From
the gubernatorial elections that took place on April 11, 2015, it was
obvious there was a systemic ploy to ensure incredible results were
achieved. With a massive win of 996,071 votes out of 1,122, 836 votes
cast (representing a 90% win) one can only admire such phenomenal
results. When such great strides are achieved, it is important to study
the model used and adopt key lessons in the interest of national
development.
Below are 10 key ways to achieve absolute election success:
1. Make sure people can’t vote:
It’s so simple but it really is pure genius. Across the 31 local
government areas there were records of missing election materials,
especially the result sheets. As eager citizens arrive, you can either
stop them from getting accredited by making sure no PVC card reader
arrives at the polling unit or in some cases allow them to get
accredited but make sure there is no stamp to thumb print the election
sheet. Better still, you can have the ad hoc staff show that result
sheets are missing to really discourage citizens. This will make people
feel that waking up early to exercise their fundamental human right is a
complete waste of time, as a lack of result sheet shows their votes
will definitely NOT count.
2. Compromise the Resident Electoral Officer (REC):
This falls in line with best practice of the top-down approach in a
system where decision-making is highly centralised. This provides an
overall and clear direction for all tiers of the electoral hierarchy,
from the Electoral Officers to the Ad-hoc Staff, to ensure a seamless
execution of the plan for a successful election.
3. Abduct over-zealous ad-hoc staff:
This is for those who will insist on doing their duty or due to a gap
in communication from the Supervising Presiding Officer (SPO) who may
not have received the order of the day. So to avert any confusion,
simply abduct the young ad-hoc staff before they arrive at their
assigned polling units. It saves from the drama of snatching ballot
boxes in front of crowds as you can intervene just in time, while you
leave citizens waiting aimlessly at polling units. Also, it’s just for a
few hours, as they will be released just in time to submit their
election materials in tact at the collation centre while they wait to
receive their appreciation envelope for the night. It is very important
that both the top-down and bottom-up approach is deployed for optimal
performance and best results delivered. Using the top-down approach
provides focus, direction and performance conditions but if used in
isolation, it can be ineffective. Such a system, with several moving
parts, must provide some level of independent thinking to allow for
quick responses when things don’t go as planned. For instance, we
observed a level of ingenuity, such as the few places where election
results sheets where not missing, fake result sheets were made
available. This shows the creativity some electoral officials displayed.
This also creates a medley of problems, which makes election reportage
of actual events overwhelming and implausible.
4. Use Violence where necessary: The
use of violence in one area can have a ripple effect that will
reverberate across the entire State, thanks to the use of mobile phones
and social media. This is great, as one does not have to use a huge
amount of force as seen in prior elections but just enough to remind
people of how being democratic can land you in the gutter with
dismembered body parts. In this election we saw a more organised
approach using white buses with decent looking thugs who came to cart
away ballot boxes. They shot in the air several times to disperse the
crowd of eager citizens willing to vote. Unfortunately, the violence did
result in a few people being killed but it is important to note it
appeared it was used more as a deterrent than a direct use of force
against the Akwa Ibom people. In a country ridden with insecurity from a
terrorist group in the North, eight people getting killed and over 30
cases of severely injured people will definitely not get any media
attention.
5. Control the media: To
achieve absolute success, you cannot afford to allow the media to be
let loose in the State as they tend to have a mind of their own,
desirous of reporting real happenings in real time. Ensure this
freelance approach to the media is not condoned. They must be told to
stay away and those in the State must be controlled. In a case where the
brown appreciative envelopes do not suffice, you have to use coercion
by threatening to burn down their houses with their family in it. Of
course, that should temper down any bright ideas on election reportage
and ensure they are where the main actors of the State are to cover a
seamless process of accreditation and voting in the 30% of the State
that seemed to vote. This will, of course, be a stark difference from
what international observers and some local observers will report but
fortunately no one has a wide reach like the local media. Those observer
reports are really just for academics aspiring to be resource people
for election monitoring in developing countries.
6. Compromise some observers:
Again maintaining balance is key. It would be a shame to have such a
flawless plan of robbing people of their right to vote by leaving
observers to wander around freely and reporting a very different reality
from what you have worked so hard to create. In this case, invite them
to your house for lunch, welcome them very warmly to the State House and
ensure you have discussions of how greatly you have performed and how
ecstatic the Akwa Ibom people are to vote 100% for continuity. Do let
them know that you are a product of democracy and you will continue to
ensure its dividends flow even after you’re gone as Governor. Again
thank them for their good works and don’t forget the brown appreciative
envelopes; this time, dollars must be the currency used, as some
observers are sophisticated. This ensures they have a great time in Akwa
Ibom, and for some male observers they can now afford to experience the
‘ladies of the night’ in their hotel rooms, as they return with a fist
of full of dollars. As they report, you’ll be pleased to see them use
the buzzwords such as ‘peaceful’ and ‘perfect’ to describe the
successful election.
