Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike have said the failure of the forthcoming general elections will plunge the country into crisis and set democracy backward.

While Obasanjo said foisting the wrong leaders on Nigeria would increase corruption and insecurity, Wike maintained that any flop in the current democratic process would further polarise the polity.

The duo spoke at the 2023 Port Harcourt International Conference, sponsored by Rivers State government, with the theme, “Deepening Democratic Culture and Institutions for Sustainable Development and Security in Nigeria”, that held at Obi Wali International Conference in Port Harcourt on Thursday.

Obasanjo, who presented the keynote address, titled: “Respecting the principles of democracy,” said democracy had gone through twists, dives and turns since political independence. 

He said the best of the nation’s history had been the sustenance of democracy since the military transfer of power to an elected government in 1999. 

The former President,  however, observed that there might be reasons to doubt the lessons the leaders and followers had drawn from the country’s past and how far they were willing to go to deepen, widen and strengthen democracy and democratic practice.

Obasanjo said the political class had only succeeded in deepening  contradictions, negative coalitions, distrust, disloyalty and unpatriotic tendencies within and between communities and constituencies all over the country through the way they had practised democracy.

He maintained that such democratic style had created  a deep structural and philosophical problems that must be deal with.

He  explained that if the practice of democracy remained superficial and opportunistic and designed to pursue a struggle of limited objectives, it would precipitate variants of fractured engagements that could not address structural and philosophical contradictions and challenges.

He said: “In fact, the order of the day would be community against community, religion against religion, leader against leader.  Ordinary citizens are then dragged into the directionless, meaningless and opportunistic personal or narrow ambitions of leaders. The end result will be confusion, diffusion, distraction and possibly leading to separation and disintegration. 

“Democracy is possible in Nigeria and the people have the capacity to build a culture of democratization. Nigerians must recognise and accept the fact that it is an evolutionary process with principles.

“Without retracing our political steps to the right direction, the current process will either not produce the right leaders or it will leave so many broken blocks on the path to governance and attract resources and energy away from the task of rebuilding Nigeria and consolidating our democratic practice.

“The result will be democratic quagmire, increased corruption, insecurity and survival of the fittest, richest and better connected with little or no recognition of merits. 

“The implications and cost of such a scenario to our present and future can best be imagined. I pray that God will grant us the wisdom to do what is right for our country and people at all times and more so now.”

Wike, who hosted the event, urged Nigerians not to allow the 2023 general elections to fail.

He posited that allowing such failure would only increase political polarisation, exacerbate social fault lines and set Nigeria’s democracy backwards.

The Governor noted that barely one month away, Nigerians are hoping and praying for the 2023 general elections to herald the deepening of democratic culture, the rule of law and good governance in the country.

He said the opportunity to elect a new President of the federation and 30 state governors, should be a success because it would consolidate and strengthen the roots of democracy in the national life of Nigeria.

Wike said: “In a democracy, periodic elections are the only legitimate means for the peaceful transfer of power from one party to another. Since 1999, Nigeria has had six general election circles, but none was considered substantially clean and fair.

“The outcome of the 2003 general elections was rejected at different levels by the opposition and the losers, and litigated up to the Supreme Court. The outcome of the 2007 elections led to protests, riots, the loss of several lives, and the destruction of property in particular sections of the country.”

Wike recalled that even late President Musa Ya’ardua had promised necessary electoral reforms when he publicly denounced the process that brought him to power because it was severely flawed. 

According to Wike, the 2011 general election also suffered a similar experience and was litigated by the opposition to the Supreme Court.

He said: “None of the defeated contestants believed they lost fairly and blamed the umpire, the security agencies and politicians for undermining our democracy with brazen electoral fraud.”

Wike noted that the 2015 general election, though considered rigged, recorded some improvements with the use of the smart card reader and the emergence of opposition candidates as the winners of the presidential poll.

The governor said the 2019 general election was also problematic and and was rejected as highly compromised by the opposition and litigated up to the Supreme Court.

“In Rivers State, we battled the military in the 2016 and 2019 re-run and general elections with pure courage and determination to secure our victory and retain our mandate with the sweat and blood of innocent citizens”, he said.

 Wike pointed out that when the government compromises the integrity of elections through electoral management agencies, it denies citizens their constitutional right to elect the leaders they want and can hold accountable.

The governor emphasised that when elections lacked integrity, the leaders who emerged from outside the people’s would remain illegitimate.

He said: “Such leaders without trust are likely to be authoritarian, divisive and incapable of effective governance. Serial election rigging threatens our democracy and constitutes an existential challenge to the nation’s future stability.

“Therefore, deepening democratic culture and institutions for sustainable development and security is important to us as a nation, and free and fair elections with integrity remain the only path to achieving this objective.”

Wike said the new electoral law, especially with the provisions of the use of technology, held the prospect for a brighter democratic experience for Nigeria if implemented effectively.

He stressed that beyond the legal regime, political parties’ internal practices and external electioneering behaviour must conform to democratic norms and standards.

He said: “The efficiency of the judiciary in interpreting and enforcing the existing regulatory regime, including the laws, regulations and guidelines beyond reproach and the capacity and consistency of INEC and the Security Agencies to be firm, impartial and independent in the discharge of their functions are most crucial.

“Safeguarding and deepening our democracy lies with every citizen. We must have the courage to stand up for justice, the rule of law, an independent and courageous judiciary, and our rights and freedoms to vote and be voted in a transparent election.”