June 5, 2007

What now for democracy in Nigeria?

By

Don McKinnon

AS the citizens of this country and the leaders of the world converged on Abuja last week with good wishes for President Yar'Adua and his new Government, Nigeria was opening another chapter in its history. Behind its 47 years as a modern independent nation lie spells both of advance and reversal, strife and stability. The April 2007 elections were not this country's finest hour: it is now for the new President to restore his people's faith in democracy and the institutions, which serve it. In that task, the Commonwealth pledges him its full support.

Nigeria is an important Commonwealth member and the largest African nation. From the low point of its suspension in 1995, to the high-point of its 'Chairmanship-in-Office' after the Abuja Heads of Government Meeting in 2003, it has always been close to the centre of Commonwealth affairs. The Commonwealth has worked hard with Nigeria to help consolidate democratic government after years of military rule.

Our Commonwealth Observer Group report on the recent elections in Nigeria was made public late last month. It found serious deficiencies, and stated clearly that Nigeria had fallen well short of the democratic standards to which it had committed itself. So much of the groundwork had been covered in 1999 and 2003: in April 2007, an opportunity to take Nigerian democracy forward was missed.

The Report pointed to three main areas of concern. First, the readiness, efficiency and transparency of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Second, the behaviour of all the political parties, as they sought to 'flex their muscles'. Third, the abuse of incumbency by the ruling party, which caused so much tension and undermined the independence of INEC and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The result of these failings was violence, even death, at the hands of those who sought to subvert democracy.

The Commonwealth Observer Group has pointed to what needs to be done.

Nigeria needs to ensure the independence and capacity of INEC, in deed as well as in word. It needs to consolidate and clean the voter register. It needs to provide universal suffrage for all eligible Nigerians.

It needs to reform the behaviour of its political parties: they themselves, and their supporters, need to demonstrate democracy. All of these benchmarks require an absolute political commitment to free and fair elections.

The Commonwealth will continue to be a friend and to stand by Nigeria as it learns from the experience of the deeply troubled elections of April 2007. Nigerians have agonized after their elections, asking what went wrong, and why. The combination of a new President and a new Government now allows the people of this country - of all parties and beliefs - to work together to make a new beginning, to renew Nigeria's political culture, and to restore its faith in democracy. The citizens of this country are too precious, and Nigeria is too important - to Africa, to the Commonwealth and to the world - for the democratic promise to be lost.

• Don McKinnon is Commonwealth Secretary-General.

   

   

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