As part of the preparations for the 2007 general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission organized a national forum at the Abuja Sheraton Hotel and Towers between August 29 and 31.  The forum which was the climax of long running nationwide  consultations by the INEC Chairman  Professor Maurice Iwu of stakeholders at the federal, zonal, state and local government levels ahead of the 2007 elections.

Held under the theme’ ``Nigeria’s 2007 Elections:  The Critical challenges Ahead”, drew participants from a broad spectrum of stakeholders in society.  Participants came from the government, political parties, civil society groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOS), security agencies, the academia, the media, donor agencies and the diplomatic community.

Notable participants at the forum include President Olusegun Obasanjo Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

Former President of  Shehu Shagari,

Former Head of State and former Presidential Candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party.  Major Gen. Muhammadu Buhari,

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari,

Dr. Ahmadu Ali, Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Chief Victor Umeh, Chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).

Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. Governor of Bayelsa State.

Chief Ojo Maduekwe, Secretary of the PDP,

Chief Longers Anyanwu, Secretary of the Accord Party.

Dr. Abieye Sekibo, Minister of Transport,

Chairman, Senate Committee on Electoral Matters, Chief Sylvanus Ugbane,

Deputy Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro,

British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Richard Grozny etc.

Professor Attahiru Jega, former President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and Vice Chancellor of the Bayero University Kano (BUK), Professor Nuhu Yakub, Vice Chancellor of the University of Abuja, Inna Maryam Ciroma, Minister of Women Affairs, Alhaji Ahmadu Kurfi, former Secretary of the Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO), Political Parties at the forum included:

·        Nigeria Advanced Party

·        National Solidarity Democratic Party

·        Fresh Democratic Party

·        National Action Council

·        Action Council

·        National Democratic Party

·        Peoples Solidarity Party

·        New Nigeria Democratic Party

·        Advanced Congress of Democrats

·        United Democratic Party

·        National Conscience Party

·        New Democrats

·        Peoples Mandate Party

·        United Nigeria Peoples Party

·        Labour Party

·        Peoples Progressive Alliance

·        Nigeria Democratic Congress

·        Citizen Democratic Party

·        Peoples Redemption Party

·        African  Renaissance Party

·        African Democratic Congress

·        Alliance for Democracy

·        Movement for Democracy and Justice

·        Republican Party of Nigeria

·        Movement for Restoration of Democracy and Development

·        The Accord Party

·        Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

·        All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA)

·        Democratic Alternative

Participants identified the critical importance of the 2007 elections in the consolidation of democracy and political development of Nigeria.  The responses of the various stakeholders to this reality has manifested in various modes and forms.  Anxieity has built up to unexpected tension to such a point that deliberate efforts are required to build consensus among the stakeholders ahead of the polls.

As an agency entrusted with the responsibility for conduct of the pools, INEC considered it necessary to organize the forum to:

·        share information with stakeholders on its preparations for the poll;

·        to identify the challenges in the conduct of the elections,

·        to review the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders (INEC, Political parties, voters, security agencies, observers, monitors, donor agencies, the media) in the conduct of the forth-coming elections;

·        to review the process, tasks and issues related to the conduct of the elections; and

·        to proffer ways and means of surmounting those challenges to ensure a credible, fair and free elections,

·        Overall, the national forum was called to help INEC “analyze and improve on the electoral environment with a view to creating an ambience for a successful, free and fair elections in 2007”.

Six broad-based papers were presented by experts and experts and stakeholders and deftly discussed by participants and interested groups and person over three days they were classified under the sub-themes of:

·        Curbing Violence in Elections

·        Election Mindsets in Nigeria

·        Women Participation in Politics

·        Money, Politics and Elections

·        The Role of the Media

·        INEC’s Preparation for the 2007 General Elections.

Highlight of the opening was the launching of the Joint Donor Basket Fund (JDBF) to support 2007 election by President Olusegun Obasonjo.

After three days of deliberations, the forum observed that nothing has diminished the passion of Nigerians for Democracy.  There remains a very strong desire to achieve credible elections despite entrenched undemocratic practices and behaviour which undermined the credibility of past elections.

   The forum noted however, that:

·        Existing electoral platforms cannot deliver the goals of credible, free and fair elections, which many Nigerians accept is crucial for the sustenance of democracy.  For the next elections to be acceptable and meet global standards, new platforms are needed which means the expansion of INEC’s roles, beyond conduct of election.

·        INEC has already embarked on the erection of new platforms, that it expects will uproot negative electoral behaviour which made environment of past elections hostile, violent, unfair and difficult for the people to express their electoral choice.

·        INEC has established an Electoral Institute, to train staff and ad hoc staff in election in order to professionalize the conduct of elections.  The institute, established with cooperation of three Nigerian Universities will draw top class Nigerians and professionals to volunteer for training for electoral work.

