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Because Of The Broken Electoral System in Nigeria, Why Not Install Peter Obi?

Feature Article Because Of The Broken Electoral System in Nigeria, Why Not Install Peter Obi?
DEC 25, 2022 LISTEN

As a people and an environment that is highly challenged, we know that for all the chronic voting problems deep in the country which continue to consume our electoral space, why not make way for the candidate who is currently leading in the polls, temporarily repeal the Constitution, and simply install the one in whom the people believe and want to rule?

Over and over, polls show that the Labour Party's presidential candidate, Peter Obi, will win in 2023, with more voters willing to vote for Obi in a three-horse race between him, Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and Atiku Abubakar of the People's Democratic Party.

As I write this, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, has expressed concern about electoral violence, citing the agency's tracking of numerous attacks and destructions across the country since.

Some current presidential candidates are worried about the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) that will be used in the 2023 general elections, regarding the functionality of the technology in terms of the accreditation and the total vote count's reliability and dependability. There is concern that the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in the 2023 general elections will fail to address Nigeria's recurrent problem of election rigging or complicity on the part of corrupt election officials who are physically and directly involved in election organization. The cyclical corruption of the judiciary is also caused by stained judges who rule out of fear or compromise, with some election losers attacking judges because the outcomes of their cases don't favor them in tribunal decisions.

We know, as a people and an environment, that for all the chronic problems listed here, why not make way for Obi, who is currently leading in the polls, temporarily repeal the Constitution, and simply install him as the one in whom the people believe and want to rule?

The question I asked about the instant and collective installation of Obi and temporally terminating the Constitution is certainly anathema to the soul of our young, but troubled, growing democracy and nation.

But if we ask most Nigerians today about those who are not favorably ranked in the opinion polls, they are likely to see them as self-serving authoritarians, ready to abuse the election process through monetization, militarization, violence, and other forms of intimidation, trample on their fundamental rights, and enter the presidency to govern people who, for the most part, do not want to be under them.

Today and until election day, no honest person in Nigeria can deny that Obi, unlike his major other presidential competitors, is seen by most people as a non-political enemy in terms of having the true desire to provide an environment where basic commodities such as food, health commodities (medicines, etc.), potable water, and housing and shelter commodities are available.

So why not just let the people take Obi and install him as president based on favorable polling? Won't that save us from all the unusually dark actions, such as wealthy politicians offering bribes to electoral officers and buying votes?

Won't this instantaneous installation save the time and money of deploying personnel from the Police, Army, Department of State Services, Nigeria Security, Civil Defense Corps, and others, and members of the National Youth Service Corps?

The public stance against none of Obi's names is clear, as he has a strong national following among most Nigerians, so why wait?

In a highly terror-prone place like Nigeria, especially during election seasons, the on-going destruction of voting materials, the lack of safety of electoral officials, the operation of party thugs, and the destruction of the election building and vehicles are likely to go on, so why not avoid all these and plan the installation of Obi now?

To his credit, President Muhammadu Buhari has advised Nigerians not to be afraid of expressing their opinions in the 2023 general elections. He wants them to vote based on their consciences, which is correct, but not when Nigeria has a history of badly flawed presidential elections in which politicians win by any means possible because political parties and politicians involve violence and corruption.

By considering installing Obi now, Nigerians will escape the likes of those who will prevail into power by any means, such as Atiku and Tinubu, viewed by most Nigerians as corrupt oligarchies whose style of governance will continue to enthrone nepotism, show a lack of transparency in government, and exhibit stunted developments in such areas as energy, education, and the health sector. Witness poor economic and political transformation and poor commitment to transparency and accountability, making people rise more in insecurity, pain, and poverty.

So, in order to justify the positions of being fair to the people, to hope for peace in the country, and to save us from the usual criminal voting operation during election seasons, the question of Peter Obi being installed as President of Nigeria now remains a pointed question.

Professor John Egbeazien Oshodi, who was born in Uromi, Edo State, Nigeria, to a father who served in the Nigeria police for 37 years, is an American-based police and prison scientist and forensic, clinical, and legal psychologist. A government consultant on matters of forensic-clinical adult and child psychological services in the USA; chief educator and clinician at the Transatlantic Enrichment and Refresher Institute, an online lifelong center for personal, professional, and career development; and a former interim associate dean and assistant professor at Broward College, Florida. The Founder of the Dr. John Egbeazien Oshodi Foundation, Center for Psychological Health and Behavioral Change in African Settings In 2011, he introduced state-of-the-art forensic psychology into Nigeria through N.U.C. and Nasarawa State University, where he served in the Department of Psychology as an Associate Professor. An adjunct professor in the doctorate clinical psychology program at Nova Southeastern University’s College of Psychology in Florida, USA. Director of Online Studies and Professor of Psychology—Online Faculty at Weldios University in the Republic of Benin. He is a virtual behavioral leadership professor at ISCOM University, Republic of Benin. Founder of the proposed Transatlantic Egbeazien Open University (TEU) of Values and Ethics, a digital project of truth, ethics, and openness. Over forty academic publications and creations, at least 300 public opinion pieces on African issues, and various books have been written by him. He specializes in psycho-prescriptive writings regarding African institutional and governance issues. His most recent textbook publication is Concise Psychology: An Integrated Forensic Approach to Psychology for Global African Settings.

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