The idea has been in the offing for a while, but it has finally found its day in the National Assembly. The Femi Gbajabiamilla-led House of Representatives took the bull by the horn and staked its reputation on grassroots politics and democracy. Barring any hiccup from the Presidency, a new berth has been born for Nigeria’s democratic experimentation.
The obstacle has been the governors. They were in the primaries that led to the electoral sweepstakes of the 2019 elections. There was a debate in the party. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had to yield to the superior logic of Speaker Gbajabiamila, whose rigour and potency persuaded the people.
The Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) said it did not like it. They wanted a monarchical version of democracy. The lawmakers voted for the people.
This set off a tension between two important institutions of democracy. The matter got to a head so the echelon of the All Progressives Congress (APC) met in order to put paid to the matter still roiling the soul of the party, and, by implication, the nation’s way of choosing its leaders.
What began in the House of Representatives gained traction in the Senate, and both houses united in this innovative idea of selecting those who govern Nigeria.
Why did the governors, especially in the APC, say no to it? It is because they want to cast the representatives of the people in their own image. The way it goes is this: the governors scour the body politic, and they divide them into who are for the governors’ interests and those who are not.
They select those who support them as delegates. These delegates are rubber-stamp men and women, who have either been bought over with loads of cash by the governors and their acolytes, or who share their philosophy or interests.
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The concept of the delegate system is not necessarily anathema to politics and the republican worldview. But it works in sophisticated climes where delegates are even elected. It is not done in the hush-hush dark of manipulation and tendentious politicking as we have here in Nigeria.
But if we ask our people to line up and vote who they want to be governor, lawmaker, local government chairman, and even president, we shall find out that we are more assured of who represents us. It is no magic wand to a great society, but it is a good beginning in our search for a formula that is all our own.
The first virtue of this formula is that it is not a rigged and manipulative system, and therefore, it is transparent. The people see and they believe. We have seen the mass ecstasy at elections where people see the electoral commission show voters instant local results of elections.
Two, it reduces rancour and a feeling of alienation. Three, the people acquire a sense of party ownership. Four, it pares down the influence of filthy lucre. We have had over the decades the power of moneybags in our elections, and what has become known as stomach infrastructure. We cannot say we have removed the spectre of money in elections, but it is a challenge we can tackle in the next phase. What is more? One of the brazen displays in which people pay to vote will be discouraged.
Another challenge will be in ensuring that non-registered party members do not vote. We do not have a situation as in some United States’ primaries where non-party members can vote. That compels us to ensure the integrity of membership registers. The parties must calibrate a system that forbids manipulation of voter registers, so as not to exclude genuine party members and democrats.
The failure of governors to upend the conscience of the lawmakers is bodes well. But we hope the president won’t be swayed by the insidious wisdom of governors who sometimes mistake this democracy for the oligarchy of gubernatorial vampires. We also hope it will not get to a point where the lawmakers have to wield their veto power.
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