·        Forum noted that INEC has embarked on the extensive automation of its operations deploying the best of Information, and Communication Technology (ICT), to eliminate impersonation multiple registration, falsification of results, and other manifestations of electoral frauds.

·        Noted that there has been some improvement in women participation in governance, but that the development is still a far cry from the prescribed minimum.

·        Women have shied away from participating in the rubrics of party politics and party work.

·        INEC’s initiative and reforms have elicited an enthusiasm and willingness by international donor agencies to support, and assist INEC with finance, technical and professional inputs to ensure a free and fair polls.  As a demonstration of that support, a Joint Donor Basket Fund (JDBF), was launched during the forum by President Olusegun Obasanjo.  The fund managed by the United Nations Development Programme  (UNDP) is financed by the Department for International Development (DFID),  Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and the UNDP.

·        Elections have become a crucial index of national development and democracy.  The conduct of free, fair and credible elections will go a long way to show how seriously we take our processes of democracy.

·        Preparations for the forth-coming elections are taking place under an atmosphere of suspicion, cynicism, intimidation and violence despite the best efforts of the INEC.

·        The forum observed that there is an indication that politicians and political parties are still planning for the elections bases on the old platforms which include corruptions, assassinations, and exclusions.  These are manifestations of an entrenched negative mindsets about politics, public office and electoral contest.

·        The crystallization of mindsets  in Nigeria politics is largely informed by precedents and experiences in previous election which ran on massive fraud during elections, the intimidation or assassination of political opponents, flagrant disregard for electoral laws; lack of commitment by candidates, and political parties excessive use of money in political campaign and ethnic and class rivalries.

·        Corruption of the electoral process is the manifestation in the political process of corruption in the larger society.  Although political corruption is not peculiar to Nigeria, the weakening of institutional mechanisms to check it, and its acceptance as a standard weapon of acquisition of power, the failure to punish deviant political behaviours have compounded  the political process.

·        The excessive manifestation of corruption in the electoral process has led to the rise of godfathers-electoral entrepreneurs have cornered the political space, invest money in elections in return for profit.  These types of politicians are, in most cases, the sponsors of elections related violence (ERV).

·        Political godfathers who invest in power as security, electoral and party officials or voters who demand money from aspirants and candidates are also culpable for the monetization of the political process.

·        Politics is expensive everywhere, and Nigeria is not an exception.  However, a  peculiar trend in Nigeria is the pattern of funding, and the use to which those funds are put.  While individuals and organization contribute money to candidates/party campaigns elsewhere,  in Nigeria aspirants/candidates spend the money bribing his party, voters, security men, electoral officers etc.

·        As a result, Nigeria’s political process is too expensive, and stifles the entry into politics of honest and credible politicians motivated by public service.  Also, the excessive role of money pushes politicians to borrow money, to contest polls, and when they win, resort to extra-legal means to pay back loans.

·        Violence has been a feature of elections in Nigeria right from the pre-independence era, and its causes are primarily elections rigging, manipulation of voters’ register, the “winner takes all” syndrome, illiteracy, poverty, and enthnicization and monetization of politics.

·        The major factors that bring about election-related violence include negative perception regarding politics and public service, irresponsible conduct by election officials, and failure to enforce law and order.

·        The forum identified causes of election-related violence as:

a)      Lack of discipline in the form, spirit and implementation of the electoral process;

b)      Excessive monetization of politics, development of money to buy influence either the primaries, or in the election proper;

c)      Winner-take all altitude of the political elite;

d)      Pervasive poverty and illiteracy

e)      Lack of ideology on the part of parties and candidates, which lead to fictionalization.

·        Violence seems to have been democratized, with virtually all politicians making investments in either acquisition of instruments or violence means of protection against likely attacks from opponents.

·        Recently the incidence of political violence has been on the increase, which undermines the entire political process and threatens the consolidation of the gains of democracy recorded so far.  In addition, electoral rules are daily breached rather than preserved, and offender unduly rewarded rather than prosecuted.

·        The participation of women in politics and governance, has improved lately especially in appointive positions.  However, the statistics still falls short of the desired 30% as required by the development sensitive world.

·        The main impediments preventing women from actively participating in politics and governance include the dominance by men of political parties, godfatherism, indigeneship, unaffordable registration fees, intra-party rigging, and unfavourable socio-cultural expectations on women and their role in life.

·        Nigerians are still not aware of the processes of INEC, the extant legislation on the 2007 elections, as well as what constitutes electoral offence.

·        Participants observed that the enactment in the 2006 Electoral Act of a provision that pegs the maximum individual contribution to political parties at N1million, will open the political space to parties and candidates who would otherwise have been constrained by paucity of funds.

