Nigeria's 'slow' election reform

Even reforming elections in Nigeria will not fix democracy.

That is the opinion of pro-democracy activists in Nigeria's capital Abuja.

A year ago, Umaru Yar'Adua was elected in a poll that was condemned by international observers as being the worst Africa's most populous nation had held.

He immediately promised reform and set up a committee to recommend what should be done to ensure improvements.

Public hearings for the committee begin in May and it is expected to publish a report in August.

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This article addresses the continued attempts in Nigeria to reform democracy. Nigerians have made numerous changes to their election process, but many believe that election reforms will not fix the democracy in Nigeria. This article addresses the concern about previous elections in Nigeria, including President Umaru Yar'Adua's election last year. The reliability of the results of his election was questionable because of the assumed corruption that was present. This article also refers to Yar'Adua's vow to stamp out the corruption in Nigeria by making necessary changes which is evident because he immediately created a committee to discuss what should be done to reform the elections after he was elected. This shows the corruption that has consumed Nigeria for so long, and if nothing is done about this corruption, then the nation's legitimacy will soon be lessened if it has not already been.

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Four Airports for Concessioning

THE greenlight has been given by the Federal Government for the concessioning of four international airports.

The nod, according to the Minister of State for Transportation (Aviation), Mr. Felix Hassan Hyatt, is to ensure that their facilities are updated to international standards.

To be concessioned are Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos; Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja; Port Harcourt International Airport and Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano.

But Hyatt who announced the approval yesterday said the planned concessioning would only involve the upgrading and use of facilities while "security remains in the hands of government".

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This article addresses the recent decision to concession four of Nigeria's airports. These airports include Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos; Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja; Port Harcourt International Airport and Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano. The government has made the decision to make attempts to upgrade the facilities; however, the government plans to maintain control of the security aspects of airports. President Yar'Adua is planning on making the Nigerian airports equivalent to many international airports with the hopes that this will be accomplished within five years. Yar'Adua plans to get approval from many different facets of the government before any action is taken. This shows that the President is attempting to make sure that everyone is informed and behind what is occurring in the nation. This idea could be considered an attempt to maintain or gain legitimacy in the nation by insuring that the people are aware of what is occurring within their own country. Yar'Adua is aiming for "transparency" in the government which will enable the citizens of Nigeria to be informed to the greatest extent.

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Dissent abroad over tribunal results

Shamsey Oloko

Nigerians abroad, many of who monitored the live delivery of the presidential tribunal's ruling yesterday via satellite television, the Internet and tele-conferencing, have expressed divergent opinions on it.

Former President of the U.S.-based Nigerian Lawyers Association and a New York-based lawyer, Shamsey Oloko, noted: "To accept this verdict as credible requires a willing suspension of disbelief.

Aluko added: "The Ogebe elevation saga, his absence from court, the unanimity of the ruling and all the rumours leading up to this judgment are all saddening. One would only hope that the Supreme Court would in some way redeem the newly battered image of the judiciary."

Similarly, Dr. Baba Adam, chairman, Pro-National Conference Organisations in the U.S. said it was a sad day for Nigeria, "rolling back the progress made by the judiciary over the last eight years."

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Although these are not the opinions of local Nigerians, this may be indicative of what those who do live in Nigeria think. Nigerians have been very patient to wait for this tribunal, hoping for a nullification of the election. Now that the election is final, will the people of Nigeria stay placated, or will they resort to violent or nonviolent protest?

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Nigerian Tribunal Upholds Yar'Adua's Victory

Ibadan, Nigeria -- A Nigerian tribunal Tuesday upheld the victory of President Umaru Yar'Adua in last year's presidential election, declaring him duly elected.

The tribunal, in a three-and-a-half hour judgment carried live on national radio and television, nullified all grounds brought against the election by Messrs. Buhari and Atiku and said Mr. Yar'Adua remained the elected president of Nigeria.

In their separate petitions, Messrs. Buhari and Abubakar had asked the tribunal to annul the result, alleging widespread fraud. They said the election wasn't conducted in substantial compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2006 and urged the tribunal to nullify the results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission, or INEC.

Local and international observers said the election was marred by vote-rigging, ballot stuffing, ballot-snatching and other irregularities.

