of
Nigerians and public interest."
The ANPP stalwart said the dictatorship
perpetrated by President Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo and Omar Bongo of Gabon may
finally take root in Nigeria.
Prescribing the way out of the seeming
emerging one-party state, Dr. Onu said electoral reforms through amendments of
the Constitution and the Electoral Act 2002 to guarantee the independence of
INEC, was crucial.
"Political reforms involve strengthening
INEC, making it as independent as is possible. It also involves reducing the
intimidating effect of using armed security agencies for election purposes.
"The political reform will in some cases,
involve constitutional amendments and in others, involve the amendment of the
Electoral Act 2002," he said.
Dr. Onu proposed that a retired Supreme
Court justice appointed by the National Judicial Council (NJC) and ratified by
the National Assembly, should head INEC.
The lecture was attended by the Chairman,
Board of Trustees of ANPP, Admiral Augustus Aikhomu, and the National Chairman
of the party, Chief Don Etiebet.
Chairman of the ANPP caucus in the
National Assembly, Senator Usman Al-Bashir, in his speech, said the lecture was
organised to critically examine the impact of democracy on Nigeria in the past
five years.
Wabara, who spoke at Imo Concorde Hotel,
Owerri, yesterday while opening a two-day workshop organised for stakeholders by
INEC, said a truly independent electoral body is the starting point for building
confidence in the electoral system.
The workshop has the theme:
"Building Confidence in Nigeria’s Electoral System."
Making a case for financial autonomy of
the bodies, Wabara stated that it is important for both INEC members and those
of State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIEC) to draw their salaries and
operational funds from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
This, he said, would free the bodies from
being beholden to the incumbent political leaders and insulate them from charges
of manipulation as well as guarantee their real independence.
The Senate President also said INEC
presently only draws funds for part of its operations from the Consolidated
Revenue Fund, insisting that all money needed should come from the Fund.
Wabara said for INEC and state electoral
bodies to inspire confidence, they must be ready to assert their independence
before, during and after elections.
The bodies must be ready to conduct
decent, free and fair polls and declare results that reflect the wishes of the
electorate, he noted.
"They must do everything to prevent
rigging and other forms of electoral manipulations. They must do everything
within their powers to protect the integrity of the electoral process. This is
what inspires confidence from all the stakeholders and this is what inspires
confidence in the system", he added.
Wabara charged the electorate and
political actors to have confidence in the electoral system for democracy to
have a "fighting chance at all".
He stressed that voters must be sure that
their votes count and the losers must be sure that they were not rigged out.
"This is where confidence in the system
comes from thin air. It is a product of performance. It is a product of
history", he noted.
The Senate President congratulated INEC on
holding the workshop, saying it showed that the body is alive to its
responsibilities, ready to improve on its operations and determined to
contribute its quota to the consolidation of the nascent democracy.
In his address, INEC chairman, Dr.
Guobadia said Nigerians must return to the traditional values of integrity and
honesty if they must consolidate and build on the democratic foundations.
Guobadia said it was regrettable that
soldiers had to be called out to patrol the streets during elections to ensure
safety of lives and property or that there should be policemen in all polling
stations to ensure peace and orderliness and to ensure that ballot boxes are not
snatched or polling materials destroyed and electoral officials kidnapped.
According to him, even with these
measures, these things still happen, quite unlike in some other emerging
democracies, even in Africa, where members of the electoral commission have had
the privilege to observe elections.
Praising the theme of the workshop, the
INEC boss observed that where there is no confidence in the electoral system,
confusion is likely to hold sway, thus undermines the credibility of the outcome
of any election regardless of how free or fair or well conducted it was.
Confidence, he explained, implied trust,
faith and a firm belief that things will be done right and in accordance with
the pre-determined rules, pointing out that contextually, it is expected that
there will be a level playing field for political rivals and the rules of the
game will be respected and obeyed by all.
According to him, the electoral commission
and security agents are expected to be independent, non-partisan, impartial and
competent while the parties and their candidates as well as agents are expected
to obey all laws and regulations and should not engage in electoral
malpractices, including corruption and the use of threats, intimidation or
violence.
"They are expected to respect the rights
of other parties and candidates. Traditional and community leaders as well as
the civil society are expected to assist in sensitising, mobilising and
educating voters as to their rights and responsibilities and should be
impartial. The voters should be responsible and not demand or expect
gratification before casting their votes one way or another. If any of these
components fails or is called to questions, confidence is eroded," he said.
Also speaking, Gov. Achike Udenwa of Imo
State charged INEC to evolve new electoral strategies that will make the 2007
elections a substantial improvement from those of 1999 and 2003, saying that
such is the only way democracy could be solidly entrenched and Nigeria will be
better for it.
Udenwa, who was represented by his deputy,
Chief Ebere Udeagu, said the workshop is to educate the electorate and the
larger society that the job of INEC does not stop at counting elections only,
noting that it is healthy that INEC could through such means, bring together all
stake holders in partisan politics as well as governance to learn and meet
minds.
The workshop featured lectures and
responses from participants.
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