2023 General Elections: There is cause for Alarm!
By GbaramatuVoice Editorial Board
As the nation Nigeria braces up for the 2023 general elections, there are in the estimation of GbaramatuVoice, reasons to be worried, particularly, when a glance is cast at experiences from previous elections in the country. In fact, there is cause for alarm!
Take as an illustration; it is a global demand that for election to be considered as credible, it must be organized in an atmosphere of peace, devoid of rancour and acrimony. Secondly, the outcome of such an election must be acceptable to a majority of the electorate and it must be acceptable within the international community. Again, if elections are to be free and fair, laws designed in that regard must not just exist; they must be operational and be enforced. And the power of freedom of choice conferred on the electorates must be absolute and not questionable.
But contrary to these provisions, since the re-emergence of democracy in Nigeria in 1999, Nigeria has conducted different elections. The elections were closely monitored by domestic and international observers, and their various reports points to the fact that all the elections held in Nigeria were marred by varying degrees of malpractice.
The implication of this finding, going by a report, is that, the electoral process in Nigeria is rendered vulnerable to abuse, through massive rigging and other forms of electoral malpractices by political parties – especially by those in power as they seek to manipulate the system to serve their partisan interest.
Even after the elections, GbaramatuVoice has witnessed with dissatisfaction, case after case, situations where lawmakers and other public office holders exercised power and responsibility not as a trust but as an opportunity for private gain.
Bearing these ugly developments in mind, GbaramatuVoice believes that the forthcoming general election in the country must not be seen as business as usual.
Rather, it should be considered as a serious project that must be given for serious attention it demands
Within this period, Nigerians must appreciate the fact that it is only a sincere and selfless leadership, a politically and economically restructured polity brought by the national consciousness that can unleash the social, economic and political transformation of the country.
Moving toward ballot boxes in 2023, GbaramatuVoice calls on the electorates to remember that the previously elected Presidents, Governors, Senators, House Of Representative Members and State Houses of Assembly Members voted based on tribal, religious and other pecuniary considerations are responsible for the present socio-economic system that has bred corruption, inefficiency, primitive capital accumulation that socially excluded the vast majority of the people.
Therefore, the newspaper urges Nigerians to vote as leaders that must recognize, and position Nigeria to be a society of equal citizens where opportunities are equal and personal contribution is recognized and rewarded on merit regardless of language, culture, religion or political affiliations.
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