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Inspite of many claims of illegitamacy, this nigerian tribunal has stated that the elections were valid, although there is much evidence of less than legal techniques used to obtain votes. From previous events, it seems that the Nigerian people will probably accept this decision without violence.

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D-Day for Yar'Adua: Judge Dismisses Muhammadu Buhari's Petition

A Nigerian judge has dismissed one of two opposition petitions asking that President Umaru Yar'Adua's election in April last year be annulled.

Opposition candidate Gen Muhammadu Buhari had said the ballot did not take place in 29 of the 31 states.

A judge is still to rule on former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar's claim that the incumbent People's Democratic Party rigged the vote.

Read the full story here.

This article addresses the claims that the recent election that elected Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua was flawed because of the corrupt practices it was run. There have been two petitions stating that the election should be annulled because Yar'Adua won through unfair means. The claims of flawed elections show the corruption that have filled the nation since its beginning, and if the elections were rigged it can cause the Nigerian people to lose their trust in the government which can lower the legitimacy of Nigeria.

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Kenyan lauds Nigerians for nonviolent elections

Note the happiness, not rioting after the previous election.

A former Kenyan parliamentarian and the owner of Club of Madrid, Prof. Ruth Oniango, has expressed satisfaction at the manner Nigerians conducted themselves in response to country's general elections in 2007.

Oniango said that despite the reported flaws in the elections, Nigerians did not resort to political violence, rather, they approached the rectification of the flaws peacefully.

"Professor Ruth Oniango, a former Kenyan parliamentarian, has saluted Nigerians for not finding recourse in violence in spite of some lapses that visited the April general elections.

"She remarked that, unlike in her native country of Kenya, where the head of the electoral commission could not announce who won the recent election in the country, it was heartwarming that Professor Maurice Iwu could announce the result of Nigeria's poll and wager publicly that the result of the elections reflected the intent of the voters.

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In the midst of all the criticism about flawed elections, corruption, and oil prices, someone has found something positive to talk about in Nigeria. However, the fact that the praise comes from someone whose democratic status is arguably in worse shape does somewhat dull the appeal. The absence of violence in the recent, likely flawed elections is proof the Nigeria is doing something good in its transition to democracy. Any display of legitimacy in a fledgling democracy like Nigeria is a good thing.

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Judicial Workers' Strike Grounds Courts Nationwide

COURT activities were paralysed nationwide yesterday as judicial workers under the aegis of Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) resumed their strike. It is meant to be indefinite.

Among the major cases stalled as a result of the strike is the petition filed by former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) against the declaration of Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Adua of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as winner of the 2007 presidential election.

Also stalled was the hearing on the bail for former Delta State Governor James Onanefe Ibori who is standing trial for money laundering.

The tribunal had fixed yesterday for all parties in the presidential case to the petition to adopt their written brief with regard to the petition filed by Atiku of the Action Congress (AC) and Buhari of the All Nigeria Peoples Party.

Some of the workers in Abuja who spoke to The Guardian lamented the gulf between the pay packages of Judges and the ordinary judicial staff, whom they referred to as the "engine room of judicial activities" or "the Judges' foot soldiers."

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Judicial workers are on strike because of the corrupt, unfair presidential election last summer and because of the large gap in salary between the judge and the judicial workers. The judicial workers are paid about one-seventh of the salary that the judge is paid, but they do the same amount of work. This strike once again demonstrates that many Nigerian citizens do not respect Yar'Adua as president because of the corruption that allowed him to take office. The government is not very legitimate because of this.

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Abdulsalami: I’m afraid for Nigeria

Former Head of State, Gen. Abudulsalami Abubakar (rtd), has expressed fears over the political situation in the country.

Speaking in Minna yesterday, the former head of state called on politicians to learn from the unfortunate situation in Kenya.

"I'm afraid for Nigeria, because this is not the Nigeria that our founding father's bequeathed to us".

"We are no longer our brothers keepers and instead of us talking about Nigeria, you are either talking about local governments or our states,'' he said.

Read the full story here.


In this article, former Head of State General Abudulsalami Abubakar questioned the current state of Nigeria. He asserted that today's Nigeria is not the nation that it was founded as and has strayed from the nation that its founding fathers created it to be. This brings into question the legitimacy of the nation: does Nigeria's government actually have a right to rule if it is not acting in a manner that is expected or desired?


