The Presidency distanced itself from the billboard, but such a disclaimer is merely performative and not a genuine act of opposing illegality.
You can’t miss it. It’s conspicuous. It’s imposing. It underscored the desperate nature of Nigerian politics. That giant billboard with the inscription “Tinubu 2027”. It is situated along the busy Area One area of the Federal Capital Territory. The billboard has a full picture of President Bola Tinubu and the first lady, Remi Tinubu. The president decked in an immaculate navy blue agbada and the first lady in a flowing flowery gown. Their clasped hands raised slightly above the head of the first lady as if in a ballet. The billboard surfaced five months ago, and it instantly sparked feisty debate, accusations and counteraccusations among stakeholders.
The election is still some two years away and seeing the campaign posters of the president in the nation’s seat of power portrays the ruling party and the government in a manner that does nothing to shore up its tattered image among Nigerians. It further cements the notion many people have of them that they are only interested in power not governance. What that single billboard has done is to give others the leeway and latitude to start displaying their political campaign posters in public in brazen violation of the electoral law. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was supposed to step in and wield the big stick on those engaging in this illegal act, but maintained a deafening silence until a couple of days ago.
The Presidency distanced itself from the billboard, but such a disclaimer is merely performative and not a genuine act of opposing illegality. In fact, more campaign posters of the president have since been splashed all over the city. On Wednesday, Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, bemoaned the electoral body’s inability to go after political parties, candidates, and their supporters who engage in premature campaigns ahead of elections. He cited the lack of clear punishment in the 2022 Electoral Act for anyone who commences political campaigns before the time permitted by the law.
Though not to hold brief for the INEC helmsman, the electoral act does not give the commission much by way of what punishment is handed to anyone who engages in electioneering 150 days before elections. Section 94(2) of the Electoral Act 2022 only imposes mild penalties (a maximum amount of N500,000 on conviction) on any political party or its representative who engages in campaigns 24 hours before election day. However, there is no sanction stipulated for campaigns earlier than 150 days before an election.
Even if the Electoral Act does not explicitly state what punishment should be meted out to people who breach the political campaigns timeline, INEC cannot be totally absolved from the violation of Section 94(1) of the 2022 Electoral Act, which prohibits campaigns earlier than 150 days before polling. The commission has conducted itself in a manner that weakened its position as the nation’s sole conductor of federal and state elections. It has repeatedly acted in ways that undermine its authority by succumbing to the nefarious antics and inordinate ambition of feral politicians.
The commission itself, in recent years, has consistently chosen not to follow electoral guidelines put in place to ensure elections are fair, transparent and credible. It has frequently flouted its own rules and watched on as unscrupulous politicians hijack the electoral process and determine the outcome of elections while the will of the people is effectively subverted. Despite the embarrassing and disgraceful conduct of these elections, INEC gleefully affirmed the predetermined outcome and declared it to the consternation of the public.
In recent governorship elections, the commission refused to deploy its result viewing portal, where voters can check the number of votes cast at each polling station in real time, and in instances where it used it, the results uploaded on the IREV were vastly different from those which were declared at the collation centre. Also, humongous fictitious votes were turned in in places where voting was disrupted by thugs and voters were not allowed to exercise their franchise.
To better understand how the impunity and lawlessness of politicians are aided and enabled by the commission, when these atrocious and perverse elections are challenged in court by those who are at their receiving end of such shameful and troubling spectacle and apology for an election, instead of using the opportunity to assert its influence and leverage the court to correct its mistakes and punish those who undermine the electoral process, INEC tacitly supports the side who ran foul of the law and desecrate democracy. It frustrates the case of the petitioner. In fact, it totally transfers the burden of proving election malpractice, irregularities and rigging to the petitioner without providing the sensitive election materials it used to conduct the election which are needed in election petitions.
INEC can’t claim it lacks power to punish those who are violating the political campaign law when it has shown repeatedly that it is incapable of adhering to the rules, regulations and guidelines guiding the conduct of elections in the country. The commission has opened itself up for ridicule by venal politicians; it has let politicians arrogate to themselves the power to determine how elections will be conducted. It lay slavishly on the ground and let politicians trample and run roughshod over it. It must also be stated here and now that the politicians involved in these early and premature campaigns are from the ruling party, and if the commission cannot put its foot down and read the riot act to politicians of the ruling party, if it allows them to get away with such flagrant violation of electoral act, how then does it expect the electorate to trust it to conduct a credible election.
Furthermore, the commission does not appear to be helpless; if anything, it appears to be colluding with those it should be punishing. It must reflect and introspect. It must act decisively and deal ruthlessly with those seeking to undermine electoral processes and ultimately truncate our democracy. It has the mandate and power to do this. Enough of the performance and grandstanding. It must position itself as an unbiased and honest umpire. It’s time to show Nigerians that the commission can be trusted.
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