June 12: Practices of annulment already in current dispensation, CODER warns

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June 12: Practices of annulment already in current dispensation, CODER warns

As Nigerians all over the country on Wednesday trooped out to celebrate June 12 as Democracy Day, a group, Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reform (CODER) has warned that practices similar to election annulment are creeping back silently into the country’s democracy.

It would be recalled that the 1993 poll won by late Chief MKO Abiola was annulled by then military junta of General Ibrahim Babangida, a development which occasioned the June 12 struggle leading to the arrest of the winner and later his death in detention in 1997.

CODER gave this warning in a release made available by its Executive Director/Chairman, Dr. Wunmi Bewaji, even as it commended President Muhammadu Buhari for declaring June 12 as Democracy Day as well as late Abiola for the great sacrifice he later made for which he was being remembered.

CODER, while declaring June 12 as a watershed in the history of Nigeria when the gravity and sanctity of peoples’ sovereignty became eternally inalienable and non-negotiable, said regrettably that practices of annulment were manifesting in areas such as judicialisation of the election contrary to right of people to freely elect their representatives, the withholding of results in some instances by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the right given to the commission to de-register parties, which should not have been so in multi-party democracy environment, among others.

“As we mark this historic milestone in the history of our country and as the memories of the evil days of military brutality continue to fade into the latent oblivion of history books, let us be conscious of the potential pitfalls naturally stemming from the optimistic inflation of expectations that democracy precipitates, to wit:

“CODER has identified three major ways by which the highly detestable and objectionable practice of annulment is creeping back silently into our democracy. These are the following:

“One, the gradual judicialisation of our democratic process. People who purchase their mandates in the courtrooms rather than at the polling booth are no democrats. They are enemies of democracy. What happened in Zamfara and Rivers States in the just concluded general elections where the will of the people were sabotaged and sacrificed on the altar of legal technicalities is shameful. Those people who were clearly, loudly and vigorously rejected by the electorate were eventually imposed by the courts is most unfair, oppressive, undemocratic and tyrannical. We call upon the 9th National Assembly to as a matter of priority put a stop to the gradual judicialization of our democracy.

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“The various organs of our political parties saddled with the responsibility of conflict resolution must be allowed to function. The courts must have no role to play on who won or lost party primaries. The decision of the party’s highest organ must be final.

“Two, it is a sacrilege for INEC to withhold or seize the results of an election at the end of voting and announcement of results under the guise of an unproven, unsubstantiated, alleged duress, threat or any other false excuse. To do so will amount to an annulment of the will and choice of the people.

“INEC has no power to annul an election once the election has been concluded. The recent attempt by INEC to reintroduce annulment into our democracy in the name of seizure of certificate of returns is unlawful, immoral and highly objectionable and anyone promoting the idea within or outside the INEC is a sworn enemy of democracy who should have nothing to do with elections.

“Three, multi-party system remains the bedrock of any genuine democracy. Therefore, INEC has to be stripped of whatever power to deregister any political party under whatever guise,” CODER said.

According to the group, “in a democracy, the idea of deregistration of political parties by itself is illogical and amounts to a taboo,” recalling that the wise men who drafted the template for the 1979/1999 constitutions recognized the importance and functions of political parties in a democracy to be more than just canvassing for voters at every four-year election cycles.

The group called on elected officials, particularly the President Buhari and state governors to adhere to the tenets of the rule of law and due process, saying it was time elected leaders learn to govern from the centre and build consensus, taking into consideration the fragile nature of the country’s federation.

“All appointments must reflect the federal character of Nigeria, as well as our diversities in terms of gender, ethnicity, education and disability with due regard to equality, equity, fairness and justice,” CODER said even as it congratulated Nigerians on this joyous occasion of 20 years of stable democracy in Nigeria.

June 12: Practices of annulment already in current dispensation, CODER warns
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