CARDINAL JOHN ONAIYEKAN’S INTERVENTION

It’s disconcerting that Bishop Emeritus Cardinal John Onaiyekan would seemingly come down on the side of those who would rather trash the system than acknowledge its currency, unless and until it is reformed. The matter of swearing in elected officials even as challenges to the electoral results are being judicially examined is indeed an anomaly with which Nigeria has saddled itself. Cynical politicians are behind it, such that every candidate declared winner of the presidential election has been sworn into office in that way – and governors too. Without any outcry against the practice or calls for its abandonment. Until now when social media has taken the “lead” in discourse on the political situation in the country – with unbridled biases all round. 

 The Electoral Act 2022 was passed just a year ago after several years in the making. It’s inexplicable that the anomaly of swearing in elected officials prior to the conclusion of court cases (if any) against them escaped the attention of politicians, public intellectuals and the legal luminaries who are now crying foul. Politicians prefer it that way. As for the latter groups, it is a very safe bet that had their preferred candidate been declared the winner no such objection would have surfaced. The current outcry is therefore self-serving and detracts from the reputation of those prominent lawyers canvassing a change in the practice in the middle of the game. Given how lawyers have helped electoral litigation to flourish, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) should consider creating a Section on Electoral Law, similar to Section on Business Law, etc.

 Election results are always contested in this country because there are rich pickings down the road for the winner – unrestrained power and unquantifiable privileges. It’s unlikely that Ghana witnesses litigation at any near the level experienced here after elections. 

 Questions raised about the Electoral Management Body (EMB), currently INEC, have been issues since the time of Justice Ovie-Whisky’s FEDECO – its independence and impartiality. The Constitution and other laws proclaim INEC independence and demand its impartiality. Public perception of INEC’s stand on these parameters has always varied according to the swing of election results; which today is extremely polarised.  But what was announced by INEC represents the agency’s interpretation of “the wishes of the people”.

 Mohammed Tukur Usman, Kaduna