2023 polls: Making state administrative resources work for all

The quest for political power and the enormous benefits associated with political power have made it irresistible for persons and groups of persons under the umbrella of political parties of variegated moral and ethical backgrounds to venture into politics. Politicians see politics as an investment that yields quicker returns than any other business. Right from the return to democracy in Nigeria in 1999 to the present time, the abuse of state administrative resources has been on the ascendancy and the reason for this can be traced to the process through which political leaders emerge into public offices.  Politicians deploy huge resources to sponsor candidates into elective positions. Those who are already in political positions employ all manners of incumbency techniques to retain their seats or to retain their political parties in power.

As the race to Aso Rock and various State Houses officially draws near and intensifies, several political parties are adopting different strategies to either retain power or take over power from the incumbents. About four political parties seem to be mounting serious campaigns, especially for the presidency with the number thinning down at the state level. The Independent National Electoral Commission has assured and reassured Nigerians of free, fair and credible polls but there are still challenges littering the electoral landscape.

By S.95 (2) of the Electoral Act 2022 which re-enacts S.100 (2) of the 2010 Electoral Act (as amended), state apparatus including the media shall not be employed to the advantage or disadvantage of any political party or candidate at any election. This discourse reviews the various shades of state administrative resources and how they are abused and posits that this abuse will undermine the credibility of 2023 polls if INEC, political parties and law enforcement do not take steps to stem the abuse.

SARs are defined as resources put at the disposal of public institutions for the conduct of governmental or public affairs. SAR includes legislative, regulatory, coercive and institutional resources. Abuse of SAR for electioneering campaigns is illegal, unethical and against best practices in SAR management. Institutional resources generally refer to government resources like employees, vehicles, offices, contractors, equipment, stationery, building, symbols of authority, etc. The Code of Conduct for Political Parties 2013 in S.3 (17) states that: All parties shall discourage their members in government from using their power of incumbency to the disadvantage of other parties or their candidates during elections. Use of government vehicles, equipment and facilities for partisan political campaigns, secondment of officials paid at the public expense for partisan purposes and using the insignia of office to canvass support are all manifestations of abuse of institutional resources. The recent appointment and assumption of office of Festus Keyamo, a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, paid at the public expense as the spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress presidential campaign falls under this prohibition.  He cannot be paid and sustained with money belonging to all Nigerians while he takes a partisan position to the disadvantage of other political parties. Mandating contractors to contribute to political expenses is also an abuse of institutional resources as well as procurement fraud and abuse of due process.

Regulatory and coercive resources can be deployed by incumbent administrations to the disadvantage of the opposition. This can be undertaken in a number of ways including discriminatory campaign and procession permits, regulation of the use of public places, discriminatory enforcement of laws and regulations, causing misrepresentation, disenchantment and loss of reputation to the opposition, partial dissemination of information, etc. Recently, state governments in Kaduna and Osun states have deployed refusal of permit to use a venue on the opposition. Late hour cancellation of an already given permit due to “security reasons”; unjustified and arbitrary cancellation of a booking to use a venue for a rally, for instance, a stadium or a public hall are all abuses of regulatory resources.

The task of maintaining state security and preventing corruption and abuse of office can be used to the disadvantage of the opposition. Unveiling charges of corruption that may not scale the prosecution hurdle in the courts is an instance. In a country like Nigeria where there is a popular agreement that corruption has contributed in no small measure to the political and economic backwardness of the nation, a charge or allegation of corruption even if unsupportable by credible evidence can be a hurdle on the path of the opposition. At least, it paints the victim in a bad light and tars him with social deviancy, which will take time to erase in popular minds. Discriminatory enforcement of laws can also lead to unfavourable circumstances for the opposition. Opposition candidates can also be arrested and or charged to court on framed-up charges during electioneering campaigns. The first objective would be to present the candidate negatively to the public while at the same time taking his time away from campaigns to save himself from conviction and imprisonment. The criteria for identifying frivolous charges would include: whether the agencies had the opportunity of prosecuting the opposition figures but deliberately failed, refused and neglected to do so but rather chose to mar their reputation through a public allegation of corruption or any other crime; the timing of the law enforcement action; the supporting facts disclosed and whether the facts can legally sustain a charge and conviction in law; whether the law enforcement authorities are in disobedience of a court order; whether the candidate has been prosecuted and discharged for the same offence in the past.

Public media resources belong to all Nigerians, especially the tax-payers. The provisions of the Code of Conduct for Political Parties and National Broadcasting Code call for equal and fair access to the use of state-owned media and adherence to the principles of pluralism of ideas and opinion, equal opportunity and air time to be provided to all political parties, candidates and views, with particular regard to the amount of time and belt during electioneering campaign period. Media resource abuse comes in various forms and includes the following:  only candidates supported by the incumbent government have news coverage in the state media; opposition candidates are reported in disparaging terms; incumbent candidates’ activities are given live coverage as a news item; news organs sympathetic to the opposition are heavily regulated, and discounts in public media available only to state parties. It is therefore expected that public media like the Nigeria Television Authority and Radio Nigeria, etc., should give equal opportunities to all candidates and political parties and restrain from using taxpayers’ money for the support and benefit of the incumbent political party and its candidates

Enforcing this beautiful provision of the Electoral Act requires the collaboration of INEC, civil society including the media and academia, law enforcement agents, etc., to breathe life into the enactment. The 2023 polls provide an opportunity to entrench ethics in government, which starts with credible polls where SAR is made to work for all and not abused by incumbents.