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Yar'Adua Faces Court Over Alleged Fraudulent Elections

Since the election, denounced by some outside observers as the most fraudulent they had ever witnessed, over 1,200 petitions have been filed by the losing candidates in protest against the results. Almost all the successful petitions so far have alleged individual breaches of the electoral law, such as ballot papers with missing names. But more systematic crimes may have occurred, and indeed the first petitioner to prove wholesale malpractice on election day—many voters never even saw ballot papers—won his case last week against the governor of Enugu state. Those bringing the case against the president hope to do the same.

The former military president, Muhammadu Buhari, and the former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar, are leading the charge against Mr Yar'Adua—both lost to him in the presidential poll. They allege that the elections were a sham, that the country failed to produce a complete voters' register and that ballots lacked serial numbers (and were therefore impossible to track). Furthermore, Mr Abubakar says he was illegally excluded from the poll until the very last minute, preventing him from campaigning.

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Many people in Nigeria are claiming that the most recent elctions were fraudulent, and this is no surprise for a counry so recently Democratic as Nigeria. The recent change to Democracy would also make it easy for someone to denouce the elections as the "most fraudulent," because they have probably only witnessed three. In all seriousness, the claims over fraud are probably true to at least some degree, but whether anything will be done remains to be seen. Holding elections for a seceond time may prove difficult or impossible to accomplish.
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Strike may Shut down Water and Electricity

As the nationwide strike enters its third day the NLC, TUC and the Joint Action forum (JAF) in a press release yesterday said water and electricity may be shut down.

"The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) again commend the generality of the Nigeria people for observing the general strike. The level of compliance, mass support and participation has remained appreciable across the 36 states and the Federal Capital territory, in all sectors of the economy and in all spheres of life.

In particular, wecommend the peaceful conduct of workers and other members of the public during the strike, pickets and other protest activities in various parts of the Country.We also commend the manifest civility demonstrated by the Police in the
ongoing general strike/mass protests. This is a marked departure from the excessive high-handedness which Police had displayed in the past.

We also condemn the reported deployment of officers and men of the Army and Navy to operate fuel depots and other purely civil infrastructures for which they have no mandate. Over all, the NLC and TUC remain disappointed by the apparent indifference of the Federal Government to the popular wishes of the people by returning the price of petrol to N65 per litre."

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Nigeria's people have been very peaceful in their demand for lower oil prices, but the government has been unresponsive and has instated military replacements. The fact that a democracy such as Migeria does not listen to its citizens does not reflect well on their political tact.
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The election petition tribunal sitting in Enugu on Friday removed Governor Sullivan Chime of the Peoples Democratic Party.

It also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct a fresh election within three months starting from the day of the ruling. It said that the election that brought in was not conducted in accordance with the Electoral Act, 2006, and that majority of the electorate in the state were disenfranchised as they were not allowed to vote and exercise their constitutional right.

In the consolidated suit brought by the DPP and Egwonwu, the tribunal said that the petitioners were able to prove that majority of the electorate were not allowed to vote during the election. Ottah stated that the 17 witnesses - one from each of the 17 local government areas in the state - were able to prove that the election was “not substantially in compliance with the Electoral Act,” describing the witnesses as “witness of truth.”

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While Nigeria has had a successfull change in presidents, this story seems to indicate that Nigeria is not so politically stable after all. The amount of the electorate that were not allowed to vote indicates a large problem with the nigerian voting policy, at least in this area.

Danger in the President

National Chairman and presidential candidate of the African Liberation Party (ALP), Emmanuel Okereke, has raised alarm over the "dangerous character" of the Umaru Yar’Adua presidency.

He warned that "President Yar’Adua may turn out to be more dangerous than former President Olusegun Obasanjo".

…

"And what is worse, he filled the panel with card-carrying members of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). You can quote me on that: almost all of them are PDP members. So the whole thing is not meant to serve any reformist purpose; it is not meant to reform anything, and that is why our party is not sending any memoranda to it. We do not believe in it and neither do we recognise it.

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This article addresses the recent election of Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua. Emmanuel Okereke has questioned President Yar’Adua’s goals as president of Nigeria, and he has questioned his character. This is just the beginning of what could be a series of questions regarding President Yar’Adua and his policies. This questioning affects Nigeria’s legitimacy which can affect the people’s feelings that the government has a right to rule and implement legislation.