A
abujagirl
Guest
It has been one full year since President Muhammadu Buhari was declared winner of the 2015 presidential election. VANGUARD has an opinion piece by Charles Kumolu which examines the state of the country now and then.
THE uniqueness of Nigeria’s 2015 presidential poll in the view of many Nigerians was that it was the first election in the nation’s history in which the incumbent political party lost and accepted. But beyond the outcome of the election was the effort put in by the election management body and other stakeholders in the organisation of the poll and in the management of the outcome. 12 months after the result of the election was announced, the rarity of the occurrence may have begun to settle on Nigerians, but whether the lessons and the process have been ingrained into the body politic remains a matter of dispute.
This is especially buttressed by the rancour that trailed many of the elections that have been organised in the recent past. INEC’s role: The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, led by former unionist, Prof. Attahiru Jega had in the years leading to the 2015 begun the process of reengineering the election process through improving the integrity of the voter register using the card reader and the Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs.
Machinations of political thugs
Besides, INEC as led by Jega had also introduced the use of academics as returning officers, a situation that in some cases helped to cushion the fears of many voters who had in the past been used to election officers easily being swayed by the machinations of political thugs and their sponsors.
Besides, the efforts of the INEC, a number of prominent Nigerians led by the erstwhile head of state, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar were beneath the scene also involved in building peace between the two major presidential candidates, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
At a point before the election, the committee brought the two men together where they signed an agreement to allow the will of the people to prevail. The committee many Nigerians noted, above all else helped to ensure that the extremities that hitherto attended reactions to presidential elections did not ensue after the March 28, presidential election.
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SOURCE: VANGUARD
THE uniqueness of Nigeria’s 2015 presidential poll in the view of many Nigerians was that it was the first election in the nation’s history in which the incumbent political party lost and accepted. But beyond the outcome of the election was the effort put in by the election management body and other stakeholders in the organisation of the poll and in the management of the outcome. 12 months after the result of the election was announced, the rarity of the occurrence may have begun to settle on Nigerians, but whether the lessons and the process have been ingrained into the body politic remains a matter of dispute.
This is especially buttressed by the rancour that trailed many of the elections that have been organised in the recent past. INEC’s role: The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, led by former unionist, Prof. Attahiru Jega had in the years leading to the 2015 begun the process of reengineering the election process through improving the integrity of the voter register using the card reader and the Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs.
Machinations of political thugs
Besides, INEC as led by Jega had also introduced the use of academics as returning officers, a situation that in some cases helped to cushion the fears of many voters who had in the past been used to election officers easily being swayed by the machinations of political thugs and their sponsors.
Besides, the efforts of the INEC, a number of prominent Nigerians led by the erstwhile head of state, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar were beneath the scene also involved in building peace between the two major presidential candidates, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
At a point before the election, the committee brought the two men together where they signed an agreement to allow the will of the people to prevail. The committee many Nigerians noted, above all else helped to ensure that the extremities that hitherto attended reactions to presidential elections did not ensue after the March 28, presidential election.
Click here to read more
SOURCE: VANGUARD