- ‘Nibo la tun jasi yi o’? From where to where?
Because a coin that is thrown up, irrespective of the number of times, would always fall on either of its two sides, many of us would similarly continue to tell the members of the House of Representatives who are hell bent on criminalising voting that they are merely embarking on a wild goose chase.
The bill, jointly sponsored by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen and Daniel Asama Ago, is titled: “A Bill for an Act to Amend the Electoral Act, 2022 to make it Mandatory for Nigerians of Maturity Age to Vote in All National and State Elections and for related matters”. It was first introduced in February but was presented last week by co-sponsor, Daniel Asama, of the Labour Party, for a second reading.
The bill prescribes sanctions, including fines of up to N100,000 or six months imprisonment for eligible Nigerians who fail to vote.
True, voter turnout, especially in the 2023 election, was abysmal, at about 27.1 per cent, nationally. With less than half of the eligible population turning out to vote, and no state had a turnout above 40 per cent, participation in it was said to be the lowest since Nigeria’s independence.
Indeed, the sharp decline has positioned Nigeria as the largest democracy in Africa with the lowest voter turnout.
It is also true that, globally, there is compulsory voting in about 21 countries, with punishment ranging from severe to non-existent. But then, reasons for low voter turnout differ from country to country. Reasons why there is such huge voter apathy in Nigeria are well known and these, according to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and others, are what should be addressed.
NBA President, Afam Osigwe, listed such to include electoral violence, systemic flaws, insecurity, and mistrust. Hear him: “Instead of fixing the conditions that discourage voter turnout, such as electoral violence, vote buying, among others, the state is attempting to force participation through punitive legislation.”
Read Also: NELFUND orders refund of tuition to loan beneficiaries
Chukwuemeka Obi, an unemployed graduate from Enugu, is more forthcoming as to why many Nigerians abstain from voting: “Many of us have lost faith in politicians. They come every four years with promises and disappear after winning. If I choose not to vote, that’s my right too. Compelling people with jail is dictatorship, not democracy.”
But that is one of the major things that are wrong with us as a nation. This tendency of heaping every blame on hapless citizens. When anything is not working, the tendency is to look for the guinea pig. This, unfortunately, means hapless Nigerians carrying the can. Nigerians again are the beasts of burden for voter apathy which, clearly, is a creation of the political elite.
Sometimes I keep wondering the kind of rigour that goes into public administration in the country. Yet, the country spends a fortune keeping most of our public officials comfortable. I guess that is also part of the problem. Many of them, including rather unfortunately, people in the National Assembly (NASS) are too comfortable to know what things look like at the very grassroots they claim to be representing.
This is the kind of brain wave that a few privileged people who wear well-starched ‘babariga’ in the midst of millions of poverty-stricken compatriots have that makes them come up with all manner of funny decisions because they are disconnected from the grassroots.
Rather than be scientific about the issue, Speaker Abbas and his co-travellers resorted to military era solution of decreeing an impossibility into existence.
Is it not funny that a toxic, compulsory voting is what they are spending valuable time to debate when there are many serious problems confronting the average Nigerian?
At this juncture, I think Speaker Abbas should, in the absence of any serious matter for the consideration of members of the House of Representatives (because that is the only reason they would be chasing after shadows that compulsory voting represents), declare
the House adjourned ‘sine die’, to allow members go back to their respective constituencies to find out from the people what their actual needs are. Only people who are disconnected from their roots would be banging their heads against the walls, pursuing an objective that is not even on the reserved list of the people they represent.
Just in case Mr Abbas decides to continue to be deaf to the calls of freedom, insisting on having his way with this obnoxious bill, then he must be ready to host millions in our prisons. We have not yet seen prison congestion.
Of course, when Mr Abbas’s dream comes to pass, our prisons would be bubbling because we would have many volunteers who would want to spend the six months in the place rather than be coerced to vote.
Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), would probably be their leader, having sworn that he would rather go to prison than be subjected to compulsory voting.
Agbakoba spoke on ‘Politics Today’, a programme on Channels Television on May 19: “Look at the ridiculous one in the National Assembly about voting being compulsory. If that bill were to pass, I would say, ‘Agbakoba, we will not obey it.’ I’ll plead conscientious objection. I’d rather go to prison for six months than to obey it,” he said.
