by Elvis Osung
Settling the matter of who owns votes in an election is not as complex as finding out who came first in the story of the chicken and the egg.
I spoke to some people during the build up to this years elections who told me they are voting for candidates and not parties.
Some of this people voted for Buhari and Jimi Agbaje while some voted for Jonathan and Dakuku.
I have also done this in 2011 when I voted for Fashola even though I did not have faith in the party that was fielding him. Without the personality of Fashola, i am sure a couple of people would not have touched his party with a long pole let alone thumbprint besides the parties logo.
The import of this analysis is to portray the likelihood of at least 60% of the Nigerian voters being more inclined to vote an individual over a party.
In most cases, the connection of the people to the party is through the individual who is the party flag bearer.
This implies that by the demise of a candidate who is the party’s flag bearer, the nexus or umbilical chord between the people and the party becomes severed especially when this demise is before the conclusion of the election.
INEC as a fair umpire owes the people a fair decision that allows them to exhibit their franchise without prejudice.
Transferring the votes of individuals to the party is tantamount to holding the votes of the people to ransom.
In a civil society, A law should be seen to reflect a consensus of the will of the people, anything contrary to the prevailing will of the people is tantamount to tyranny and dictatorship.
It is comical to see INEC want to continue the inconclusive election when the political party who lost their flag bearer are planning to organise another party primary to choose a new flag bearer.
The onus lies on INEC to conduct a fresh elections in Kogi state. It’s not too late to rescind their decision before they get embarrassed in a competent law court.
Rescinding their decision is the right thing to do.
Elvis Osung is a leadership strategy analyst and a development knowledge facilitator who is passionate about capacity building through public speaking and mentoring. He is an engineer. Connect with him on Facebook.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
