The forgiving disposition of the electorate is well known to political elite, writes Elnathan John

From the moment earlier this month when President Goodluck Jonathan announced that Nigeria’s elections were being postponed by six weeks, voters have been holding their breath. The presidential poll, now scheduled for March 28, will be the most keenly contested election in recent Nigerian history. For the first time since democracy was restored in 1999 there is a possibility that the incumbent may lose to an opposition candidate.

The most recent polls show Mr Jonathan running neck and neck with General Muhammadu Buhari, the gap-toothed former dictator whose popularity has been boosted by public discontent with Mr Jonathan’s mishandling of the country’s natural resources, his slow reaction to recent national emergencies and a failure to deal with both rampant corruption and the jihadist insurgents of Boko Haram.

Many Nigerians recognised early on that they had to pick the lesser of two evils. The current government has proved a disappointment but Mr Buhari comes with baggage, having ruled the country for two years after the army snatched power from a democratically elected government in 1983.

During that spell in office Mr Buhari enacted a series of profoundly illiberal laws, including a ban on publishing stories that could bring the federal government or public officers “to disrepute or ridicule”. Soldiers were deployed in the streets to whip people into compliance with new rules requiring, for example, orderly queues at bus stops. But Nigerians understand that to thrive, they have to learn how to forget. Mr Buhari is considered one of the least corrupt of the country’s rulers, even by those who do not support him.

The forgiving disposition of the Nigerian electorate is understood by a political elite that now operates with breathtaking shamelessness. Farouk Lawan is a parliamentarian who has done as much as anyone to expose wrongdoing in the Nigerian government.

He headed an inquiry that exposed the details of a fuel subsidy scam which reportedly cost the country $6.8bn. Yet in 2013, Nigerian newspapers reported that he had been filmed accepting $500,000 in cash from a businessman whose company was under investigation.

At first Mr Lawan denied having “demanded and received any bribe from anybody”. Press reports say that after video evidence was submitted to the police Mr Lawan backtracked and admitted to taking the money — but claimed he was only doing so to gather evidence of the pressure that his committee was under. His party seems either to have accepted the explanation or to have disregarded the allegations; Mr Lawan is seeking re-election as the People’s Democratic party candidate in this year’s elections to the House of Representatives.

All sides in politics benefit from Nigerians’ collective amnesia. Mr Jonathan’s supporters seem to have forgotten that the reaction of the first lady to the mass kidnapping of school girls by Boko Haram was to express doubt that the abductions had even taken place. They seem to have forgotten that it took Mr Jonathan three weeks to say anything about it. They forget that as he preached anti-corruption, in 2013 Mr Jonathan pardoned a convicted corrupt politician — his former boss and mentor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha. Nigerians who support Mr Buhari are surely forgetting the illiberal excesses of his brief rule.

The country meanwhile teeters on the precipice, with dwindling foreign reserves, unbridled corruption, a crumbling economy and a war against Boko Haram that has so far lasted for five years with no end in sight. Nigerian voters know very well how to be in the difficult space between a rock and a hard place.

In the coming election, they must consider what we need to remember about the records of all the candidates seeking office.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/05e83ee6-b867-11e4-b6a5-00144feab7de.html?siteedition=uk#axzz3SwJ9uGE7
http://businessdayonline.com/2015/02/nigerian-voters-without-memories-breed-politicians-without-shame/#.VPBE-JV0zIU

@OP
1. Jonathan did not pardon Alaemesiegha by fiat. The National Council of State whose membershi is made up of All former Presidents and Heads of State, All 36 Governors, the Senate President and Reps Speaker and the Chief Justice of the Federation, pardonde Chief Alamesiaghe. Yakubu Gowon came out to defend the pardon. I know many of us has been saying Jonathan in the past but that is not the truth. So far, nobody came out with dissenting view from among the members. Not even any of the APC Govs or Speaker.

