In about five days, Saturday, February 25, 2023, Nigerians will be heading to the polls to elect a president and members of the National Assembly being the first of two elections. The other being governorship and House of Assembly.
The general elections will herald the beginning of the end of the sham, flip flop and excruciating eight years of the Muhammadu Buhari presidency.
In the contest for president are 18 candidates with 3 in the frontline; Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP; and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu flying the flag of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
Since campaigns started over 145 days ago, almost all the political parties have flouted several provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 in terms of violence, intemperate language, campaign financing and intra and inter party squabbles that sometime try to undermine the credibility of the electoral process.
The good news in all of these has been the consistency of the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to hold a free, fair and credible election.
On Saturday, February 18, the INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, reiterated the readiness of the commission to deliver on its mandate while speaking with youth corps members who will be serving as presiding officers in the over 178, 000 polling units across the country.
Over time since 2011, Nigeria has placed its fate in the hands of young Nigerians but have failed to protect them when it matters most like in 2011 when young corpers were killed in cold blood especially in Northern Nigeria over the outcome of elections that year.
While electoral violence is not new to Nigeria, that particular outcome remains a blight on the country’s electoral history as nobody was held to account for that crime and the instigation of violence leading to over 800 deaths nationwide.
With a fragile security situation exacerbated by the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria, there is the need for proper planning and execution by the police and other security organs to ensure that elections hold without fear and let.
It is instructive that the police say it is ready and have given firm instructions to its officers and men. While operational preparedness is important, engaging with the political parties will aid immensely in mitigating the prospect of violence.
Also, the issue of deployment has remained a huge challenge with the INEC. The situation is testier with attacks on banks including branches of the CBN where sensitive materials are warehoused.
The electoral body should be now have found a way round its perennial logistics nightmare especially in riverine areas and far-flung insecurity scorched areas. It is important that no Nigerian eligible vote to vote is allowed the right to exercise his/her franchise.
The enthusiasm Nigerians have shown towards these polls should not be doused by the INEC, political parties, security agencies and anybody or institution for that matter.
Nigerians deserve a leadership that was freely elected by the poll and only a transparent and accountability process can guarantee.
People, youths in particular, should resist being used to undermine the process or take the streets with whatever outcome of the elections. May Nigeria win on Saturday, February 25.
