As the elections draw near
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- Category: Within the nation
- Written by Within the Nation Kabir Mato
- Hits: 825
A lot is at stake. We have seen desperation on the part of political parties and politicians to capture the last space before the voters will go to polls on April 2, 2011. We see desperation palpable all over the places. Politicians going to court to ascertain their candidature, political parties especially the major presidential aspirants criss-crossing over the entire country to tell the people why they are the best.
We have seen the PDP machine supported strongly by our national resources in terms of the huge entourage and the brazen spending of wealth whose source cannot be determined, but specifically from the national till, at a time when the government is continuously crying that it lacks the funds to execute its programmes or even fund the budget. Yet, the naira is shrinking while foreign currencies such as the dollar, euro and pound continue to surge in the market.It appears as if the only game in town now is a struggle between those who wish to see free and fair elections with those who desire to deploy their traditional tricks in subverting the will of the people. The struggle is very intense. When the CPC Presidential candidate, Muhammdu Buhari said in Kaduna and Minna that people must be vigilant and ensure that their votes are protected by deploying all means necessary to deal with those who desire to truncate their will, the government of Goodluck Jonathan and indeed the PDP machine began capitalizing on that simple statement and are making a hell of noise out of it.
If the PDP does not intend to rig or steal peoples votes, why are they worried about calls for vigilance? Why did the party refuse to sign the code of conduct for political parties that was prepared and presented to all for signatures by INEC? Only the PDP refused to sign. This is rude and a clear statement made by the party to Nigerians that they are not prepared to abide by the rules of engagement and may still deploy that traditional method of truncating the will of the people.
I have said this, time and again, that only Nigerians can stop electoral fraud in the country. The politicians are the least interested in doing that because given the opportunity, a lot of them would love to rig elections so they can have access to the spoils of office. It is only the citizens that can wake up from slumber and insist that the sanctity of their votes count otherwise, we shall go down the same way we have been in the last few years.
It is not true to say that the political parties and their aspirants would avoid rigging. They only can do that if they see the dangers ahead. That is why I am surprised that both Goodluck Jonathan and his campaign team would make so much political noise out of a simple call for vigilance, which is necessary if the nation is to achieve credible polls in April.
The other day in Abuja, it was Atiku Abubakar who made simple remarks that those who make peaceful change impossible make violent change inevitable, and the whole machine got chagrined and called him names and even tried to accuse him of incitement. I cannot link this obvious historical and political fact with incitement.
The sense is simple. The PDP desires to perhaps rig the elections or wishes to deploy its traditional strategy of declaration, but one thing that is missing is a willing umpire in INEC as was the case in 2007 when the state returning officers’ job was taken over by overzealous Maurice Iwu and results of several states were announced in Abuja instead of in state capitals.
Desperation is palpable and it will appear that the extent to which Nigerians have expressed their interest in having free and fair polls in April seem to shake the confidence of those rigging machines that cannot afford to rely on the will of the people for legitimacy.
We all will push forward the campaigns for free and credible polls. All those who think they can rig elections as they use to are merely having day dreams because they will not succeed.
People must come out in numbers and vote and ensure that their votes are protected and not tempered with as is the tradition in many previous elections. Those who did it before will still want to do it, but I will join in the call for people to be vigilant and protect their votes no matter the cost. Anyone that tries to reduce the sanctity of our vote is tantamount to dehumanizing us and we must rise in unison against such move.
That is the only way Nigeria can join the rest of the civilized world by having leaders who derive their mandates directly from the people. I will not mind if the PDP is reelected by the Nigerian people, but will join forces to ensure that they don’t rig and they subject themselves to the wishes of the Nigerian people. We have made so much sacrifice to keep the nation intact.
I want to see how Bayelsa will produce the one million votes like they did in the past. I want to see how Rivers will vote more than Kano or Lagos or even how those areas that are seen as favourable to the ruling party would produce more votes than those that are not. All these are some of the strategies that were used and that can be used at the moment.
Accordingly, Nigerians must do everything possible to ensure that they vote en-mass for those they desire to have as their leaders and the politicians must do everything to ensure that they subordinate their desires to that of the people. That is the picture of elections that is expected in April and every Nigerian must ensure that this is what is achieved.
We cannot afford to have anything else. We cannot afford to have our names and that of our country dragged in the mud yet again. Nigeria and Nigerians must outlive this tragedy so that we can move forward. Collectively, we must ensure that the right thing is done and we must stay away from any form of intimidation from those who hold state power and its propaganda machine.