Not done, the lawyer added: “Why would the National Assembly want to impose compulsory voting? Why don’t they reverse the question and say, Why are Nigerians not interested? What is the apathy about?”
I have no doubt he would have many followers.
Anyway, more people in our prisons would also boost some people’s businesses. Afterall, tailors would be required to sew the prison uniforms; food vendors and suppliers of various shades would also experience boom in their operations. Likewise, healthcare providers, not excluding the men of God who would now have more jobs to do in the prisons than in the churches. And then, the speaker would go down in history as a man who made all of these possible, as his peculiar way of killing voter apathy in Nigeria.
But I have a better idea of how to kill Speaker Abbas’s law should it scale through in spite of our rejection. I am not ready to die for my enemies to rejoice. You can’t put anything beyond people with the kind of mindset to make voting compulsory in Nigeria. When people who have been convicted for not voting are kept behind bars, such public officials could be celebrating in their apartments that at least some of their vocal enemies are out of circulation, even as they feign to be worried about the incarceration in the public.
But, suppose those opposed to compulsory voting also feign support, go to the polling booths and, before God and themselves, decide to deface the ballot papers. Thumbprint across two or three political parties such that the ballot papers would be cancelled eventually?
Since Speaker Abbas and his co-travellers have decided to shoot without aiming, we (the people) too should master the art of flying without perching.
We should let them know that they can
only force a horse to the river, they cannot force it to drink.
Yes, they would see the millions they want to see on voting queues, but, just as they are clinking glasses that ‘yea, our law is working’, the glasses would drop from their hands when the final figures are released and with most of the ballot papers cancelled and of no effect. It is then they would know how little their thought processes were in coming up with such a bill.
I guess this is better and cheaper than going to prison over compulsory voting when those who caused the same problem and are now misdiagnosing it remain in their air-conditioned offices, drinking tea and doing in and out. Probably putting in the works another misbegotten policy or idea. Opting to go to jail in this matter smacks of falling for the enemy to rejoice (Olorun ma je ka subu f’ota yo).
I have no doubt that if the National Assembly goes ahead to pass this bill into law, the law would eventually be challenged in court and I don’t see how it would survive legal scrutiny, given the several provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) on freedom of expression, association and similar matters.
Mercifully, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has already voiced concern over the bill. Part of its contention is that, “In a democracy, voting is a civil liberty, not a legal obligation. Compelling citizens to vote through coercive measures infringes on their fundamental rights.”
I want to agree with the NBA that, to the extent of its inconsistency with this and other provisions of the constitution on basic freedoms, the compulsory voting bill would most likely be declared null and void, and ultra vires by the courts.
Before then, however, we must rise against this imposition because eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. Since one cannot tell the exact destination of the proponents of the bill, it is better to assume, like the NBA, that if we allow this to pass unchallenged, worse and more draconian legislations could be lurking somewhere.
I have always argued that we as a country are where we are because we have been lethargic about governance after we returned the soldiers to their barracks in 1999. We were not this lethargic in the military era.
If Mr Abbas & Co need to be reminded, their singular decision in the NASS to buy imported exotic cars at the expense of locally-made vehicles was something that has put off many voters in future elections already. It would be difficult to persuade them to change their minds because nobody is a fool. So, Nigerians should continue to vote for people who have little or no feelings when spending scarce public funds, even as they keep telling the people there is no money?
Mr Speaker and his co-travellers should know that Nigerians’ eyes are no longer on their knees, they are now right on their foreheads!
If compulsory voting is all about civic responsibility, patriotism and all, what of rejection of local vehicles for imported, more expensive ones?
If the NASS members know what is good for them, they would do well to throw this bill away in their larger interest. It is an exercise in futility and a product of legislative tyranny and indolence which could further alienate the people from the assembly.
This compulsory voting law is a decree that its proponents want to cloak in lawful legislative garb. But it would fail. Vote-for-money, we know. Vote-for-rice, we know. Vote-for-bread, we know. But what is don’t vote go to prison?
Even soldiers didn’t give us such a draconian option. They never forced us to vote.
.”