2. I guess this article was written more than 2 weeks ago. It is not true that the anti-terrorism fight has no end in sight. So far the military has been recording huge success, and there is end in sight should they continue with this rate.

Op you and Mallam Buhari need to go home and rest in peace.
Never again will Mallam Buhari rule Nigeria.
#Never Again.

It seems the PDP should have done better within the 16 years they held power because comments from Nigerians suggest that there has been a failure in governance but can the alternative offered by the APC be trusted

In as much as you tried to sound unbiased and neutral but you didn't disguise your allegiance very well. How can you remember to enumerate the "sins" of Jonathan vis a vis PDP one after the other but at same time, fail to enumerate that of Buhari & APC, just a summary using an ambiguous word to cover it all?...

But no matter what, buhari has no moral right or justification to contest under Democratic rule in Nigeria?
How come his campaign promises are NOT synchronizing with all his stance before this election Why the double standard and hypocrisy?...

Remember, he insulted Jonathan for not granting boko haram amnesty but in election, he's preaching no amnesty again for them...He said an attack on boko haram is an attack on the north but today; he is telling us that he will fight boko haram...Why all the deceit

I think the person of buhari should be judged from what he stood and represented before this electioneering campaigns... He's a dent to any sane democracy and progressive elements...

allenbaker5:
It seems the PDP should have done better within the 16 years they held power because comments from Nigerians suggest that there has been a failure in governance but can the alternative offered by the APC be trusted

The acronym PDP has existed for 16years but APC has existed for less...but the individuals in both has existed and being running Nigeria for same 16years.
If anything at all, APC has existed albeit indirectly for this 16years as well...(Tinubu, Saraki, Amechi, Atiku, Kwankwaso, Rochas, Oyegun, etc)

I prefer following individuals to following party; because they seem same to me though PDP are better in the sense that they accept their corruptibility, while APC claim saints but are very deadly sect of digital criminals and looters...If Lagos domesticates FOI today; you will cry at the level of corruption in that state...

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Whynotthetruth:



The acronym PDP has existed for 16years but APC has existed for less...but the individuals in both has existed and being running Nigeria for same 16years.
If anything at all, APC has existed albeit indirectly for this 16years as well...(Tinubu, Saraki, Amechi, Atiku, Kwankwaso, Rochas, Oyegun, etc)

I prefer following individuals to following party; because they seem same to me though PDP are better in the sense that they accept their corruptibility, while APC claim saints but are very deadly sect of digital criminals and looters...If Lagos domesticates FOI today; you will cry at the level of corruption in that state...

Whynotthetruth:



The acronym PDP has existed for 16years but APC has existed for less...but the individuals in both has existed and being running Nigeria for same 16years.
If anything at all, APC has existed albeit indirectly for this 16years as well...(Tinubu, Saraki, Amechi, Atiku, Kwankwaso, Rochas, Oyegun, etc)

I prefer following individuals to following party; because they seem same to me though PDP are better in the sense that they accept their corruptibility, while APC claim saints but are very deadly sect of digital criminals and looters...If Lagos domesticates FOI today; you will cry at the level of corruption in that state...

Whynotthetruth:



The acronym PDP has existed for 16years but APC has existed for less...but the individuals in both has existed and being running Nigeria for same 16years.
If anything at all, APC has existed albeit indirectly for this 16years as well...(Tinubu, Saraki, Amechi, Atiku, Kwankwaso, Rochas, Oyegun, etc)

I prefer following individuals to following party; because they seem same to me though PDP are better in the sense that they accept their corruptibility, while APC claim saints but are very deadly sect of digital criminals and looters...If Lagos domesticates FOI today; you will cry at the level of corruption in that state...

Sure they are devils in the APC but it seems to me that they have succeeded in telling Nigerians that any thing other than PDP is okay

allenbaker5:
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Sure they are devils in the APC but it seems to me that they have succeeded in telling Nigerians that any thing other than PDP is okay

Maybe true for the folks that bought into those propaganda and lies...