The 2023 presidential election and National Assembly including governorship and state houses of assembly elections reflect the voters and their choices. They fully imbibe the power of the electorate to elect leaders who share their yearnings and aspirations amid divergent choices. The elections have once again affirmed that our democracy is thriving despite attendant challenges. For the first time since 1999, people made their choices without financial inducement and allowed ideology to supplant vote buying, which many experts have described as one of the endemic diseases plaguing our democratic experience. Thanks to the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) for letting us learn perhaps the hard way.
The elections were held without politicians engaging in financial inducement, those who emerged victorious at the poll were able to do so because of their goodwill, capacity, and track records. And these should be the factors that must shape our politics going forward such that anyone, regardless of his pocket, can attain a leadership position as long as he/she possesses practical ingenuity that can solve societal problems.
Beyond this, one can easily see the footprint of the third force in the voting pattern, which led to the emergence of some individuals who by virtue of our primordial configuration may never win elections. That the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi, didn’t win the poll may point to a fact that he is an instrument to help a fraction of the people to realise their political dreams. He will need to look beyond the dangerous ethno-religious politics. Yet, what played out showed that our democracy is undergoing advancement, strains and setbacks.
The highlight of the presidential election is the victory of a former Lagos State governor, and National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. Tinubu, adjudged one of the most influential and prominent politicians in Nigeria, polled a total of 8,794,726 votes, accounting for 37 per cent of the total valid votes cast, and was later returned the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission. The election, though being contested in court by Obi and the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, remains the most competitive election, giving us a clear scenario of the Shagari-Awolowo-Azikiwe’s case in 1979.
The truth is that if the election is conducted again, chances are high that Tinubu will come out victorious and the opposition may only stand a chance if they join forces. Demography and history have positioned our politics such that no one can win a nationwide election in solitary. A candidate needs synergy. What played out is a politics of unity, disunity, and negotiations. It is a politics driven by national consensus, cohesion, and centrifugation. While Tinubu made sure his party is in order despite the fallout of some individuals, post-primary election, he still managed to mend fences but his opponent was not bothered, so the outcome was for all to see. The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party believes that he could ride on his influence in the North-East/North-West but failed to acknowledge the likely influence of the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi and presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Rabiu Kwankwaso, including the political strength of the aggrieved five PDP governors.
But Tinubu didn’t get the victory on a silver platter. When the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari was believed to be reluctant in supporting his ambition, many Nigerians still believed there was indeed a cold war between the President and the now president-elect. It became obvious when the President endorsed the calamitous naira redesign a few months before the election.
To be honest, Buhari threw his party’s candidate into one of the most difficult political tests in the history of succession politics. With the persistent hardship the naira redesign policy caused Nigerians, many pundits believed that victory may elude the ruling party.
While the rest is now history, what stands out is that the voting pattern in the presidential election was influenced by several factors apart from the controversial naira redesign policy. This may perhaps be the first time a presidential poll is tied around religion and ethnic biases. One of the candidates regularly visited church gatherings to seek votes amid the widespread condemnation of the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the APC.
Tinubu’s politics is a national focus. Maybe that is why he was able to sail amid the turbulent storms which many people believed would have drowned an inexperienced politician. The results of the election saw his votes spread in more than two-thirds of the federation and winning three in six geopolitical zones.
In all, lessons have been learnt by all the contestants, but the losers learnt the hardest. In the congratulatory message of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), he mentioned that the elections were the most competitive. One thing stands out in the elections. More people are now enlightened and have since evoked a sense of political consciousness.
It is now about the people, and no unpopular politician can win an election by cutting corners or banking only on regional strength, religion, and ethnic/tribal sentiments. The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System has been positioned to punish politicians who failed to perform to the joy of the voters.
Nevertheless, the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has offered reconciliatory hands to his fellow-contestants. He wants them on board to exchange views and ideas. It’s known that the president-elect has men to drive governance as he parades intellectuals from diverse areas including politics, economy, media and law among others.
Before his swearing-in on May 29, he wants to ensure that everything is in order and to govern a country devoid of violence. The supporters of the defeated candidates need to allow the court to decide as long as they have enough evidence to challenge the electoral process. They must not resort to self-help.
What should matter to the president-elect is to retool the country and set its path on prosperity. These are evident in his manifesto and re-echoed in his acceptance speech. The country needs intense transformation and Tinubu appears to understand this.
There is no need to pretend that all is well when the naira is exchanged at a ridiculous rate of 750/$1 at the parallel market with rising inflation. He has pledged to have a uniform exchange rate. I am not sure he will buy into the ‘Emefielenomics’ abstract policy that has caused more pain than gain to the average Nigerian.
At this time when the country is showing clear signals that its oil can no longer sustain it, Tinubu’s promise to diversify the economy is notable. Oil should no longer be the country’s benchmark for budgets and fiscal framework.
In 2014, when the takeover of the central government from the Goodluck Jonathan administration was becoming obvious for the APC, suggestion was given than instead of ‘dollarising’ the economy, we must begin to ‘nairalise’ it by opening the way for the economy to be determined by internal influences, instead of the external factors that have continued to put it at the mercy of oil fluctuations and unstable foreign exchange.
One can also assume that Tinubu knows the task at hand, hence, the reason why he wanted to reignite hope in the minds of Nigerians.