·        An election is a process “not a single agenda, and any weak link among the components, of the determining factors – could subvert the effectiveness and integrity of the entire process”.

·        Civil society organizations (CSO) have a crucial role to play in the electoral process.  The roles span observing of electoral process from legislation concerning election, registration of voters, compliance with electoral procedure, campaigns and electoral competition.

·        The  Nigeria police has so far taken the following measures towards securing  the electoral process:

1)      Training and retraining on election-related duties

2)      Reorganization of police formation

3)      Procurement of arms and ammunition

4)      Establishment of the police equipment fund

5)      Inspite of the above, the police is still viewed as the main culprit in the perpetuation of electoral malpractices in favor of the incumbent government.

·        The media has substantially contributed to the development of democracy in Nigeria.  The forum observed that it is still determined to support the entrenchment of democracy through ensuring a free and fair election in 2007/

·        The problem surrounding elections in Nigeria have, over the years, been blamed on electoral Commission’s which have consistency been viewed as instruments of rigging and vote manipulation, especially by the ruling party or government of the period of the elections-thus a negative mindset.

·        The forum noted the firm assurance and pledge by the INEC to be impartial as well as its innovative measures to ensure the elimination of the problem of logistics which has marred elections in the past.

·        The police has a central role to play in securing the electoral process, a role provided by the law in form of constitutional provisions, enactments, acts, etc.

From the forgoing, the forum identified the following challenges ahead of the 2007 elections.

·        The monetization of politics has led to the rise of electoral entrepreneurs, who sponsor candidates in election, with expectations of reforms in investment.  This trend has undermined the electoral process led to the emergence on the scene of candidates of dubious backgrounds and compromised the autonomous of government.  Their actions undermine the efforts to conduct credible elections Nigeria.

·        The challenge of trust and confidence among the stakeholders before the elections.  Unless that is done, and effectively, the 2007 elections may be held in an environment of suspicion, mistrust and apathy.

·        Mobilizing the citizens to reclaim their role in the political and electoral processes.

·        Overcoming the awesome logistics, financial and personal requirements for the success of the 2007 elections.

·        Changing/displacing/the old platforms that sustained the structural, institutional, social and political distortions that led to failure of elections in the past.

·        Displacing/changing/overcoming the negative mindsets about power, democracy, election, violence, public service, gender, law and order which lead to motivations that led in the past to failure of elections.

·        The integration of women, and other minority groups in the political process.

·        Sustaining reforms began by the INEC, to institutionalize the culture of elections.

·        Ensuring that the development of information and communications technology eliminates the problems of impersonation, multiple registration, and voting and brazen falsification or swapping of election results.

·        Educating the stakeholders, (electoral agency, voters, security agencies, political parties.  Observers and monitors) to play their roles according to provisions of the law.

·        Educating political parties to play their roles in minimizing corruption, malfeasance, promotion or recourse to violence.

·        Enthroning an impartial electoral agency, that will create a level playing field for all parties and candidates.

·        Strengthening the security agencies to be impartial, and demonstrate willingness to investigate, prevent, arrest and prosecute electoral offences.

·        Minimizing the influence of excessive use of money in the political and electoral process to ensure credible elections.

·        Creating awareness about the process of INEC, the electoral law and legislation through voter education, enlightenment etc.

·        Providing accurate information on the processes of the elections, beginning from the review of voter’s register to the election proper.

·        Getting the mass media to provide sustainable dissemination of information, on such processes without bias for particles or candidates.

·        How to make the relevant legislation on elections, public order and crime helpful to the achievement of fair, free and credible elections in 2007.

·        How to minimize the influence of dirty money, and violence in the determination of the direction of victory in elections.

·        The forum noted government’s pledge to combat electoral violence, but urged that INEC and the security agencies should with the provisions of the law, adopt a zero-tolerance policy on violence.  Where necessary, the INEC should void results in areas where violence is identified to have occurred.

·        The police, as the lead agency in charge of law, order and internal security, should be strengthened to undertake security functions during elections in a way it has never done before.

·        Electoral offenders must be identified and prosecuted to deter future offenders.  If possible, perpetrators, or sponsors should be banned for at least 10 years from participating in future elections.

·        Steps have been taken to equip the police with additional fire power to enable it cope with additional fire power to enable it cope with election responsibilities.  However, it is advised that the police use rubber, instead of live bullets so as not to escalate violence during elections.

·        The police must assert its independence and prove to Nigerians that it would be objective come 2007 elections.  It is only then that it can enjoy people’s confidence and be able to secure, property, and the entire electoral process.

·        To minimize the militarization of the next election, the police with the support of  other security agencies are encouraged sto disarm all political touts, militias and all those in possession of illegal arms.

·        The security of electoral process is the responsibility of all the stakeholders, although the police is the lead agency in charge of security.  The non-involvement of other stakeholders has in the past created avenues for the compromise of the security of the electoral process.

