Politics
Lesson From The British Elections
Great Britain is an old parliamentary democracy in Europe. It occupies an area of about ninety-four square miles and has a population of about fifty-eight million. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Island, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. As already stated, it is’ a parliamentary democracy with a central and local governments. It is not a federal system but a unitary system of government. It is one of the most advanced countries of the world having some of the oldest universities on earth. These include Oxford, Cambridge and St. Anclrew’s universities. The country is also known as the United Kingdom. It is a welfare state where citizens enjoy a social security scheme to stave off abject poverty.
However, on May 6, 2010, the British people went to the polls to elect a new government. The main contending parties were the Labour Party led by Gordon Brown, the conservative party led by David Cameron and the Liberal Democratic Party led by Nicholas Clegg. At the end of the polls, the elections produced a hung parliament. Which means no party was able to win majority seats in parliament to form the government. For instance, the conservative party got three hundred and five seats, the Labour Party scored two hundred and eighty-seven seats while the Liberal Democratic Party won fifty-eight seats. To be able to form the government a party must win three hundred and twenty-six seats. Altogether the parliament has six hundred and fifty seats. In any case, because of the hung parliament a coalition government was formed by the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democratic Party. The Conservative Party is the leader in this arrangement because it scored the highest number seats in the parliament. The two parties won three hundred and sixty-three seats in the six-hundred and fifty seat parliament.
At all events, what should be noted is that the whole process of party selection, campaign, election results and formation of government lasted only one month. It should further be noted that apart from the three leading parties forty other parties including independent candidates contested for the elections. And yet the whole process lasted only one month as already indicated. There was no thuggery, there was no electoral malpractice. No party manipulated electoral register. No party went into the voting arena and seized ballots after elections. No money exchanged hands, no bribery, no corruption, no godfathers, no infringement of the electoral rules, the whole game was played according to the rules. Infact, the whole political parties and the Independent candidates were satisfied with the outcome of the elections. That is how it should be. The political game should be played according to the rules. If the rules are followed in the game there will be no problem whatsoever. In the United Kingdom the rules are followed. That is why they have political stability. When there is political stability there will be economic and social stability and progress.
But the case in Nigeria is different. Elections in Nigeria are seen as a “do or die” affair. Because of this electoral rules are not obeyed. Votes are rigged. Elections are manipulated. Thugs are used to disrupt electoral process. There are bribery and corruption at every level of the process. In some cases offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission are set on fire and razed all in the name of politics. Our most recent general election the 2007 elections were not free and fair. Because of this the electoral tribunals and the courts of the land are still deciding cases brought to them by aggrieved politicians. That is three years after the 2007 elections in Nigeria.
One of the cases just settled in 2010 was that between Chief Alphonsus Igbeke of the All Nigeria People’s Party and Mrs Joy Emodi of the People’s Democratic Party over who will represent Anambra North Senatorial District. Victory was earlier given to Mrs Emodi and since 2007, she was the senator representing the disputed District. Chief Igbeke felt he was cheated because he won the election for the Anambra North Senatorial District. He took the matter to the Appeal Court and the court decided in his favour and ordered that he should be sworn in as the Senator representing Anambra North Senatorial District on May 11, 2010. Other candidates who won in the courts included Governors Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State and Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State.
“ Nonetheless, the lessons to be learnt from the British elections are that we in Nigeria should always obey the electoral rules whenever we are going to the polls to elect our leaders. Our leaders should follow the exempt of the British party leaders and play the electoral game according to that’ rules. Nobody should bribe. Nobody should employ thugs because of elections and manipulate ballots. The British leaders/parties did not do this. We should copy it. Actually, the problem with Nigerian politics and election is not in the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission but in the players of the political game. If we all are honest and follow the rules there will be no electoral malpractice. The lesson is clear: follow the rules and get a free and fair election as it is in Great Britain.
Dr Tolofari, Fellow,
Institute of Corporate Administration of Nigeria.
Mann Tolofari
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed, through a second reading, a bill seeking to retain immunity for the Office of the President and remove immunity from the Vice President, the Governors and the Deputy Governors.
The bill was one of the 42 considered and passed through the second reading stage during plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Benjamin Kalu, in Abuja.
