Nigeria: At last, two strong political parties evolve

Twenty years ago, exactly on June 12, 1993, Nigerians trooped out to vote in an election that has come to be adjudged as the best in the country. The two contending political parties in that election, the National Republican Convention, NRC, and Social Democratic Party, SDP, had earlier been decreed into existence by the military government of President Ibrahim Babangida, IBB, as part of a painstaking political engineering to turn power to civilians. The transition became stillborn when the military seized power in the wake of the nation-wide crisis that greeted the cancellation of the presidential election.

Nigerians have witnessed several elections since independence in October, 1960 but none of them comes close to the June, 1993 elections in terms of decency and transparency. Three factors ensured the credibility of the election. First was the two-party arrangement with each cutting across ethnic, religious or sundry divides which Nigerian political parties are notorious for. In fact, the SDP which was believed to have won the election had Muslims as its presidential and vice-presidential candidates. Prior to June, 1993 and ever since, such a ticket would be an invitation to instant electoral defeat irrespective of its formidability. This was the case with Chief Obafemi Awolowo, a master at the game of politics whose Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN, lost out in 1979 partly for running on the same ticket with fellow southern Christian, Chief Phillip Umeadi. It took IBB’s political engineering fourteen years later for Nigerians to realize that ethno-religious divide is an artificial imposition that could be worsted.

Option A4, the name the military government called the balloting system used for the June, 1993 election is the second factor that made the election credible. Option A4 was a cross between open and secret balloting; voters simply queued in front of the posters of candidates or symbols of the party of their choice after which counting is done in the presence of all. As well as seeing how their candidates performed at polling units, party agents were on hand to validate the figures at various collation centres. Yes, Option A4 had its fair share of ojoro but these pale into insignificance against its numerous strengths. This is because there were no ballot boxes to snatch, no alteration of figures, no point buying voters cards from desperate voters and no need for handouts to influence voters at polling units. No underhand dealings! Everything was done in the open and, like the game of soccer, the winner was known right there on the field of play. No magomago and no wuruwuru! So, the chances of katakata were minimal!

Despite its numerous advantages, there were some supposedly informed Nigerians who kicked against the two party arrangement and Option A4 believing the arrangement was put in place to favour one of the two presidential candidates. Of course, the NRC presidential candidate, Bashir Othman Tofa, remains a friend of President Babangida just as late Moshood Kashimawo Abiola was but this did not matter to those who accused the Babangida administration of insincerity; they had concluded, without cause, that the president was favourably disposed to handing over to Tofa, a fellow Muslim from the North. After the cancellation of the election, this wrong-headed thesis provided the tonic for those who claimed Chief Abiola was denied the presidency because he was from the South!

Option A4 was similarly dismissed then as an archaic way of voting at a time the idea of electronic voting was on the mind of election experts in Europe and the United States. Trust Nigerians! It was this same archaic Option A4 that Nigerians were to later hail and credit for making the June, 1993 election the best of its kind in the history of voting in Nigeria. For obvious reasons, few gave credit to the architect of the brilliant idea. More curiously, as the nation lurches from one electoral charade to the other, few cringe at the idea of going back to Option A4. And the reason for this is not because Option A4 is archaic and therefore unfit for today’s jet age; truth is, we cringe at Option A4 because, as a people, we see nothing wrong in throwing the bathtub away with the baby. Hell! This is General Babangida who, by all means, must be denied the honour that comes with replicating his ideas!

The third of the tripod of ideas that gave the June, 1993 elections its essential character is staggered elections. The nation has taken a step in that direction by staggering elections over three or four weekends. Fine! But the current practice does not go far enough. Thankfully, the six-year single tenure proposal by the National Assembly provides an opportunity to attempt meaningful staggered elections. How? If the six-year single tenure proposal is finally endorsed, the present civilian crowd headed by President Goodluck Jonathan could remain in office till 2017 for the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to conduct governorship and elections into the federal and state legislatures in 2015. These elected officials should be in office for a period of six and three years respectively. Similar rules should apply for the few states where elections are already staggered as a result of Supreme Court rulings. What this means is that, after the governorship and state and federal legislative elections in 2015, the next elections will be presidential in 2017, state and national assemblies in 2018 and governorship elections in 2021.

The ultimate desire is to have elections devoid of ojoro and dabaru, right? Now, the way forward is to go back to 1993 and fine-tune Option A4 and not, like the peacock, bury our heads in the sand in the stale belief that replicating IBB’s ideas is a tacit endorsement of military rule. By the way, what is wrong with replicating a brilliant military-era idea if it serves an end to justify the means?

* Abdulrazaq Magaji is based in Abuja, Nigeria