·        The police should be given their allowances and other logistics for the election on time.  The non-payment of allowances and provision of transport and other basic requirement makes them vulnerable to compromise by candidates and all sorts of interests.

·        All stakeholders need to, as a matter of urgency, address the root causes of election-related violence, particularly youth unemployment, corruption of election officials, excessive monetization in politics, and also embark on massive public enlighten regarding democratic principles.

·        To overcome violence, there should be electoral awareness achieved through:

a)      Candidates knowing how to plan their campaign time-table and strategy, recruitment and organization of campaign workers “foundation of messages, production of effective interaction and information in  a form accessible to all people.

b)      Presence of international and local observers

• Negative mindsets about elections, power, and politics ought to be changed among Nigerians otherwise; elections will continue to be violent, chaotic and controversial.

• We must recognize and resolve that negative mindsets can be changed and take action to do so.

• To change mindsets, Nigeria must take four psychological steps which include the desire, decision, deployment and determination.  The process will require self-enlightened action on the part of members of the ruling class.

• The push to have credible elections must begin with a change in our election mindsets.  This change will reduce rigging, violence, wrong polices, exclusion of certain groups and other criminal behavior related to elections.

• Without changing electoral mindsets, politics will remain with all the observed distortions, and they may crystallize  to undermine the foundation of the state.

·  INEC should be the principal agency to lead the push for new electoral mindsets, but to do so, it requires courage.

• For INEC to succeed in changing people’s mindsets, it needs to prove the following:

1)      Its capacity to conduct free and fair elections

2)      Its independence (from the government)

3)      Its being non-partisan and objective

4)      Its preparedness before, during, and after elections

5)      Its ability to build and maintain a good reputation

·  There is stil need provide funds early enough to enable the procurement and deployment of necessary logistics for operational duties.

·  Agencies responsible for production, distribution and safe custody of election materials should be equipped and given the capability to play their roles.  Early procurement of election materials will obviate the tension that usually trails, the date arrival of materials.

·  The federal government should delay the release the 2006 population census to ensure a stable environment for the conduct of the polls.

·  Need to embark on public enlightensment and proper mentation than to allow violence and tension to result in breakdown of law and other.

·  Women are advised to get involved in the party process, emphasize less of affirmative action and work to earn the confidence of their male peers.  However, there is need to make special provision to enhance their participation in democracy and governance.

·  Additionally, stakeholders should collectively strive to enhance women’s participation in politics by removing the above cited impediments and facilitating the achievement of the 30% target for women as recommended by MDG’s CEDAW, National policy on Women, etc.

·  Next election is crucial to sustenance of democracy, therefore any identified problems should be addressed immediately.  The President Olusegun Obasanjo has set the tenor by rejecting calls for an interim government.  Therefore, individuals, parties, and agencies should prepare for the elections.  Those who do otherwise, fuel cynicism, and hopelessness.

·  INEC must ensure that it has control of any ad hoc staff working on its behalf.

·  Nigerian needs friends and supporters who will encourage us, ot those who will celebrate our failures, and keep quit about our successes.  Therefore, the international community is urged not to raise unnecessary dust about the future of democracy n Nigeria.

·  Parties and candidates are advised to focus on politics of ideas and issues.

·  INEC should consider including 30% representation for women in the guidelines for the 2007 elections, but also ensure that doing so is based on merit, not simply affirmative action.

·  The election tribunals should have a limit placed on their operation. No public officer should be sworn in until his case has been disposed of from the courts.  A situation where petitions over the last election are still pending six months truncates to the next process and undermines the benefits of electoral choice.

·  Media should help to raise awareness about their social responsibility to vote.

·  Media should focus on democratization, instead of one election.  At the moment attention is focused solely on the presidential elections, without similar attention on other elections which are no less critical to the survival and entrenchment of democracy.  Media participation should be more issue based than personality based.

·  Measures shuld be taken to ensure equally access by all candidates and parties to the media.

·  Efforts should also be taken to reduce the bias by the media owned by state governments and under the control of the governors.

·  Media must be impartials, and work with other stakeholders to ensure a credible election.

·  Media should play advocacy roles, promote dialogue, act as buffer against tension, detect fault lines in the process, to enable law enforcement agencies do their job.

·  Voters need constant education and enllighenment ot understand their roles in the electoral process.  It is the role of INEC and the political parties to educate the voters.  However, it is observed that a civic education of voters will have a marginal impact, unless it is combined with other factors to prevent the falsification of results.

·  Government and INEC should, through the office of inter-party relation at the Presidency convene an all political party summit, to draw and agree to a code of conduct to be agreed by the political parties.

·  It is the duty of the media to not only report but also to mobilize the citizenry against anti-democratic tendencies which includes election- related violence.