Election fraud, judiciary, others hindering Nigeria’s democracy – IPAC

The Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), on Thursday, emphasized the urgent need for a more robust democracy in Nigeria and stressed the importance of strengthening the country’s judiciary.

IPAC emphasized that Nigerian courts must reassess principles of electoral jurisprudence that facilitate rigging and the imposition of rejected candidates.

National Chairman of IPAC, Yusuf Mamman Dantalle, disclosed this in Abuja, at the first council roundtable discussion with the theme: “The Role of the Judiciary in Nigeria’s Democratic Sustainability”.

He noted that the roundtable series will continue to address pressing national and international issues by assembling expert resource persons to enhance democratic practices.

He explained that the vision of the discussion is to consolidate and deepen democracy in Nigeria by creating an environment that fosters successful elections, political stability, and peaceful electoral processes.

Dantalle said: “Our decision to commence the Roundtable Series is due to the fact that Judiciary is the bastion and bulwark of the nation’s democracy. It is the stabilizing force and the last hope of all aggrieved people against opponents’ inclination, penchant and propensity for injustice.

“The court is the Temple of Justice, its ministers are expected to be upright, men and women of integrity who will dispense justice no matter whose ox is gored.

“Priests in the temple of justice are expected to be God-fearing, courageous and fearless in the discharge of their constitutional duties, conscious of the fact that they sit in judgement over the affairs of fellow compatriots, acting on behalf of God who is the Judge of all. Like Caesar’s wife, they should live above board.”

In his address, the National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, acknowledged the judiciary’s crucial role in Nigeria’s democracy, noting that its historical significance in upholding the rule of law and safeguarding citizens’ rights.

He said: “The judiciary in Nigeria, as you are aware, has played a pivotal role in shaping the nation’s democratic landscape. From the early days of independence to the present day, the judiciary has been entrusted with upholding the rule of law, ensuring justice, and safeguarding the rights of citizens.

“However, it is important to mention that in an attempt to play such a critical role, the judiciary faces various challenges such as inadequate funding, delays in justice delivery, judicial independence, amongst others.

“Despite these challenges, I believe that there are opportunities for reforms that would further improve and strengthen the judiciary, as well as enhance its role in democratic sustainability.”

Keynote speaker at the event, Chief Jibrin Samuel Okutepa, SAN, lamented the state of Nigerian democracy, describing it as distant from true democratic ideals.

He criticized the prevalence of electoral fraud and the militarization and thuggery that undermine the democratic process.

Okutepa said: “True democracy is far from Nigeria. The news making rounds in our elections since the advent of civilian rule in most cases are worrisome and frightening to say the least. The Nigerian brand of democracy is too complex to understand.

“It appears that while Nigerians like and love democratic governance as practiced in other civilized nations, some Nigerian politicians and their supporters seem to be too far from democracy and democratic ideals.

“The brand of democracy most of our political actors loved and practiced is the government of the selected by the selected for the selected. Democracy in the true sense of government of the people by the people for the people is far from Nigeria. Political leaders and moneybags have played very dangerous and undermining roles in our democratic journey so far.

“In most elections, some people are always procured to thumb-print ballot papers a day to the election or on the election days and they had the guts and effrontery to take these thumbs printed results to collation centres and INEC always accept these results and announce it.

“Some Nigerian politicians have no respect for the sovereignty of the people. They have nothing to show in governance, yet they want to still lord it over Nigerians. A lot is going on in the Nigerian brand of democracy. It is sad that even those who ought to be civilized behave worse than the most illiterate persons one can imagine.

“Our democracy has been militarized and thuggish. We allowed what the law prohibited as an instrument of installing leadership in power. Today people have been impoverished and poverty has become the lot of our people. When are we going to hold people accountable for the atrocities they commit in the name of governance?

“I think the ideas behind the periodic holding of elections is for accountability and renewal of mandate or punishing those who failed to do well. Law makers also made provisions in our laws and then donated power to the judiciary to checkmate political delinquency and misbehaviors. Despite all these checks, Nigerians suffered political manipulations in the hands of political actors.

“In all of these, the judiciary institution that has the duty to hold politicians accountable appears to have been unable to do so for reasons not far from Nigerian factors. It is sad and terrible that the brand of democracy in Nigeria is by getting power through the barrel of the guns and thuggery and punishing people by looting and bragging as saints but worse than Satan in actions and decisions.

“That is the Nigerian brand of democracy. Nothing is done decently. The future is bleak for democracy and electoral jurisprudence in Nigeria. Nigerian democracy may head to a calamitous end unless the judiciary and legal profession retrace their steps in the kind of judgments being delivered in electoral matters by the Nigerian judiciary. I am not a prophet of doom but truth needs to be told.”