There is need for Nigerians to have faith in the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and the electoral process in Nigeria, if success must be achieved in that area.
This is the general opinion of stakeholders who attended the Multi-Stakeholders Dialogue on Rebuilding Trust in the Electoral Process and Election, organised by the International Press Centre and funded by European Union.
Taking turns to speak at the event, the stakeholders said everything possible must be done to ensure that Nigerians have trust in INEC and the electoral process.
That, they said, could be achieved when all the stakeholders did the right thing.
Professor of Political Science, Okechukwu Ibeanu, stated that Nigerians had the responsibility to hold those in authority to be accountable for their actions when they had done wrong during the election.
He said the electoral stakeholders generally had critical roles to play.
“We have to do the right thing and desist from the doing the wrong thing.”
He added that the gathering was not just about the election management body, but the other agencies that were involved like security agencies and the judiciary.
According to him, the media, the political parties and the voters also should do the right thing.
His words: “Everybody should be involved in the electoral reform. Do we have a system to hold people accountable for their actions when they have done the wrong thing? If we don’t address the issues now there will never be trust in the electoral process. These are the basic things effecting trust in our electoral process in Nigeria.
“We also need to look at the level of trust in the society which is very low. The level of electoral process trust is low as well. It is the same lack of trust that makes people using Automated Teller Machine in banks after withdrawing money to start counting it. It shows that they didn’t trust the technology. Same way we cannot trust the machine used by INEC and same way we don’t trust our churches with their miracles. This is the level found ourselves.”
Prof. Isaac Albert of African History, Peace and Conflict Studies, said the trust in the society in general was weak as people no long trusted their leaders.
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He said: “Are the leaders showing us signs to believe and trust them? Our politicians are adding to the problem in the land. Everything they are doing is to further empower the elite. The rest of us are being abandoned. And for those of us in the university, we said you are giving things to everybody but an average university is being wiped out.
“A professor called me and told me the cost of his treatment. There is post traumatic disorder everywhere now. Nigerians don’t understand how the problem would be solved. Instead, they sell their houses and move abroad and sleep on the streets. Where you have such cases there is the tendency that what is happening in Guinea Bisau, Mali and Sudan will happen in Nigeria if nothing is done fast to address the situation of the country.
“I want to tell you that Military is not the solution to our problem. We are most likely to have what is happening in Sudan, Mali and other crisis-torn countries.”
Meanwhile, the representative of the National Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, the Lagos State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof. Ayobami Salami, said sometimes perception might not be the reality.
“After the election, we called ourselves into a meeting and reviewed the entire process and addressed the issue we are talking about here, which is the issue of trust.
“People already have the mindset that this is what is going to happen whenever election comes. Even if you cut off your neck people still will not trust you. I believe there is room for improvement. We have to do what’s right.
“There was a time we were using manual. We moved to card reader, to BVAS. We are improving. I also want us to know that there is no alternative to democracy and we are going to improve on our electoral process, I want to say today we value a meeting like this to make us improve in subsequent elections. We also continue to engage to bridge the gap in trust.”
The Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, represented by Assistant Commissioner of Police, Oyewole Emmanuel, said security was a joint task for everyone in the country to fight.
Oyewole said police alone could not do it as they needed the support of every sector to join them in fighting crime and criminality confronting the country.
Earlier in his welcome address, Executive Director, International Press Centre, IPC, Mr. Lanre Arogundade, said there had been cases of misperception and misconception about the past election among citizens.
Arogundade said it could not be denied that it created some challenges which ordinarily shouldn’t overshadow its significant milestone and the use of technology via BVAS which remained highly commendable.
“Some of these challenges were noticed by local and international observers and the European Union election observation mission which highlighted waning confidence and trust in the electoral process. The IPC also looks at comments by the citizens and the reaction that take place there.
“This forum serves as a strategic response. It may be difficult to get the electoral process right in the next round of off circle election in Edo, Ondo and Anambra states. Trust is like a blood pressure.
“As we deliberate on this topic today, I believe we should be able to hold the police, other security agencies, judiciary, media and civil society accountable for their actions.”
