Diaspora voting, a must in 2027 elections, says Prof Arinze

As Nigeria awaits a new phase in the country’s democracy and leadership, the Head of Department, Political Science, Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam, Prof Charles Arinze speaks with OKEY MADUFORO on the journey so far and development in the electoral process Nigeria should witness in the next general elections

How do you see the Nigerian democracy, politics and governance since 1999?

Well, it has been full of trials and errors, and since the 1999 general elections we have had our challenges, made our mistakes and observed our corrections. We had the regime of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and he did his best to stabilise our polity, and we had the regime of late Umaru Yar’Adua which tried as much as possible to respect the rule of law and carried out some electoral reforms. Then under President Goodluck Jonathan, we also saw a lot of improvements in the politics and governance of this country. So by and large, Nigeria has moved on at every level. But we don’t lose sight of the fact that there have been some gray areas in our politics which are not out of place but what matters here is that it has come of age and we shall take it from here.

How did you look at the 2023 election campaigns among political parties and their candidates?

It is very interesting to note that all the political parties campaigned freely and the candidates had all the opportunity to meet with the electorate and that is a plus for our democracy and politics. But the reports of violence and killings are highly regrettable to say the least and that is an area we are getting it wrong. The issue of hate speech is yet another issue that needs to be addressed in our system. However, some candidates tried to run issues based campaigns that gave the electorate the opportunity to listen to them and make their choices as it were. Also the level of political awareness among Nigerians is indeed commendable and it is even more among the youths of this country who had as it were apolitical. They are now at the forefront of this change and as we await the results of the election we have strong belief that it would certainly reflect in the outcome Prof Arinzeof the election.

There have been complaints about some areas where things did not go down well?

As social scientists, you cannot have a perfect society. However, what we are looking at is at least 70 to 80 per cent and from my observation and that of many Nigerians we still have room for improvement.

Looking at the pockets of agitations across the country do you think that a free and fair election would put a stop to those angers being expressed?

Yes, to a large extent, yes, but you cannot have a complete system. The reason for those agitations is the imbalances in all sectors, where a certain part of the country is being accused of holding on to power for years and has been in charge of the affairs of this country, which is not good, and you don’t expect the rest of the country to remain silent.

But the agitations must be carried out in a lawful manner not by deepening the problems and overheating the polity. It should be done through the electoral process and vote for the right person. Don’t forget that Nigeria is a federation and has a heterogeneous society in the area of tribes, religion and all that and because we are not operating true federalism those agitations would continue to come up one in a while. This brings us to the issue of power shearing or rotation. Despite the fact that we are calling for this it has to be enshrined in the Constitution and that must be done from the Presidency to the Local government Chairmanship positions. Once that is done, the issue of marginalisation would not arise and at every dispensation, people definitely know where the power is shifting to.

I remember the Constitutional Conference under the regime of late Sani Abacha that stipulated the six geopolitical zones and that it has to rotate around the zones for a tenure of six years and no second term. These are some of the ways to ensure equity in the power sharing arrangements and that would also check mate all those agitations in the country. If this is not put in our bye laws in black and white whatever we are doing is a nullity and amounts to academic exercise . Also the Constitutional Conference under President Goodluck Jonathan has been forgotten and we wonder what is wrong with that. It should be brought to the fore and given the leg structures to make it operational in the interest of our democracy and governance. If this is not done we must have ended up wasting taxpayers money on the kind of jamboree.

Fears are being entertained that there may be a run off or an Interim government?

I don’t see that happening. What would make that happen when there is no manifest evidence to suggest that kind of thing the candidate that would win this election would be on the first ballot and the issue of run off cannot come into play this time? Where there is need it can come in but from what we have gathered so far I don’t see it coming and you also have to factor in the issue of logistics and other challenges.

What are the areas that we need to take care of in the next general election in the country?

Well, there would always be room for improvement at all times. We need to look at diaspora voting because a lot of people outside this country ate interested in what happens at home and in most counties those at the Embassies in Nigeria vote irrespective of the fact that they are not at home. Some people have this fear that it would be manipulated but I don’t think so.

With the BVAS and security arrangements it can be done. Then the issue of every time we talk about voter registration. We don’t need to continue like this. We can have one card that can serve as a National Identity Card, Voters Cards and even ATM cards and all in one. What it means is that when a child is born we carry out birth registration and he or she gets a card and it serves as voter’s card and when the child is of age he can vote and the issue of fresh registration and voter verification do not come in at this point. We are in an ICT world and all this information can be saved in the INEC portal as well as the hard copy so that the frustration that our people face at every election year would be a thing of the past.