₦airaland Forum

Nigeria's successful elections

Democracy 1, vote-rigging 0

Gambling on the world’s most expensive voting system has paid off

ANYONE who has received a Nigerian scam e-mail—offering to share vast wealth in exchange for just a teensy bit of advance capital—will instantly grasp how rife corruption is in Africa’s most populous and entrepreneurial country. This is true of politics as well as commerce. Cheating has become so brazen that few Nigerians expect fair elections. Politicians have for years larded voter lists with the names of foreign musicians, including deceased ones like Marvin Gaye, and have stuffed ballot boxes with abandon.

At parliamentary elections on April 9th, allegations of rigging were once again in the air. Violence also flared up. And the late delivery of ballot papers, which were securely printed abroad, delayed the voting by a week. Nonetheless, the poll marked the first credible election in Nigeria since the end of military rule 12 years ago (see article).

What made it different is that officials fought back hard for the first time. They introduced a new voting system that severely limits fraud, using a clever mix of high-tech and low-tech. All 73.5m voters were fingerprinted and screened to stop duplication. Most polling booths opened for only an hour to prevent multiple voting. Electoral officials tallied the results in front of the voters. Independent monitors collected the numbers instantaneously using mobile phones in an exercise called “crowd tabulation”.

The process has been expensive: the government has set a record for public spending on elections of $580m. Western donors argued at first that the system was too complex for a developing country to handle. They were wrong.

The credit goes mostly to two men. The first is President Goodluck Jonathan, who is himself standing for re-election on April 16th. He may thus benefit personally from the reforms, but he acted against the interests of his party, which had perfected the dark art of rigging. The second is Attahiru Jega, head of the official election commission, who designed a voting system that angered many powerful lobbies. Together they have given new hope to the many Nigerians who are embarrassed that their vibrant country, often ranked as the most optimistic in the world, has become a byword for swindling and fraud.

More has to change before Nigeria’s political leaders can claim full legitimacy. The elections may be more transparent, but governing still takes place largely behind closed doors. The legislature remains too weak. The Official Secrets Act, which makes it illegal to publish government data independently, needs reform. So do the courts, which are suspected of bias and corruption. Legal challenges after previous elections have failed to produce a single conviction for electoral fraud.

Fit for export

Better elections should in the end help resolve Nigeria’s existential question—whether this wildly diverse country of 150m people from 250 ethnic groups created by British colonial masters can work. But ambitious talk of taking over regional leadership is premature. Nigeria should first try to close the democratic gap with South Africa, the continent’s top dog, as well as improve its scam-ridden economy.

The best way for Nigeria to show leadership is to help its neighbours to stop rigging their polls. Not all have the right staff or can afford high-tech answers. But as countries from Côte d’Ivoire to Kenya have found, bad or contested elections can be the costliest mistakes of all.

http://www.economist.com/node/18560577

[img]https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?action=dlattach;id=424592;type=avatar[/img]

No need for the pessimism Ileke-Idi. You can always join me in Port Harcourt if Ekiti becomes too hot to handle.

The opposition is fighting amongst themselves. Not a very smart move.

This is unbelievable! But remember this is quite common throughout the North. That is their voting population is considered higher than other regions. They use their children to vote.

You are a very brave man OP.

Presidential Polls: We Remain Apolitical – Army

By Kingsley Omonobi

ABUJA – As the Presidential elections commence nationwide tomorrow , the Nigeria Army says that the deployment of its officers and soldiers notwithstanding, it remains apolitical in the choice of Nigerian citizenry.

Director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Rafael Isa who made the disclosure at a media parley in Abuja Friday, noted that despite the apprehension being expressed in some quarters about the necessity for the Army to be called out, “We (Army) will keep doing our constitutional duties the way we are meant to do it”.

Speaking on isolated incidents of skirmishes between army personnel deployed for election duties and voters or other officials, Isa said, “Our personnel have been trained. Our patrols are well positioned for the job of providing security.

Each and every one of them has the armed forces code of conduct for the elections. If there are problems, all you do is to explain yourself to them. And be patient with our patrol teams on the road”.

Asked to give the number of soldiers deployed for the election exercise, the spokesman said, “All I can tell you is that the Nigeria Army is adequately deployed. We don’t have any business with polling booths but we are to provide security to both INEC and security of the environment”

“In the last National Assembly elections, our patrols reported encounters with people who wanted to snatch ballot boxes and our men did very well. Our men apprehended several of the culprits and promptly handed them to the police for prosecution”.

When informed that journalist covering the elections had difficulties with soldiers in the performance of the duties at some point, the Army spokesman said, “All Commanders have been told and they know that the media is permitted to go to even the grassroots to perform their duties. This was made clear even at the INEC, Security and Media parley and this must be adhered to. But that is not to say the media will deliberately provoke people doing their work”.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/04/presidential-polls-we-remain-apolitical-army/

https://www.vanguardngr.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Jega-Election-Mushin1.jpg

We must be the most interesting people in Nigeria. Like it or not.

