Why I wept over my appointment, by Olurode, INEC Commissioner
August 8, 2012
Lai Olurode, a Professor of Sociology from University of Lagos is currently National Commissioner at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), with headquarters in Abuja. He is the chairman of the Board of the Electoral Institute. The institute is in charge of training and research as well as voter education and other related issues. In this interview with RAZAQ BAMIDELE, the Iwo, Osun State-born egg head assured Nigerians of getting to electoral Eldorado without a recourse to e-voting system. He also spoke on other sundry issues like the need for a credible voters register, among other national matters as regards conduct of credible elections in the country.
Excerpts: About my appointment into INEC I would not know the quality that the appointing authorities were looking for. I just thought that my name came up somewhere and somebody looked at my antecedent, about what one has been doing and capable of doing and decided that one can do a transparent and honest job for the country.
We shouldn’t forget that the appointment of both the Chairman and the Federal Commissioners of INEC came at the period that the last elections in this country in 2007 were marred with fraudulent practices; the register was not clean. False results were announced, even when counting was still on and all kinds of allegations, which were confirmed by the elections tribunals in the country.
That year’s election was judged as the worst form of election, not only in this country but all over the world and anybody who was part of that election knew very well that it was a do-or-die kind of thing. So, every stakeholder had become disenchanted with the electoral system. The state itself was unhappy. The electors were unhappy. The political parties and their candidates were not also satisfied with the entire system. Everybody thought that something has to be done as regards to the appointment to the key offices of the election management board. I think that led to the public debate and scrutiny and screening of the candidates. The President, I think, did a wonderful thing for this country in my own assessment.
At least by promising the country free, fair and credible election. I think, he has done very well by living to the fulfillment of that promise. He cannot be accused of having leverage with the SSS or the state institutions to ensure his victory. He said he would depend only on the goodwill of Nigerian people and the electorate. And I think he told his associates to go to the field and campaign and that the period that elections were won by bureaucracy of the electoral body is gone.
This type of person would not go behind the scene to manipulate the electoral bureaucracy to favour him. That is going to be a good thing for Nigeria. I never applied for the job. Nobody called for application. And where do you drop an unsolicited application? It is like when you want to do a good job, you wouldn’t mind if a surgery is done on you. So, the colour, the tribe or ethnic nationality of the person performing the surgery on you would not count. What would count, to you, is your life. And that is why I think anybody can govern this country once he is competent no matter where he comes from.
The challenges of this country are the same for everybody, whether Urobo, Itsekiri, Ibo, Hausa, Fulani or Yoruba. The basic thing is that everybody wants to have access to good education, good roads, good healthcare delivery, decent housing and good job after graduating from school. The critera should be performance. And that is why some of the countries in the Western World are working. And that is why Barack Obama was able to be crowned President of the United State of America and all the black people are able to raise their heads all over the places. Why I wept Well, in this kind of situation, there are bound to be some mischief makers.
There must have been some people who might have realize that if this guy is in, we may not be able to do what we are used to be doing. For instance, on the field, when you tell people that they are not complying with the electoral rule, they will tell you this is how we have been doing it for years since the first republic without any challenge. So, some people thought that having these guys like Professor Attahiru Jega and some of us there, it would be too difficult for them to have it their fraudulent ways. People who have made their marks in the human rights constituency, who would not do anything that could tarnish their reputation.
They know that with these guys, they cannot fracture the electoral processes. And when you fracture the electoral process, and thus deny the people their voices, you would not be able to gauge what they want, and if their aspirations have been met. And people’s preferences matter, and their desire must go into the calculus of framing policy process. And you need them to express their mind, and the only way to do that is through the ballot box. They raised all kinds of allegations that were unfounded. I wondered aloud before the senate when I was being screened, how people like the Senate President and other people in government are able to sleep with all the mudslinging! People would just raise an issue out of no issue from nowhere.
Somebody said I was a speech writer for former Governor Bisi Akande of Osun State. And the truth of the matter is that I never met Papa Akande until he left office. And it was during my deanship of the Faculty of Social Sciences in the University of Lagos when we provided a platform for him to come and address the country on issue of leadership. You cannot take it from Akande that he is an ethical person. He did his best for this country as a leader, and was not found wanting in any respect. We provided a platform. Even, Governor Oyinlola and Chief Bode George too. Other prominent people in this country including Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), the platform was provided for them to talk to Nigerians.
