On Thursday, 15 September, 2022, during the inauguration of a road project constructed by the Seyi Makinde administration in Ibadan, Oyo State, the then outgoing governor of EkitiState, Dr Kayode Fayemi, called for an amendment to the Nigerian constitution to allow for proportional representation electoral system.
According to Fayemi, “As I advised my friends in Kenya when I went for the inauguration of their president, I said you cannot win an election with 50.5 per cent and tell the person who lost the election with 49.5 per cent to go to hell. It is not going to work.
“I hope we will ultimately get to a point in our country in which those who won 49 per cent will also have a sit at the table in a proportional representation manner to represent that 49 per cent, while the person who won with 51 per cent is also representing the majority of the people he has received their votes. This majoritarian democracy is not going to work if the winner continues to take all the benefits to the detriment of the ‘49 per cent loser.’”
Again, at a forum organized to mark the 60th birthday of Udenta Udenta, the founding National Secretary of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), on Tuesday, 5 September, 2023, the former governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, reiterated his call for sharing of political offices based on performance of political parties at the polls.
Said Fayemi, “What we need is alternative politics and my own notion of it is that you cannot have 35 per cent of the votes and take 100 per cent of the positions. It can’t work! We must look at proportional representation so that the party that is said to have won 21 per cent of the votes will have 21 per cent of the government. Adversary politics brings division and enmity.”
The position of the former governor, apparently, is against winner-takes-all syndrome, which fuels cut-throat political contest. It is to encourage political inclusiveness in governance after elections. If adopted, it may likely alter the increasingly crisis-ridden battle for supremacy by political actors and their parties.
For instance, after the February 25, 2023 presidential election, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, declared Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the exercise.
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According to Yakubu, the APC candidate, a former governor of Lagos State, polled 8,794,726 votes (36.61%) to defeat fellow contenders. Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) polled 6,984,520 votes (29.07%). An ex-governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi of the Labour Party, garnered 6,101,533 votes (25.40%) to come third while the candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and a former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, secured 1,496,687 votes (6.23%) to come fourth.
Each of the three leading candidates, Tinubu, Atiku and Peter Obi, won 12 states each (Obi’s 12th was FCT) while RabiuKwankwaso won only in Kano State.
Given the simple majority electoral system in operation in Nigeria, the colossal votes garnered by the other three parties, a whopping 60.70%, are completely wasted, as the APC, with a mere 36.61%, takes all the political slots. This will seem unfair to the other parties and millions of their supporters, who are left totally empty-handed, hence, the compelling argument for proportional representation.
In the 11 November, 2023 off-cycle governorship election in Bayelsa State, incumbent Governor Douye Diri of Peoples Democratic Party polled 175,196 to defeat his closest rival and former governor, Timipre Sylva of the All Progressives Congress, who garnered 110,108 votes. The substantial votes of the APC are wholly wasted as PDP has taken all the political slots in the state!
Again, in the just-concluded (21 September, 2024) Edo State governorship poll, Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress garnered 291,667 votes to defeat his closest rival, Asue Ighodalo of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 247,274 votes. Would it then be in the interest of justice and advance the cause of democracy for the APC to take all the political slots?
Considered from broad perspectives, it is clearly obvious that Nigeria’s variant of democracy, as it has evolved so far, leaves much to be desired. How do we remodel the current political structure away from the obvious anomalies?
Fayemi’s suggestion on inclusive appointment into political offices may open up new vistas for the country’s electoral process. Said he, “Let the manifestos of PDP, APC and Labour Party be put on the table and select all those that will pilot the programs from all the parties.”
While some compatriots believe that it would be easier said than done, given the obvious differences inherent in the opposing political parties, others are of the view that it should be given a trial.
