2019: Why desperation to win at all cost may lead to voter apathy, by Rafsanjani

Auwal Musa Rafsanjani,executive director of the Civil Society Legislative and Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), is disturbed by the growingapprehension of Nigerians that the 2019 elections might be rigged, which he attributes to desperation on the path of the pol

What is t h e level of engagement of CISLAC in voter education, policy issues and direction? Is the environment conducive for you to pursue these objectives ahead of the election?

Actually, the atmosphere is very charged and everybody is very skeptical about the 2019 elections given the fact that there appears to be some level of desperation and therefore, it is not a favourable environment. However, as a civil society group, our responsibility is to make sure that we continue to advocate a non-violentelectoral process that will be transparent and allow Nigerians to make their own choice freely without beingharassed or intimidated or the process not being cajoled from being transparent.

So, in terms of civil engagement and voter education, of course, this is one thing that wewill continue to do despite the challenges that many of the civil society groups are not able to have the enabling resources to do that beside the volatile environment that we have.but as a committed group and individuals we must continue to do our best; we cannot give up.

We have to continue to engage the electorate so that they can engage themselves in a more constructiveand responsible way to avoid any violence and avoid electoral malpractice. We will also continue to call on theauthorities to ensure that there is level playing ground for anybody to express their political views without any intimidation or harassment. So, this is what civil society has been doing and of course, we will continue to engage within our limited resources at all levels to Auwal Musa Rafsanjani

ensure that the environment is conducive for the election in 2019.

But of course, we are concerned that there are so many issues that are not veryclearand straight forward.

One of the issues is the fact that we had the problem that even the Electoral Act that was amended was not signed into law by the President. That was a setbackin terms of ensuring that we have a transparent, free and fair election. However, we still have the opportunity to use the previous Electoralact of 2010, which is valid, but one had expected to have an electoral framework that will be more transparent that will also give more confidence to Nigerians. But we will have to continue to work with what we have on ground.

Another thing is that from what we are seeing, it is being alleged that the security apparatus is being prepared to do what is not really seen in the conduct of election management. That is why we want to constructivelycontinue toengage even the security sector to let them know the implication of anything that they will do to undermine the integrity of the electoral system. So, it is a serious concern. A lot of people believe that there are some elements being prepared to come and rig the election and cause violence. This is a big concern for the civil society. The other issues are those of the campaigns. Many of the political gladiators are not even bordered about the issue-basedcampaigns.

One of the reasons this is happening is because we don’t have political accountability and therefore, people just use whatever means to get in there without being cautioned, or being held accountable for their misdeeds.

So, that political impunity has given rise to what we are seeing. So, if we don’t address the issue of political accountability there is no way we can have political parties andpoliticians behaving in a manner that will be responsive andresponsible. So,the civil society in Nigeria has the responsibility to continueto watch and monitor and also advise the citizens to stay away from those who will make use of them for violent activities.

So,because people believe that the vote does not matter so they can engage in violence, they can abandon issue-based discussion, such as poverty and unemployment, lack of security which we are experiencing. That is not even a priority to many of these people who, at all cost, want to retain power. So, it is a big challenge to us and that is why we have to continue to remind them that the issues of 2019 should be based on how to address poverty, and the widespread insecurity and we should deal with these issues drastically because without that we cannot make progress. elections. What is your take on the feeling of apprehensionby the Nigerian people about this election? Are they being properly mobilised?

Now, i f Nigerians are properly mobilised at least they will have a choice, they will have an option. But the way it is now there is no mobilisation; that is why you see less campaign and just a demonstration or showoff power. That is why we are afraid that many people may not even vote, on the basis of the fact that they want safety of their lives because they are not sure they can be protected. So, it is a very big challenge and many Nigerians are not sure that even if they come out to vote they are going to be protected not minding whether their votes will be counted because of this same level of desperationalluded toearlier on.

This insinuation of desperation is easily said to be on the path of the ruling government and theyare supposed to be the ones in charge of the security. Judging by the direction they are going and their behaviour, what do you advise?

They need to make sure that the primary responsibility is to protect the citizens’ lives and property and ensure that there is peaceful election and peaceful coexistence. If they fail to do that we must hold them accountable because they are the ones that have the institutions of security and must provide security and assure Nigerians that they are not going to create violence. So, they have the responsibility to guarantee free and fair election. At the same time on the path of the opposition, they must also ensure that the do not trigger violence that will give the security agencies excuse to intimidate ordinary Nigerians.