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Are the political
parties not to blame for this post-election violence because they
failed to educate their supporters on what it TRULY takes to be elected
as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria?

No matter what one
told the fans of any of the candidates and/or the political parties
prior to the elections, they would just not accept that personal
opinion about the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would not count. Love
or hate the party, everything favoured her: the numbers, the reach, and
the mathematical formula thrown up by the 1999 Constitution as amended;
these were the factors that would support a president’s general
acceptability to majority of Nigerians, whether you liked it or not.

The test of ‘General acceptability’ is specified in S134 (2) (a) and (b) of the Constitution:

A candidate for an
election to the office of President shall be deemed to have been duly
elected where, there being more than two candidates for the election-

(a) He has the highest number of votes cast at the election: and

(b) He has not less
than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least
two-thirds of all the States in the Federation and the Federal Capital
Territory, Abuja.

What this means is
that one’s wishes mean zilch! So too, do perception of popularity,
fanatical acceptance and/or uncanny popularity in one region of the
country. This law, OUR law, recognizes six zones: an average of six
states a zone. If the Constitution recommends the President-elect win
at least two-thirds of ALL the states in the Federation and [in
addition to] Abuja, that is 24 states, at six states a region
therefore, it means that the Constitution expects him to be the choice
of a minimum of 25 per cent of ALL voters in a minimum of four regions
or 24 states.

This politics, one
agrees, can be a bitter pill to swallow. One had previously mourned the
loss of straightforward You-defeat-me-and-I-lose-to-you elections; you
know, the type where people vote, we count the votes and he who scores
the most wins. Human beings, we JUST like to complicate our lives! If
not, why qualify a straightforward requirement further by specifying
exactly what it SHALL mean when the President-elect has “the highest
number of votes cast at the election”?

It is also not for
nothing that the Constitution makes the country one constituency, so
that regional strength will come to nil when electing the president.
Reach is paramount. You are forgiven if you thought scoring high per se
meant anything; in addition, the candidate must make sure there is
nothing left for his opponents to count. Don’t forget that total number
of votes cast will also depend on voter response to the voting itself.
If many don’t vote, there won’t be votes to share, will there? Beyond
registration before and accreditation on the morning of election,
people must actually vote.

In Lagos State for
instance, where about six million are registered, it would be
interesting to see how the parties fare if almost everyone came out to
vote. The truth is that the most popular [ruling] party in any state
mobilizes more; perhaps because the ruling party corners all official
privileges and perks that come with being affiliated to or with a
serving government, to the dismay of other parties in the state. Access
to government owned media by opposition parties is still not equal! And
it is a fact that only ruling parties ‘in’ government can afford to
campaign to ALL the corners of a state or country. Opposition
candidates can NEVER spend as much as the incumbent. Therefore, it
shouldn’t surprise anyone that Goodluck Jonathan got votes even in
those areas where he was perceived to be weak. You underestimate the
power of a presidential campaign by an incumbent
Really-Constitutionally-Powerful President at your peril!

In Kaduna for
instance, it was not enough for the Congress for Progressive Change
[CPC] to score 1,334,244; it should have frustrated PDP with over two
million votes. Leaving a massive 1,190,179 votes to PDP was bad Math.
But look at Imo State; PDP selfishly swept 1,381,357 votes, leaving a
measly 14,821 for ACN in second place and 7,591 for CPC in third place.
In other words, President Jonathan made it difficult for any party to
score an extra 25 per cent in Imo State, taking the glory alone there,
but sharing CPC’s glory in Kaduna. Politics, like law, is an ass! Is it
just too painful for those who voted differently to accept that 22
million Nigerians like GOJO?