Nigerians are today, Saturday, February 25, 2023, going to the polls to elect President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor.
The electorate in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja would also be electing Senators and House of Representatives members. Many are not taking this as seriously as they should. Yet every effort must be made to stop some liabilities that are presenting themselves from getting to the two chambers of the federal legislature.
The Presidential Election, particularly, has attracted unprecedented local and international attention not just because of Nigeria’s size and key roles in the African continent but because of the major candidates – Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Many believe that today’s election will be historic. The incumbent has continued to promise that he will deliver a free, fair, credible and transparent election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has likewise continued to pledge its neutrality while the security agencies have promised that they are ready to ensure that the exercise is fully secured. What happens at the end of the day will show to what extent these promises have been kept.
The presidential candidates have signed peace pacts to respect the decision of the voters as announced by the electoral umpire (INEC) and if unsatisfied with the result, to go to court rather than resort to self-help or incitement of their supporters to violence.
The voters, especially the youths who have been significantly mobilised and sufficiently challenged to register and collect their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) are poised to go to the polls to make their voices heard.
The government of the day is striving to ensure that the election is not rigged or manipulated. Towards this end, President Buhari signed the new Electoral Law which is allowing electronic verification of voters, through the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), and transmission of results, which should significantly eliminate ballot box snatching, stuffing and falsification of results. The hope is that nothing goes wrong to compromise the system.
A campaign against vote buying and selling is also being embarked upon, the success of which is yet to be determined. The currency swap policy of the federal government is said to be one of the strategies to combat this monster, while security agencies’ activities aimed at arresting those involved in corrupting the electoral system is also another strategy.
Whether the hydra-headed monster can be contained is left to be seen, especially as the crooked politicians that can only thrive through vote buying seem to still be at it. The reported interception of huge sums of money in different parts of the country on the eve of this election by security operatives goes to show the level of the desperation of the voter buyers.
The die, however, is cast. The hour of decision for Nigerian voters has come. The eyes of the whole world are on Nigeria. All manner of local and foreign observer missions are on ground in the country.
The hope is that voters will be able to vote without inhibitions and that their votes will be allowed to count. Otherwise, many have said that there may be consequences, better imagined than experienced.
