Politics: Keeping ‘Em Out 101.

Last week I stumbled upon this article about Aisha Eniola, a 19 year old Nigerian (by birth), who is currently a Town Councillor (equivalent of ward councillor) for Brent Council in England. I am an advocate for youth participation in government, especially as we are the ones who feel the brunt of ineffective governance the most.

For background, you can read these two prior posts

Political Ideologies and our Polity

and

The “Am I Your Mate?” Syndrome

Warning: Legislative terms shall be used in this article. Please bear with me.

**Q. How does the ruling political class keep the young, knowledgeable and inspired out of politics?

A1. AGE RESTRICTIONS**

In Nigeria, the Electoral Act, 2010 [PDF] stipulates in Section 106, Sub-section 2 that the minimum age for a candidate who aspires to the position of a ward councillor should be 25, while that for a local government council chairman is set at 30. Following the trend, one can deduce that running for the position of state governor, member of the national assembly or/and the position of the president would be notches higher.

These Electoral Laws differ from what was obtainable during the military regimes. There were state governors like Alfred Diete-Spiff of Rivers State who was 25 years old at his appointment. There was also Gen. Yakubu Gowon who was war-time president at 28 years.

Now one may argue that these past leaders had some instances of youthful exuberance shown. However, Rivers State still recognises the massive role Alfred Diete-Spiff played in her development. The good he did far outweighs the bad.

What’s attainable today in our democratic system?

A 22 year old new graduate is interested in public service. However, he is ineligible to contest in any elections and so fails to build a political following. In the three years before he becomes eligible as a candidate, he has been snapped into the industry. Industry Career building now takes the front-burner at the detriment of a Political (Social Service) Career.

Oddly, the educational requirement for the same position is a First School Leaving Certificate, one obtains this at the end of primary (elementary) school. Thus, you have individuals of same age, but different levels of human development.

At 25, the college graduate is invested in his career or building a business, while the grassroots man, could be a street thug even, kicks off his political career with a ward election. Thus the disconnect sets in at the grassroots. One develops an Industry/Business career, the other a political career.

A2. FINANCIAL EXCLUSION

For this, Sections 91 & 92 come to the fore. Here, limitations on monetary expenses are stated for a candidate and a political party respectively. There are malleable terms used in Sub-Section 2 of Section 92, which states that “election expenses incurred by a political party for the management or the conduct of an election shall be determined by the Commission in consultation with the political parties”. The limit on expenses by political parties is not stated clearly and is decided at the discretion of INEC.

Section 91 deals with individual candidate expenditure, Sub-Sections 2-6 give the limits as follows:

For presidential candidates, 1billion naira.
For governors, 200million naira.
For senate, 40million naira.
For House of Reps, 20million naira.
For State House of Assembly and Area Council Chairperson, 10million naira.
Finally, for Ward Councillors, 1million naira.

One may think that this limitations bear large fines if contravened, but this is Nigeria and our laws are rife with loopholes for those who have money. The penalties for contravention of Sub-Sections 2-6 are in Sub-Section 10.

For Presidential Election, maximum fine of 1million naira, or imprisonment for 12months or both.
For Governorship Election, maximum fine of 800,000 naira, or imprisonment for 9months or both.
For Senate Election, maximum fine of 600,000 naira, or imprisonment for 6months or both.
For House of Representative Election, maximum fine of 500,000 naira, or imprisonment for 5months or both.
For State House of Assembly and Area Council Chairperson Election, maximum fine of 300,000 naira, or imprisonment for 3months or both.
For Ward Council Election, maximum fine of 100,000 naira, or imprisonment for 1month or both.

With such fines, individuals and parties flout the election expense limitations without concern. After all, what’s 1million naira to someone who can spend a billion?

_How does this exclude the knowledgeable and inspired?_

If you ask the average Nigerian the easiest way to make large sums of money, his answer would most likely be in government. Who gets to be in government early enough? The Career Politicians. Along with crony capitalists, ex-militants, ghost contractors etc, career politicians can fund election expenses easily without wincing. However, a person of integrity would refuse to be involved with questionable finances.

Our politics, being far from ideological or/and policy driven, churns the candidates who can pay the most. When a credible candidate emerges due to a party’s investment, he has to toe the party line to guarantee the party’s returns and so compromises his stand.

This, I believe, is how Nigerian Politics robs us of the best possible leaders.

P.S.: Please share thoughts, corrections and opinions as you deem fit.