From top to bottom: APC’s withdrawal letter and Emefiele’s presidential aspiration

NIGERIANS dreamed and hoped that the 2023 elections would provide an opportunity for a change of course, for the country to retrace its steps from the last years of aggravated and distraught leadership by a regime that promised so much but deliberately failed in catastrophic proportions. in its mismanagement of all aspects of national life. However, recent developments seem to point in the direction of a reaffirmation and deepening of the race to the bottom, the race to a state of complete failure that may have no redeeming characteristics. The prelude to the elections, especially the problems of the aspirants and the process of nomination and expression of interests, goes in the direction of the bastardization of democracy and further retardation of development.

Two key questions present case studies for inquiry and better understanding of their implications for our democracy and our quest for nationhood. The first is the mandate from Congress of All Progressives that all presidential candidates complete and sign a withdrawal letter as part of the process of their valid nomination, while the second is the insistence of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, to aspire and compete for the presidency while still occupying the apolitical and lofty seat of the CBN.

Ideally, democracy should be about challenging ideas and philosophies of governance and leadership for the betterment of people's security and well-being. Under the 1999 Constitution, candidates at the political party level should be free to stand before the electorate to seek their approval. The 2022 electoral law provides for direct primaries that would involve all party members; indirect primaries which would be made by delegates who could be statutory or elected delegates. The third procedure is that of consensus, which requires the free and voluntary written consent or the withdrawal from the electoral race of all the candidates in favor of one of them. The law did not provide for forced or involuntary consensus or the achievement of consensus at gunpoint or by any other illegal and immoral means.

By making it a precondition of valid expression of interest and nomination forms and insisting that candidates sign undated withdrawal letters before their forms could be accepted by the party, the APC violated the consensus option provided for in the electoral law. It is not only undemocratic, it is illegal, impermissible and an affront of unimaginable proportions on the basis of constitutionalism, liberty, human rights and fundamental freedoms. This emerging scenario was informed by the party's way of reaching "consensus" for the election of its national leaders. Once aspirants to national posts have been successfully harangued and intimidated into resigning, the success of this illegality has emboldened the beneficiaries of illegality, namely current national officers, to believe that they can use the same method to the nomination of a presidential candidate to celebrate. If the APC succeeded in this, it would have stripped the internal democracy of the party of its effective content and reduced it to the dictatorship of the presidency and the party apparatus.

It is even ridiculous that members of the party and the media have boldly proclaimed that the presidential aspirant who would turn into the presidential candidate of the APC would be anyone approved by the incumbent president. It will not be someone who has the highest number of supporters and votes in the party. Are we still discussing or thinking about a democracy or one man rule or a cabal? Where is the democracy in all of this and where are the democrats to make democracy work? It is therefore imperative that all presidential candidates and other party candidates who face this dubious demand from the APC leadership stand firm and resist the evil agenda of democracy by refusing to fulfill and return the undated withdrawal form so as not to create a dangerous precedent.

Now let's move on to Godwin Emefiele and his attempt to insult the intelligence of the Nigerian people. The CBN is a sacred institution for serious minds and distinguished persons in matters of monetary policy and economic knowledge. The task ahead of the institution and its leaders is so daunting and demands independence of mind and thought beyond the murky waters of politics. S1(3) of the CBN states that in order for the Bank to fulfill its mandate under the Act and the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, and in accordance with the objectives of promoting stability and continuity of management economy, the Bank must be an independent body in the exercise of its functions. The Bank is headed by a Governor in the name of Godwin Emefiele who is obviously a cardholder member of the APC. Yes, his membership in the APC is what qualifies him to submit the nomination and expression of interest fee and for the fee to be accepted by the party leadership.

How can the CBN be independent in carrying out its functions when it is led by a partisan, member of the ruling party? So, in essence, the whole drama about intervention funds and the CBN's alleged accomplishments is positioning a man for a political party's candidacy. It is about using public funds, taxpayers' money to make Emefiele the candidate of the APC. This is not only absurd, but one of the greatest desecrations of the standards of democratic and monetary policy. Emefiele states that he is close to making up his mind, implying that he was part of this charade. For Emefiele, pretending his friends bought him a form is just thinking he's smart. But this reasoning is devoid of logic and seems to come from a mind that despises the intellect and understanding of the majority of the population. In reality, there is nothing high in the CBN policies under Emefiele's leadership beyond pure pedestrianism of throwing money at national challenges and none of those challenges have been resolved. by the money the CBN threw at them. Indeed, most beneficiaries, for example under the anchor borrower program, have not repaid the loans.

Do we still have a president in Nigeria? If the answer is yes, then Emefiele should either resign, be forced to resign, or be removed from office by the president. If we still have a president in Nigeria claiming to be elected then he should stop asking APC aspirants to sign withdrawal forms before their nomination and expressions of interest forms can be accepted by the APC . If the President is not interested in any of these options, Nigerians are free to interpret it as a continuation of APC's promise to bring down every institution they have encountered in Nigeria, 'top to bottom' .

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