Nigeria’s Presidential election has come and gone, and the governorship poll is drawing near.
However, there is a story that that governorship election brings to mind.
A story is told of a man in a farm who called for help, claiming that a lion was about to devour him. People ran to him, with all intensity and desire to kill a lion and rescue a ‘brother-man’.
On getting to the scene, the man laughed at them to scorn, and said there was no lion.
A few days later, he shouted for help again and they rushed to the scene as usual, thinking that this time, there must be a lion.
The man laughed and said they were too afraid and made all sort of jest with them.
On the very day he needed help, as he faced a fierce-looking lion, no one showed up until his voice faded away.
It is a folktale, but the electoral body in Nigeria would be in this tale, if it decides to run the governorship election the same way it handled the presidential election.
The gains of democracy that Nigeria had made in years could roll back in a year, should Nigerians lose total interest and faith in the process.
This is what the Untied States is seeing and it is wading into the democratic process of the most populous African nation.
The nation, whose democratic process Nigeria is aligning with, has a piece of advice for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Interestingly, the governorship election will hold on March 11 and INEC has a second chance.
Lower Than Expectation
Categorically, the United States said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed Nigerians with the conduct of the 2023 presidential election.
On February 25, Nigerians went to their polling units to vote for the candidates of their choice and in the early hours of March 1, the results were announced.
The electoral umpire declared Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Party (APC) the winner of the election. He was also presented him with a Certificate of Return on the same day.
While the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) commended the electoral conduct, several others including the US have condemned it.
The US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, has said the conduct of the polls, did not meet up with expectations.
“The United States is no stranger to election-related controversy and conflict.
“As much as it can be unsatisfying to end an electoral process in a courtroom, in a constitutional democracy bound by the rule of law, that is where electoral conflicts may appropriately conclude.
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“It is clear that the electoral process as a whole on February 25 failed to meet Nigerians’ expectations,” Leonard said.
This observation is coming only a few days after the US Department of State observed shortcomings in the technical elements that were used during the election.
Her Observation And Conclusion
The European Union Election Observation Mission to Nigeria 2023 said INEC was not transparent at the early and critical stage of the presidential election process.
Despite that, INEC went ahead to declare winners making approved opposition begin a legal battle to challenge the results.
Now, the governorship election is less than a week away.
The US ambassador believes there is still room for improvement on the part of INEC, as she advises the electoral umpire to fix the problems identified ahead of the gubernatorial polls.
“We thus reiterate our call on INEC to address promptly the challenges that can be resolved ahead of the March 11 gubernatorial elections and to undertake a broader review of the problems that transpired during the last elections and what can be done to fix them.
“In all cases, INEC should share with the Nigerian public information about the actions it is taking,” the ambassador advised.
Leonard also advised Nigerians not to let their differences divide them, and that the legally established process for resolving challenges to the election be allowed to take its course.
