Nigeria: Should The 2027 Elections Still Hold?

 By Promise Adiele

Time is an important factor in human engagements. That is why “time wasting” is repudiated by serious-minded, result-oriented, and committed persons. I remember a popular slogan by one of my school teachers. It says “time wasted is irretrievable”. In simple terms, time lost cannot be recovered. 

Contemporary events have punctured that submission. Of course, time wasted can be recovered at least from a spiritual point of view, especially if we consider God’s declaration in Joel 2:25. In that portion of the Bible, God made a promise to restore the wasted years, the years of the locust and cankerworm. It means that God can restore wasted time. Although God can restore wasted time, we must not slaughter time on the altar of irresponsible indulgences.

Every day, people appropriate time when they say “please don’t waste my time”. Everyone has a portion of time within the 24 hours of the day. But in JP Clark’s poem Stream Side Exchange, time is portrayed as an inexorable process of continuity. In that poem, the bird replies to the child persona, “tide and market come and go, and so shall your mother”. The coming and going of “tide and market” establishes the observable complexity of time as a vehicle of permanence. The phrase “time is of the essence” always resonates within humanity to underscore the importance of time.

Time is important to Nigerians, especially when they have to go through a crucible to eke out a living within a constricting, unfavourable economic matrix. Never mind all the pretences, everyone is hit by the unconscionable economic policies of the federal government. Never mind all the very offensive, benumbing mantra of economic recovery and dollar/naira statistics. As long as these narratives do not reflect the cost of living and quality of life of the common people, they are invidious, misleading tales to hoodwink the gullible. Indeed, Nigerians need their time to struggle and make a living. That is why I am opposed to anything that would waste the time of the ordinary man.

From all indications, following the recently concluded Abuja Council polls and the bye-elections in Rivers and Kano States, the 2027 elections in Nigeria seem to be a forgone conclusion. Therefore, one wonders if it would not be a complete waste of time to ask Nigerians, engaged in a daily battle for survival, to file out and vote during the election when they should commit their time to more profitable ventures. If we use the concluded elections in FCT, Rivers State and Kano State as yardsticks, then we can argue favourably that the 2027 election at all levels is already concluded in favour of the ruling APC.

The reports following the elections in three different parts of the country are disturbing. I was particularly irked and violated by a report that in Abuja, in a polling unit with a registered 212 accredited voters, APC got 1212 votes, more votes than the number of accredited voters. I also saw a video online where NYSC members posted to Port Harcourt were brutally tortured and bloodied for refusing to manipulate election results. The story is the same everywhere. The ruling APC is not taking prisoners in their desperate bid to keep Nigeria shackled and the electoral process compromised. Perhaps that explains why, despite all the nationwide protests against the Electoral Bill, Bola Tinubu quickly signed it into law.

One can argue that the ruling APC government used the just-concluded elections as a rehearsal of what is to come in 2027. If that is the case, INEC and the government should spare Nigerians the time and huge financial outlay to conduct any election in 2027. There is no need to organise a charade and encourage people to vote under, sometimes, inclement weather conditions when the result of the election is already predetermined. The electoral process takes a lot of time. Voter registration, accreditation, campaigns and finally the voting. Can Nigerians afford the luxury of time, which would ultimately amount to nothing?

As we say on the streets, “time na money”. I understand the desperation of the ruling party to hold on to despotic power through the instrumentality of election so that Nigeria will continue to identify as practising democracy. But the man of equitable conscience knows that there is no democracy in Nigeria. You cannot have democracy in a country where social misfits, people with oozing character baggage, those whose historical antecedents can eclipse the sun, those who have despoiled this country in many ways, hold the levers of power.

Sadly, and unfortunately so, a few Nigerians, victims of the current macabre dance of shame in the country, for a pittance, are willing to support the current reign of terror in the country. The minister of FCT, Mr Nyesom Wike, made statements before the election that easily admit him to the villain clan, yet the president speaks highly of him, crediting him with the APC victory. To say that the APC, as a political party, is shameless is to put it mildly. To say that the party is populated by people without honour is indeed to pay these men the highest compliment. APC has become an anathema to Nigeria.

Nigerians accept that they are the most docile, subservient, grovelling people on earth. Nigerians can accept anything thrown at them by any government in power. They are too scared, too defeated to rise in the defence of their country from political marauders. But they ask the APC government not to waste their time with any election. The people need the time to hustle in search of the elusive daily bread. Therefore, they don’t need distractions with any elections. If anything, Nigerians must organise a requiem, a funeral for democracy, with APC bigwigs as the presiding priests. Let APC take power. The party has conquered Nigeria, but let them allow the people to use their time for something more rewarding instead of the charade we all love to call an election in 2027.

It is a twisted tragedy when people are beaten and asked not to cry. Although a few Nigerians are responding to the hunger and economic disaster by lapping up the APC’s excreta, some through sycophancy and others through barefaced fawning, millions of people are daily enmeshed in survival battles. Millions of youths are fleeing the country to anywhere, just anywhere, even to Mali and Chad. The important thing is to leave Nigeria. It is that bad.

President Bola Tinubu sir, you have won the 2027 elections. No problem. All the APC governors have returned unopposed. No shaking. There are provisions in the Electoral Bill that empower the ruling party to enforce victory where victory needs to be enforced. No one will ask any questions. No one will do anything. Nigerians are a defeated people who daily struggle to remain alive. But the preceding narrative is as primitive and jejune as it can be. History records the demise and tragic ending of leaders who toed the path of perfidy and vaunting ambition. Such leaders today are beneath the earth, and their stories are recounted more in the global hall of infamy.

In Uganda, Idi Amin Dada immediately comes to mind. In Kenya, Daniel Arap Moi also comes to a despicable reckoning. In Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe occupies a patch in global loathsome political history. Back home here, the late General Sani Abacha, who dominated the country’s political firmament in 90s immediately comes to mind. Abacha was a deity. When he coughed, all the rivers in Nigeria, no matter how remotely located, shifted in some ways. He had Nigeria in his pocket. But the rest, as they say, is history.

Bola Tinubu and his APC co-travellers have dragged Nigeria into the mud. We can sugar-coat the situation in the country as much as we want. We can deodorise the prevailing circumstances in the country to suit our timid consciences. But the truth is glaring and constant. Nigeria is in a big mess. However, the APC government must not allow the passivity and tameness of the people to disarm it into stupor. Nigerians are angry and watching. Everyone is angry, and that is the truth. The streets are angry and patiently waiting. The military, police, students, market women, millions of jobless youths, traders, artisans, bus drivers, teachers, doctors, lawyers, engineers, professionals of all complexion are watching and waiting.

Although the killings in the country mean nothing to this government, Nigerians are aware. Although the government carefully designs poverty across the country as a controlling weapon to vanquish the people, Nigerians are attentive to these realities. Soon, the hushed murmurings in every home, barracks, police stations, classrooms, village meetings, estate meetings, markets, on the streets, and in other diverse places would boil over. Bola Tinubu sir, Nigerians wish not to be distracted with any 2027 elections because you have won it. Let the people be. They do not need that polluted circus which you call an election. You have won it. Enjoy yourself, sir. But remember history, look at the history books if you care.

*Dr. Adiele is a commentator on public issues