They also raised an allegation that I was a member of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). I wept because there was no iota of truth in that. I cannot just understand where that just came from. They made it to the extent that some people bought pages of newspapers to advertise why Lai Olurode should not be cleared by the Senate and be appointed as INEC Commissioner. And I wonder why should people do all these and what their objective could be. And I have vowed that any time, any day, that I have an opportunity to do any job for this country, I would do it with all honesty. But I never knew it would be through this.
For me, it is not for any monetary gain. At least I live in my own house, either in Lagos or in my village. And I think God has been so kind to me. In this country, people had given me scholarship for me and my children before. I said what can I give back to the society? That was my own major pre-occupation. Now, to read in the newspapers all sorts of insinuations that have no iota of truth and that have no basis made me weep. Really, I wept. Challenges You know, the University is more of theoretical things. You are idealistic. You critique the society. You look at society as state and you are constantly interrogating and questioning.
And you always believe that we are not getting it right here. You are more of an academic and partly a social activist in the University. And the University as a citadel of learning is more or less for social activists to dwell in. you are very critical of the society and you hardly see anything good in the society as well as write off the leadership. But with this kind of opportunity, you are able to leave behind you the world of theory and idealistic world which really could not be the real world the society is really is.
The INEC is a completely new phenomenon for me. It is like I went back to school in the INEC. Although I have written a few things about elections, on the state and political parties as a political sociologist. But I have never had any opportunity of blending theoretical perspectives with real practice of managing election. And I never anticipated that the window through which I will be able to see what I will be able to do. What can I leverage election management through functions of things I have been able to do? When the opportunity came, I must say that it was a very rare privileged opportunity to be able to use some of the things you have taught. I have been able to move with the people who have been critical about how the society is. People like the late Chief Gani Fewehinmi (SAN), and few others. I said this is a rare opportunity like a theatre where one is thrown to do an operation.
And working with Attahiru jega and few other Commissioners who came in from diverse callings. They brought all their divergent experiences into the election management. And we are happy that we have been able to make a modest achievements in the perception of Nigerians towards that election management body. And it showed in the post 2007 election. I think it is not difficult to do. It is like doing the good things you are used to doing. I don’t see myself now sitting with anybody to change result. I will just have to leave the job. That is not possible. All my life, I have been relating in objective things. I have marked students’ essays, I have awarded marks to them even without knowing them. If I have not changed scores for the number of years I spent in the Universoty going to 25 years, I don’t now see myself going into election to be a contradiction.
What cannot even be forgiven for changing results or announcing fake results or doing anything to undermine the electoral processes. It would be alien to the life one has lived for years. However, my greatest fear in the short run is the spectre of democratic reversals. We have recorded some modest gains in the administration of 2011 elections. These may be quickly dissipated going by the barefaced impunity and rascality of some members of the political class. In the long run, I nurse trepidations about the triumph of institutionalization. There seems an aversion, pervasive one at that, against institution building and a preference for strong individuals and arbitrariness.
All these can undermine spirit de corps, collective action and thus effectiveness of the commission. These challenges are not insurmountable, though intimidating. The Commission is capable of addressing these negative tendencies that make our elections to go under, and thus rubbish electoral integrity. On indices of successful elections I think the April 2011 election, I identified five key success factors that appeared to have assisted in delivering to the people free and fair election.
The first one to me is the attitude and the body language, the courage of the main principal actors , those who govern the country from the President to Vice President, president of the Senate, House of Representatives speaker, the key leading political actors in the country. For President Jonathan to tell Nigerians and his party, don’t rig for me. If I win the election, that is okay and if I lose, I go back to my village. That is a very powerful signal and power statement that was communicated to the party agents and party hirelings who might want to convince the President that they are in control of their constituencies and would like to deliver land slide victory for him at all cost.
The do or die kind of attitude. That is like, demystifying election in a way. It is like, look, an incumbent President can lose election and it is not a big deal. And the President went ahead to do his campaign. I think that is an encouraging signal. (Abstract; Sun Daily News; 09/08/2012)
