So now the Presidential and NASS elections have been concluded, and President Muhammadu Buhari returns elected. Going forward, what are the issues we should learn from these elections and how can we strengthen our democracy through them?.

For me, there is just one glaring issue I feel we should take care of as a country, which is our voting system.

From the just concluded elections, PDP nearly won the majority of the states(though APC still won majority of states anyway), but the fact struck me that even if Atiku had won more states than Buhari, Buhari would have still been declared winner because he had more aggregate votes. This is wrong, and should be corrected.


I think we should operate a system where the candidate who won the highest number of states is declared president, even though the other candidate wins majority votes.


Our electoral laws should be amended in such a way that a party must win majority states, not necessarily majority votes.

So for example, in the case that PDP wins in 26 states and APC wins in 11 states, but APC has the total majority of votes(due to winning the so called "big states" ) , PDP should still be declared winner because they won more states.

Also, in the case that APC has 17 states and PDP has say 19 states, but APC has majority aggregate votes, then PDP is still winner.

If the parties splits the states 18 each, then the party with the highest aggregate votes can then be used to declare a winner.

Pros:

1. Prevents the sense of Northern hegemony that permeates Nigerian politics, due to the north having more population, hence, more voting power, which translates to more political power.

2. Allows politicians to work hard in winning general support from every part of the country, not just focus on the few "swing states" like Lagos and the K4.

3. Reduces sense of marginalisation by small states. Everyone becomes equal.

4. The true will of the people across board is reflected, not the will of the north or the will of the south west.


With this just concluded elections, I see a future situation whereby party A wins more states but has lesser votes, and party B has lesser states but more votes, Party B is then been declared winner. This will not be ideal.

.....

EVarn:
So now the Presidential and NASS elections have been concluded, and President Muhammadu Buhari returns elected. Going forward, what are the issues we should learn from these elections and how can we strengthen our democracy through them?.

For me, there is just one glaring issue I feel we should take care of as a country, which is our voting system.

From the just concluded elections, PDP nearly won the majority of the states(though APC still won majority of states anyway), but the fact struck me that even if Atiku had won more states than Buhari, Buhari would have still been declared winner because he had more aggregate votes. This is wrong, and should be corrected.


I think we should operate a system where the candidate who won the highest number of states is declared president, even though the other candidate wins majority votes.


Our electoral laws should be amended in such a way that a party must win majority states, not necessarily majority votes.

So for example, in the case that PDP wins in 26 states and APC wins in 11 states, but APC has the total majority of votes(due to winning the so called "big states" ) , PDP should still be declared winner because they won more states.

Also, in the case that APC has 17 states and PDP has say 19 states, but APC has majority aggregate votes, then PDP is still winner.

If the parties splits the states 18 each, then the party with the highest aggregate votes can then be used to declare a winner.

Pros:

1. Prevents the sense of Northern hegemony that permeates Nigerian politics, due to the north having more population, hence, more voting power, which translates to more political power.

2. Allows politicians to work hard in winning general support from every part of the country, not just focus on the few "swing states" like Lagos and the K4.

3. Reduces sense of marginalisation by small states. Everyone becomes equal.

4. The true will of the people across board is reflected, not the will of the north or the will of the south west.


With this just concluded elections, I see a future situation whereby party A wins more states but has lesser votes, and party B has lesser states but more votes, Party B is then been declared winner. This will not be ideal.

Good points you have there. I could not agree more. Winning across board shows love for the political candidate unlike winning big states with a large population.

Brilliant piece.

SueZuckerberg:


Good points you have there. I could not agree more. Winning across board shows love for the political candidate unlike winning big states with a large population.

Exactly, it also solves the issue of concentration of power in a particular region of the country, thereby making others feel marginalised.

U have a point Op. But the criteria of having 25% of votes in 24 states plus FCT already took care of ur suggestn. Both of dem met dat criteria, so the other criteria is now the total number of votes. By saying you should have 25% of votes in 24 states plus FCT, it means having 25% of votes in a state means u have won that state. Therefore, number of states also counts in winning.

The thing I could look @ is, perhaps 25% is too small considering our growing population, maybe they can increase the percentage.

dahmie2013:
U have a point Op. But the criteria of having 25% of votes in 24 states plus FCT already took care of ur suggestn. Both of dem met dat criteria, so the other criteria is now the total number of votes. By saying you should have 25% of votes in 24 states plus FCT, it means having 25% of votes in a state means u have won that state. Therefore, number of states also counts in winning.

The thing I could look @ is, perhaps 25% is too small considering our growing population, maybe they can increase the percentage.

Exactly, 50% should be ideal

I think we should operate a system where the candidate who won the highest number of states is declared president, even though the other candidate wins majority votes. 

You basically want an electoral college system like the united states.

EVarn:
Exactly, it also solves the issue of concentration of power in a particular region of the country, thereby making others feel marginalised.

Honestly, I wish this write-up could get to our lawmakers!! No one should monopolized power. All regions should get to decide who rules them.

I am with you on this OP.

This is a very good suggestion. This will also foster unity as no state will be more important than the other.

Lalasticala FP please