A Charter for Dishonest Elections

Ayo Obe

Reprimanding Atiku for seeking to approbate and reprobate by complaining both of being unlawfully excluded from the election and of substantial failure to comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act, the same court – in making the unlawful exclusion complaint the basis of their decision, then went ahead to approbate the averments in support of the reprobated ground, to show that Atiku had in fact participated in the election.  Although Atiku showed that he had indeed been excluded until the Supreme Court ruled that he must be included, as far as the Court of Appeal was concerned, even if he had been included at the last minute, he had no reason to complain.  It does not require a great deal of imagination to speculate about what would have been the position of the same court if Atiku had refused to participate on the grounds of his unlawful exclusion right up to the eve of the election – suffice to say that it is unlikely that it would have reflected the Ogunwumiju approach.

When the Court of Appeal fails to condemn or offer even faint criticism of the conduct of the elections, it is hardly surprising that the praise-singers of the ruling party are already claiming that the court has held that the elections were properly conducted, while the President feels no embarrassment about dedicating this latest victory to the Nigerian people.  Having listened to the songs of self-praise emanating from the Iwu-led INEC for the past nine months, a new verse has been added by the Court of Appeal.  Against this background, where might be the impetus for electoral reform?  What is there to reform in an election that was properly conducted?

Nigerians however, must not give up the hope of having credible elections in their country.  While it is to be hoped that the Supreme Court will have a better sense of responsibility and remedy some of the more egregious examples of the blinkered approach of the Court of Appeal, and certainly, withdraw the stamp of approval that the Court of Appeal so unthinkingly awarded the April 2007 elections, Nigerians must brace up to the reality that certain reforms in the electoral process must be non-negotiable.