Articles
As the elections draw near
Category: Within the nation Written by Within the Nation Kabir Mato Hits: 825
A lot is at stake. We have seen desperation on the part of political parties and politicians to capture the last space before the voters will go to polls on April 2, 2011. We see desperation palpable all over the places. Politicians going to court to ascertain their candidature, political parties especially the major presidential aspirants criss-crossing over the entire country to tell the people why they are the best.
We have seen the PDP machine supported strongly by our national resources in terms of the huge entourage and the brazen spending of wealth whose source cannot be determined, but specifically from the national till, at a time when the government is continuously crying that it lacks the funds to execute its programmes or even fund the budget. Yet, the naira is shrinking while foreign currencies such as the dollar, euro and pound continue to surge in the market.It appears as if the only game in town now is a struggle between those who wish to see free and fair elections with those who desire to deploy their traditional tricks in subverting the will of the people. The struggle is very intense. When the CPC Presidential candidate, Muhammdu Buhari said in Kaduna and Minna that people must be vigilant and ensure that their votes are protected by deploying all means necessary to deal with those who desire to truncate their will, the government of Goodluck Jonathan and indeed the PDP machine began capitalizing on that simple statement and are making a hell of noise out of it.
If the PDP does not intend to rig or steal peoples votes, why are they worried about calls for vigilance? Why did the party refuse to sign the code of conduct for political parties that was prepared and presented to all for signatures by INEC? Only the PDP refused to sign. This is rude and a clear statement made by the party to Nigerians that they are not prepared to abide by the rules of engagement and may still deploy that traditional method of truncating the will of the people.
I have said this, time and again, that only Nigerians can stop electoral fraud in the country. The politicians are the least interested in doing that because given the opportunity, a lot of them would love to rig elections so they can have access to the spoils of office. It is only the citizens that can wake up from slumber and insist that the sanctity of their votes count otherwise, we shall go down the same way we have been in the last few years.
It is not true to say that the political parties and their aspirants would avoid rigging. They only can do that if they see the dangers ahead. That is why I am surprised that both Goodluck Jonathan and his campaign team would make so much political noise out of a simple call for vigilance, which is necessary if the nation is to achieve credible polls in April.
The other day in Abuja, it was Atiku Abubakar who made simple remarks that those who make peaceful change impossible make violent change inevitable, and the whole machine got chagrined and called him names and even tried to accuse him of incitement. I cannot link this obvious historical and political fact with incitement.
The sense is simple. The PDP desires to perhaps rig the elections or wishes to deploy its traditional strategy of declaration, but one thing that is missing is a willing umpire in INEC as was the case in 2007 when the state returning officers’ job was taken over by overzealous Maurice Iwu and results of several states were announced in Abuja instead of in state capitals.
Desperation is palpable and it will appear that the extent to which Nigerians have expressed their interest in having free and fair polls in April seem to shake the confidence of those rigging machines that cannot afford to rely on the will of the people for legitimacy.
We all will push forward the campaigns for free and credible polls. All those who think they can rig elections as they use to are merely having day dreams because they will not succeed.
People must come out in numbers and vote and ensure that their votes are protected and not tempered with as is the tradition in many previous elections. Those who did it before will still want to do it, but I will join in the call for people to be vigilant and protect their votes no matter the cost. Anyone that tries to reduce the sanctity of our vote is tantamount to dehumanizing us and we must rise in unison against such move.
That is the only way Nigeria can join the rest of the civilized world by having leaders who derive their mandates directly from the people. I will not mind if the PDP is reelected by the Nigerian people, but will join forces to ensure that they don’t rig and they subject themselves to the wishes of the Nigerian people. We have made so much sacrifice to keep the nation intact.
I want to see how Bayelsa will produce the one million votes like they did in the past. I want to see how Rivers will vote more than Kano or Lagos or even how those areas that are seen as favourable to the ruling party would produce more votes than those that are not. All these are some of the strategies that were used and that can be used at the moment.
Accordingly, Nigerians must do everything possible to ensure that they vote en-mass for those they desire to have as their leaders and the politicians must do everything to ensure that they subordinate their desires to that of the people. That is the picture of elections that is expected in April and every Nigerian must ensure that this is what is achieved.
We cannot afford to have anything else. We cannot afford to have our names and that of our country dragged in the mud yet again. Nigeria and Nigerians must outlive this tragedy so that we can move forward. Collectively, we must ensure that the right thing is done and we must stay away from any form of intimidation from those who hold state power and its propaganda machine.