Your Right to Vote And to Vote Wisely

Election is defined as a formal and organised way of choosing people for a political office or other positions. In Nigeria, elective democracy was introduced in May 1919, when the Township Ordinance gave right to vote for three members of Lagos Town Council to some men. The first election to the council was held on 29 March 1920.

The first national election to be held in Nigeria was in 1959, and in 1965. Elections were held in the southern region of Nigeria.

After a long period of military rule, the 1983 general election took place. This was however cut short by the December 1983 coup that brought Muhammadu Buhari as Head of State.

In 1993, the country witnessed another general election that was adjudged as the most free, fair and credible elections by both local and international observers.

The said election was presumably won by Chief MKO Abiola, but sadly the results were annulled by the then Military President General Ibrahim Babangida.

From 1999 till date, the country has enjoyed uninterrupted democratic dispensation witnessing four successive elections and the fifth coming up in February 2019.

Election makes a fundamental contribution to democratic governance as it enables voters and citizens to choose leaders and representatives and to hold them responsible and accountable for their actions in office as they are only elected to serve the people for a defined period of time as allowed by the country’s constitution.

In a developed democracy, because those in elective positions are conscious of the fact that they are required to submit themselves for periodic elections, they tend to put in their best to serve the people knowing full well that their performance will be the determining factor for their re-election.

This is why we have high rate of fulfilling election campaign promises; it also go beyond individual candidates vying for various elective positions to the general political ideology.

Moreover, where the electoral processes is competitive and forces parties and candidates to expose their records and future performances to proper scrutiny, election serves as a platform for the discussions and debates on public issues and policies.

It also serves as facilitator of public expressions. Election thus provides political education for citizens and ensures the responsiveness of democratic governments to the yearnings of the people.

It also serves as acts to legitimise the acts of those who wields power. Elections seem to facilitate social and political integrations and it is also a tool to actualize a self-actualising purpose by confirming the worth and dignity of individual citizens as human beings.

Whatever other needs, participations in an elections serves to reinforce the worth and self esteem of individual voters.

As 2019 general elections draw nearer, voting gives the citizenry an opportunity to have a say in issues pertaining to their lives and through expressing partisanship, to satisfy their needs to have a sense of belonging.

Seeing the importance of elections and the powers of the electorate, it is therefore important for the electorate to know those characteristics an individual possess before casting their votes.

In that case, the electorate can be glad with the choice of the candidate he or she made to represent them at all level since the aim is to bring development to their communities.

Whether held under authoritarian or democratic regimes, election has ritualistic aspects. Campaigns that precede elections are dramatic events occasioned by rallies, posters, banners, and television coverage, all of which draw attention to the importance of participations on the events.

Candidates, groups and political parties and others representing diverse opinions and objectives combine to invoke the spirit of nationalism.

Whatever the peculiar national or regional or local variations, elections are events that arouse emotions, and channelling these emotions and passions into collective symbols help in breaking the monotony of national life and focus attentions on the common fate.

Most elections do not determine public policies but instead confer on a small group of officials the authority to determine public policies through the instrumentality of laws and other devices on behalf of the whole.

Political parties are central to the elections of public officers, the selections and nominations of candidates, a central and vital first stage in the electoral processes, generally lies in the hands of political parties:, an election only serves as the final process in the recruitments of public officials. The party systems can thus be regarded as an extension of the electoral processes.

In Nigeria today, we have repeated cases of vote buying which has made the electorate to deprive themselves of the right to question the performance of their elected representatives.

This is so because the officials believe they bought the conscious of the people they are representing hence making them act as lords when in the real sense reverse should have been the case.

For instance, an average Briton see himself as very busy, that is why he will tell you boldly that the Prime Minister is there to serve and they can hold her accountable for any slightest wrong committed and ultimately remove her from office if need be.

This is why you have all elected officers performing based on their campaign promises. It is no longer news that in developed democracies politicians are removed from office for failure to account for just £1,000 or he can be made to explain why the state funds was used to pay for his utility bills.

What do we have in Africa? Leaders feeding fat on our commonwealth and at the same time depriving us from questioning their actions because they believe with the state resources in their disposal they can have their way during any election period.

This could have been avoided if credible individuals were voted in from the onset of the current democratic dispensation. However, it is not late to remedy the situation if we can collectively look at individual track records and vote wisely and not along party lines,

but based on what we think they can offer and reject whatever the obviously morally bankrupt politicians are offering which will continue to make our collective development a mirage.

Voting for the right candidates give us the latitude to call them to order whenever we feel they are not representing us well. This will no doubt lead to appreciable development of our country and we will all be glad to have lived a good legacy for the future generations.

Dr Jumai Ahmadu is a public commentator based in Abuja