‘Stop faulting outcome, elections are imperfect’ – Fashola tells opposition
By Enitan Abdultawab
Former Lagos State governor and ex-Minister of Works, Housing and Power, Babatunde Fashola, has described elections as inherently imperfect exercises, urging Nigerians to recognise the complexities involved in conducting nationwide polls and to focus on strengthening democratic institutions beyond the electoral process.
Fashola made the remarks on Friday while speaking at The Platform, a public policy forum held in Lagos as part of activities marking Democracy Day.
According to him, elections, particularly presidential contests, involve extensive logistical operations that make absolute perfection difficult to achieve.
“Elections are an imperfect event because they require a large logistical operation across a federation,” Fashola said.
Explaining the challenges involved in conducting nationwide elections, he noted that thousands of polling units across the country must simultaneously carry out the same procedures, often under varying circumstances and conditions.
“The reality of a presidential election is that all polling units across the nation have to be doing the same thing at the same time. The question then is how we assign blame when things go wrong, especially when the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission cannot be everywhere at the same time,” he stated.
Fashola argued that electoral imperfections are not unique to Nigeria, noting that many democratic nations acknowledge such challenges while continually seeking ways to improve their electoral systems.
He said established democracies often accept that elections may not be flawless but work consistently to strengthen institutions and processes rather than undermine confidence in democratic outcomes.
“In other jurisdictions, they accept these imperfections and aspire to improve, but they also accept the results,” he said.
The former minister also expressed concern over what he described as the growing reluctance among some political actors to accept electoral outcomes, suggesting that such attitudes weaken democratic development.
“It seems to me that an unwillingness to accept the outcome of an election perhaps blinds the unsuccessful participants from seeking and taking up the role of opposition for the development of society,” he said.
According to Fashola, opposition politics plays a critical role in democratic governance and should not be viewed solely through the lens of electoral victory or defeat.
He stressed that democracy extends beyond the conduct of elections, urging citizens and political leaders to engage in deeper conversations about the kind of democratic culture Nigeria seeks to build.
“If we are to discuss democracy beyond elections, the question I ask is: What kind of democracy do we want?” he asked.
Fashola’s remarks formed part of broader discussions at The Platform on the state of Nigeria’s democracy, governance, accountability and the responsibilities of citizens and political leaders in sustaining democratic institutions.
He maintained that while elections remain a vital component of democracy, the true test of democratic maturity lies in the ability of institutions, political actors and citizens to uphold democratic values even after the ballots have been counted.
The post ‘Stop faulting outcome, elections are imperfect’ – Fashola tells opposition appeared first on Vanguard News.