Sponsored by Hon. Solomon Bob (Rivers PDP), the bill is seeking the amendment of Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution to guard against abuse of office and to ensure transparency in governance.
The long title of the proposed legislation read: “A Bill for an Act to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to qualify the immunity conferred on the President, remove the immunity conferred on the Vice President, the Governors and their deputies, in order to curb corruption, eradicate impunity and enhance accountability in public office and for related matters.”
Key amendments include changes to Section 308 of the Constitution, which currently grants immunity to the president, vice president, governors, and deputy governors while in office.
The proposed bill will amend subsection 3 to ensure that immunity only applies to the President and the vice president when acting as President under Section 145 of the Constitution.
Additionally, a new subsection 4 will be introduced to make the immunity clause inapplicable if the office holder is acting in an unofficial capacity, engaging in actions beyond the powers of the office, or involved in criminal conduct.
“The bill seeks to foster transparency and strengthen the fight against corruption by making public officials more accountable for their actions, both in and out of office.”
“Section 308 of the principal Act is amended by:(a) substituting a new subsection (3) as follows: “(3) This section applies to a person holding the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Vice President only when acting as President, in line with Section 145 of this Constitution.
Creating sub section (4) thereto as follows:”(4) The foregoing provisions of this section shall be inapplicable where the person to whom this section applies is acting in an unofficial capacity or where the conduct of the person is beyond the powers of his office or the conduct is criminal in nature.
“This Bill may be cited as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Alteration) Act 2024.
The bill is currently awaiting further debate and consideration by the National Assembly.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has written to notify Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi Central, about the petition by constituents seeking her recall from the national assembly.
INEC said it has also received the contact details of the petitioners.
“Pursuant to section 69 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, I write to notify you of the receipt of a petition from representatives of registered voters in your constituency seeking your recall from the senate.
“The notification is in line with the provisions of clause 2 (a) of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024.
“This letter is also copied to the presiding officer of the senate and simultaneously published on the commission’s website. Thank you”, the letter read.
The letter was signed by Ruth Oriaran Anthony, secretary to the commission.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Wednesday, INEC said it has now received the updated contact details from representatives of petitioners seeking to recall the senator.
In the statement, Sam Olumekun, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education, said a letter notifying the senator of the petition has been delivered to her official address, copied to the senate presiding officer, and published on the commission’s website.
“The next step is to scrutinise the list of signatories submitted by the petitioners to ascertain that the petition is signed by more than one half (over 50%) of the registered voters in the constituency. This will be done in the coming days.
“The outcome, which will be made public, shall determine the next step to be taken by the Commission. We once again reassure Nigerians that the process will be open and transparent”, Mr Olumekun said.
Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan had recently accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexually harassing her.
The allegation came in the wake of seating arrangement related altercation between Senator. Akpabio and the Kogi Central senator at the red chamber
She was subsequently suspended from the senate for six months for “gross misconduct” over the incident.
The constituents behind the recall move also accused her of “gross misconduct, abuse of office, and deceitful behaviour”.
The senator has denied wrongdoing and called the recall effort a “coordinated suppression” of her voice.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the second reading of a bill to upgrade the Lagos State 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) to full-fledged Local Government Areas (LGAs ).
The bill, was sponsored by James Faleke, Babajimi Benson, Enitan Badru, and 19 other lawmakers.
The bill is titled “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) to Accommodate the Thirty-Seven (37) Development Area Councils of Lagos State as Full-Fledged Local Government Areas, Increasing the Total Number of Local Government Areas in the Federation to Eight Hundred and Eleven (811), and for Related Matters (HB. 1498),”
Once fully enacted, Nigeria’s total number of LGAs will rise from 774 to 811, with Lagos overtaking Kano and Katsina, which currently have 44 and 34 LGAs, respectively.
Proponents of the bill argue that granting full LGA status to the LCDAs would bring governance closer to the people. The 37 LCDAs were created by President Bola Tinubu in 2003 when he was governor of Lagos State.
However, it’s worth noting that the Lagos State House of Assembly has been working on a bill to replace the 37 LCDAs with newly designated administrative areas.