7. Strategic use of security forces:
Ensure you have heavy security presence in your opponent’s strong
areas. As much as 22 policemen were present in one polling unit in
Eniong Offot and none were present in other “less” threatening areas
where violence erupted. This anomaly will secure the plan in areas
easily controlled. While on the other hand, keep any opposition and
their thugs from running amuck as they witness their grand plans to vote
or cause their own brand of trouble thwarted before their very eyes.
Also you’ll need to ensure the security forces across all levels are on
your side. This is for post-election purposes, when annoying citizens
who actually get upset about their inability to vote, gather to
peacefully protest the announced results. You must ensure that none of
such revolutionary activities are tolerated. For the few bold citizens
who are undeterred by the violence they heard of or witnessed during the
election process, you must make sure that as soon they gather, you
disperse them. Release fire trucks, helicopter and army tankers to
display an unrelenting show of force for those who will try to prove a
point about their right to vote.
8. Compromise heads of security forces:
Again, it is not enough to use the top-down approach only with the
electoral staff, it must be used with the security forces as well, in
combination with the bottom-up approach. Remember that it is the
combination of both that delivers effective results. You must positively
influence the commissioner of police so that every time he gets on the
news to discuss the election he uses buzz words such as ‘peaceful’ and
‘perfect’ to describe the election. When asked how about the pockets of
violence being reported, he’ll react in a super confident way to play
down such reports and make lackluster statements such as ‘there’s no
violence but I’ll look into it’. He’ll stick to the narrative of a
perfect election like white on rice. This will null informal news from
miscreants on social media as the main security agent has spoken and his
word is a bond.
9. Announce results as fast as you can:
In this case, you have to seek balance again because it’s a bit tricky.
You can’t afford to announce too early, as it will cause eyebrows to be
raised; so make sure you are not the first or second State to announce
results but ensure you are one of the first seven. At least a good 12
hours after elections is usually a good time to announce the pre-written
results. Since you have achieved rule number one by stopping 70% of the
citizens from voting, you can skip the arduous task of actually
collating results from ward level to local government area level to
State level. There is no need for the manual labour of counting and
deciding how many votes will be rendered invalid to guarantee the
pre-determined winner. The pre-generated computer results is what you’ll
have the REC write on the results sheet to be announced by the
Returning Officer, usually a Professor assigned from the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) who also plays his role of
announcing results ‘as it is’ without any questions.
10. Media appearances:
It is important to select key State actors from the government house,
the House of Assembly, former and current National Assembly Members and
NGOs (heavily linked to these State actors) as media emissaries. You’ll
need to ensure all media emissaries sing the same song of how the State
has always voted one way and will always vote that way forever and ever.
You also need to make sure all emissaries use the same buzzwords
‘peaceful’ and ‘perfect’ elections. They cannot deviate from the script
or attempt to sound realistic by admitting to any reports of slight
violence or election fraud. They must not generalise or relate to the
fact that Nigerian elections are far from perfect. They must keep their
realism to themselves. Finally, these media emissaries need to dismiss
any counter-narrative from the public, as being the work of the agents
of opposition parties. It is befitting to label the opposition parties
as sore losers who failed miserably in their collective bid to even
garner 10% of the votes in the State. Remember to thank the Akwa Ibom
people for their steadfastness in delivering incredible election
results, giving the winner a landslide victory that is enviable by
national and global standards. When pictures of protest emerge, tell the
audience that those images are imaginary and the real march was a
victory march around the State celebrating the glorious win.
The
above steps are how to win an election Akwa Ibom Style – real democracy
from the great doctrine of Akpabiosm. Hope this serves as a useful
guide in winning elections and nation building.
*NOTE:
Please ignore the fact that the discrepancy of accredited voters
between the announced result sheet (1,158,624) and the INEC server per
the card reader (437,128) was 721,496. Leave the fact to your enemies to
argue amongst themselves about as you coast onto victory to be
inaugurated as Governor on May 29th.
No comments:
Post a Comment