By Samson Itodo
Former President Buhari’s ascendancy to office of the President was partly attributed to electoral reforms introduced by Jega-led INEC between 2010 – 2015. These reforms include, a fairly credible voter register, Smart Card Reader for electronic voter accreditation and a truly independent electoral commission. The former President attested to the centrality of these reforms in defining his electoral fortune in the 2015 elections. In his words, “When the time He (God) had set for me came, He used technology to bring me in,”. His testimony underscores the power of electoral technology in deepening electoral integrity.
Buhari’s recognition of the value of the electoral reforms is undisputed. However, his commitment to credible elections and electoral reforms leaves a sour taste and deserves further interrogation. Two general elections held under his tenure. First, the 2019 general election where he was reelected and the 2023 transitional elections. Both elections were enmeshed in controversies and legal contests.
Throughout his tenure, Buhari was vocal about leaving a legacy of credible elections, possibly because of the legitimizing benefit of maintaining that posture, but some of his actions proved otherwise. In fact, the constitutive elements of the much-mouthed legacy of credible elections were unknown to the public. No doubt, the former President deserves accolades for his contributions to electoral reforms. However, he bequeathed a litany of bad precedents whose negative effects will have lasting impact on election landscape.
Lasting legacies
Fourteen off-cycle governorship elections held between 2015 – 2023. Pres Buhari ensured the traditional tactic of deploying ‘federal might’ to influence governorship elections was reduced to barest minimum. He is believed to have resisted pressures from his party men to interfere in four elections his party lost in Edo 2020, Anambra 2017, 2021; and Osun 2022. Former President Buhari stands out as one President who proactively extended his congratulations to winners of elections from the opposition party against the preferences of his party. When the Inspector General of Police, IGP withdrew security aides from former governor of Anambra, Willie Obiano during the 2017 Anambra governorship elections, the President ordered the IGP to reinstate the aides. Some of Pres Buhari’s predecessors may not have extended the same grace to Governor Obiano given their antecedents.
Legal framework
Credit must go to the former President for assenting to the 2022 Electoral Act after several years of intense advocacy, intrigues and controversies. In addition, he gave assent to landmark constitutional amendment bills related to elections such as the bill to increase the timeframe for bye-elections from seven days to twenty-one days, grounds for de-registration of parties, time for the determination of pre-election matters, age reduction bill popularly known as the Not Too Young To Run law and “restriction on tenure of president and governors” The 2022 Electoral Act is touted as the best piece of election law in Nigeria’s 25 years of uninterrupted democracy.
The Act guarantees timely release of election funding to INEC and permits INEC to deploy electoral technology for elections, amongst other changes which renewed citizens faith in the electoral process. INEC’s deregistration of 74 political parties in 2020 for failure to meet requirements imposed by the amended constitution improved election logistics greatly. Thirty-seven young people between 25 -29 have been elected into the National and State legislatures between 2018 – 2023 as a result of the Not Too Young To Run Act.
Source: Vanguard