Rossikk:
EzeUche, do you get that feeling that great things are just round the corner for our nation once this man is elected?

Some of us who know about the numerous large scale programs and projects just waiting to be executed once this whole election cycle is over with, can hardly wait. From the PIB, to the Power Road Map, to the various rail and infrastructure projects in the pipeline under various stages of completion. Exciting times really lie ahead. 

For some reason, Goodluck Jonathan has given me a new found faith for Nigeria. In the past, I used to have nothing but despair about Nigeria, but this man has given a glimmer of hope for the country.

We may finally see the much needed development that Nigerians so desperately need. Let us hope that he will be able to fight against the nefarious elements that exist within the Nigerian state, that will do anything to stop him.

Zoning is dead. May the best man or woman wins, regardless of his ethnicity. That is my new philosophy.

Rossikk:
GEJ/SAMBO 2011

That's the verdict of the people.

Gbam!

Pat Utomi is definitely speaking the truth yet again.

The SE and SS are a solid voting bloc. There is power in unity.

The SW vote will be divided.

I do not know the permeations in the northern sections of the country.

This man definitely needs to go. If he doesn't, I would be the first to invite ACN into Imo state.

aribisala0:
the sky is blue and dogs have four legs tell me something i did not know yesterday apart from the fact that you wish you are in the higher percentile of intelligence distribution

I'll play your game. This could be entertaining. May we should define intelligence before we start. . .

aribisala0:
you are out of your depth here and only reveal what silence would serve you well to conceal

Is that so? Why should I live in the shadows, when I can stay in the light? I'll choose the latter.

jason123,

Can we stop this discussion of Awolowo? It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.  

aribisala0:
as such a constellation of disturbed perception and thinking are usuall pathognomonic of a sinister malady.my normal response would be empathetic understanding

I have no need for your empathy. My perception of the world is quite clear. All men are not created equal in intelligence.

fstranger3:
Yoruba better than Igbo. Fact!

Yoruba = Igbo = Idoma = Edo = Igala

Fact!

We have a common ancestor my long lost brother.

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aribisala0:
that phenomenon is called magical thinking by psychologists, expecting that a thing is so because you think it .

Well I can say I learned something new today. I cannot know everything can I? Or have I found a new way of using the rest of my brain?

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[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=646145.msg8130532#msg8130532 date=1302842395]I wrote
After quoting me, in response you write
So pray tell, who is this thesaurus remark in response to? Is this bolded "you" someone other than me?

Anyway, let's leave it be. A little less arrogance won't hurt ya'll. After all, you claim to be Catholics.[/quote]There was a word missing that I forgot to add. "You even HAVE some who thinks looking at the thesaurus to find synonyms of common words." I never referred to you, but if the shoe fits.

aribisala0:
wellyouprobablybelieveyouarehandsomedoesthatmakeitanothernewtruth

Well most women do think I look handsome. Even the ones who have been privileged enough to see my picture on NL. 

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aribisala0:
oneupmanship indeed
i resent a form of argument that says i am better schooled than you therefore i know more and then fails to deliver.you started the supremacist rhetoric.

It is not about what university I attend. That is not something I was discussing. It is all about intellect. The ability to comprehend. That is something that I value.

You may call it supremacist rhetoric, but I see it as a "new" truth.  . .

[quote author=ekt_bear link=topic=646145.msg8130508#msg8130508 date=1302841946]lol @ eat a thesaurus.

Literature was not even something I focused on. I kid you not, I've not taken a literature course since my final year of HS. I just read a lot of books as a kid.

Yet to our Igbo übermensch, this is me using a thesaurus 

Like I said. . . all this arrogance makes me laugh sometimes[/quote]First of all, how do you know I was talking to you? Don't Americans say "if the shoe fits."  I know you are familiar with the phrase.

Actually, I was not talking about you.

^^^

Seems like tribalism on Nairaland has been around for quite a while. Is this really how Nigerians view each other?

aribisala0:
igweeeeeeeeeeee
but really i feel let down.
all that grandiosity without illumination. very bad form to assume you are the smarter one.
usually wrong

What is illuminating about this topic? Posters have left the original topic a long time ago. Now it would seem that the topic has turned to one-upmanship of the highest order.

I see your bait, but I am not in the mood. Try again. . .

You shall play by my rules.

aribisala0:
didtheynotteachyouconcentrationatumd

You forgot to address me by my title brother. . .

jason123:
The question is, who started this threads?? Since 2005, bigoted Igbos have been insulting the Yorubas and accusing them for all their worldly woos. Yorubas simply returned in kind starting from 2006-7. No Yoruba man started a bigoted thread about Igbos in 2005, it was the Igbos that started it.

Do you have proof? Many of us have been around for a while. Let us go to the very beginning. Then we can test your hypothesis.

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/board-40.1728.html#bot

To be honest with everyone, I do not even know what you are arguing about. How did this topic "metamorph" into urbanization prior to colonial the presence?

aribisala0:
i do not speak for the yoruba.you are my brother too

You are my brother? Ka anyi sua Igbo.