Elections: Nigeria building castle of anarchy, ActionAid warns

Worried about the way Nigerians are losing confidence in the electoral and judicial process, ActionAid Nigeria has warned that Nigeria is building a castle of anarchy.

They stressed that the best mechanism for a nation is for people to decide who governs them, but if that is taken away from them, “then we are building a castle of anarchy that at some point will meet up with us.”

The Country Director of ActionAid, Andrew Mamedu, while speaking at a high-level forum on Effective and Efficient Post-Election Justice Delivery in Nigeria over the weekend in Abuja, said, “If you look at countries that have had coups in the past, this was how things started, and the military came and took over. For us in ActionAid, we don’t want it to get to that level; that is why we are sounding the alarm and raising the consciousness of relevant stakeholders.”

He said the greatest threat to democracy is the politicians, as an average politician is selfish and greedy, noting that we must save our democracy from politicians.

“The politicians are concerned about the next election, just like President Bola Ahmed Tinubu extending the tenure of the Inspector General of Police so that he will be able to supervise the next election. It is important to focus on the Judiciary so that they can actually be the ‘last hope of the common man,'” he stated.

Mamedu said that the roundtable discussion with stakeholders involved in the post-election judicial process is in recognition of complaints by citizens of losing trust in the judicial process, saying the aim of the project is to restore the confidence of Nigerians in the judicial process.

He said under the Citizens’ Led Engagement On Judicial Accountability in Post-Election Justice Delivery in Nigeria (CLEAP) project funded by Ford Foundation, ActionAid Nigeria had set up a technical working group made up of eminent Nigerians, retired justices, retired INEC Directors, media executives, and lawyers.

He said the TWG had emphasized that the Judiciary must be the last hope of the common man, saying whatever we do will have an effect on our democracy, and if the Judiciary is playing their part, it will give Nigerians some level of confidence.

A retired Justice of the Appeal Court and also the Chairman of the Technical Working Group (TWG), Prof. Mojeed Owoade, pointed out that the major challenge the Nigerian Judiciary system is facing is the lack of independent minds as well as a shortage of manpower, stressing the need for justices that are independent in their thinking.

While mentioning that most justices are not independent, Prof. Owoade said the appointment processes have made it difficult for the justices to be transparent, both as Judges and as Judges at the election tribunals. He therefore stressed the need to strengthen the process of appointment and further scrutinize the judges at the election tribunals.

A media executive who is also a member of the TWG, Imoni Amarere, said their major recommendation is the need for reform of the entire electoral and post-judicial system.

He said, “The judiciary is part of the electoral process, as there is practically no election conducted in Nigeria where people don’t end up in court. If we must reform the electoral system, we must reform the post-election judiciary system so that when mistakes are made before or during the election, they can be corrected at the post-election stage.”