EDITORIAL: The Ondo governorship poll
The Ondo State governorship election held October 10 has come and gone. A clear winner by a wide margin, Rotimi Akeredolu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has been declared. The lessons that arise from the conduct of the poll will, however, remain with us for a long time to come. This was an election that was expected by analysts to be marred by rancor and violence, considering the events that seemed to have enveloped Ondo’s political landscape, a few weeks to the election. A few days to D Day, the wanton display of muscle-flexing had reached a crescendo and created an unhealthy atmosphere of tension, causing doubts whether the election would hold.
The Ondo State governorship election held October 10 has come and gone. A clear winner by a wide margin, Rotimi Akeredolu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has been declared. The lessons that arise from the conduct of the poll will, however, remain with us for a long time to come. This was an election that was expected by analysts to be marred by rancor and violence, considering the events that seemed to have enveloped Ondo’s political landscape, a few weeks to the election.
A few days to D Day, the wanton display of muscle-flexing had reached a crescendo and created an unhealthy atmosphere of tension, causing doubts whether the election would hold. Fortunately, violence seems to disappear from the state’s horizon on the very day of the election. It was as if all stakeholders had made up their minds that nothing short of a free, fair and credible poll would be acceptable. After the election, it became clear that the largely credible governorship poll that took place in Edo State several weeks earlier had, once again, repeated itself.
The commendations which followed from within and outside Nigeria were soul lifting. Civil society organizations, election observers, development partners, the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee for Election and Security, the Chairman of the National Peace Committee (NPC) and Nigeria’s former Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar, political leaders within and outside Ondo State and many groups across the country, described the conduct of the election as worthy of emulation. We commend all the stakeholders who contributed to making the election process a resounding success.
The biggest applause, however, goes to the good people of Ondo State for ensuring that the election was held in an atmosphere devoid of rancour, violence and bloodletting. We call on all Nigerians to borrow a leaf from the Ondo example and continue to demonstrate political maturity during and after elections. Despite the overall success of the Ondo governorship elections, it was not entirely a rosy affair. There were reports of voter apathy (600, 000 out of the about 1.8 million registered voters came out to cast their votes), vote buying and a high rate of procedural infractions around counting spoilt and counterfoil ballot papers.
We note and condemn the preponderance of vote buying in politics. It is disappointing that elections in Nigeria are largely defined by the highest bidder and spender. We urge INEC to undertake far-reaching reforms to protect the secrecy of the ballot. We strongly feel that vote buying is a governance challenge that diminishes human dignity and questions the legitimacy of election outcomes. We believe that addressing this malaise requires a multi-pronged approach that fosters improved public governance, reduces do-or-die politics and strengthens mechanisms of transparency and accountability. We support the views of YIAGA-Africa that the high rate of procedural infractions around counting spoilt and counterfeit ballot papers gives cause for concern.
While these infractions did not undermine the overall integrity of the electoral process, they are a good sign that training of INEC’s ad-hoc officials is important and can be improved upon. We also call on INEC to conduct a post-election audit on both Edo and Ondo governorship elections in order to enable the commission to assess its performance, identify operational areas for improvement and drive policy reforms to effectively plan for future elections. Organizing and conducting elections, even though a difficult enterprise is, by no means, rocket science. Countries that are really determined to hold free, fair and peaceful elections can do so, if they so desire, as amply demonstrated in the governorship elections conducted within the last few weeks in Edo and Ondo States. Despite the electoral feat recorded in the two states, we must realize that, all over the world, elections are held as symbols of democracy and they are, merely, a means to an end. It, therefore, means we should gird up our loins, go beyond the mere conduct of successful elections and focus on good governance by ensuring that elected political leaders fulfill their campaign promises.
The battle is not over with the simple act of re-electing Governor Akeredolu. Ondo people and government must strive to establish a progressive government that will ensure the overall security, welfare and rapid development of the state. With the elections over, it is now time for all Ondo people, regardless of party affiliations, to rally round the governor to move the state forward towards its full potential. We urge Governor Akeredolu to be magnanimous in victory and extend a hand of fellowship to those who contested against him. We also advise the governor to repay the faith and confidence of Ondo people by consolidating on his first term achievements in office to bring further tangible improvement to the lives of the people of the state.
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