THE most generous spin anyone can put on recent reports that the Federal Government has set aside just over N135 billion in preparation for the deluge of lawsuits that will inevitably trail next year’s nationwide election is that the government is getting all its ducks in a row so as not to be caught unawares by any eventuality. The vote was captured under the heading, “Electoral Adjudication and Post Election Provision.” According to media reports, the money has been reserved in the Service-Wide Votes, a bucket of funds set aside for the government to fund “expenditures that cut across multiple agencies, including unforeseen obligations, national commitments, and liabilities that cannot be easily assigned to a single institution.”
From this perspective, not only is the Federal Government not deserving of criticism, it deserves commendation for keeping its fiscal powder dry. After all, previous elections having been mired in lawsuits, the least that any responsible government can do is to anticipate the next one being similarly copiously litigated. That’s all very well. Where things get a little complicated is when you pose the question, first, of how this particular amount was arrived at and, even more important, whether the allocation itself makes any sense given that (1) it technically amounts to budgetary duplication; and (2) it elides the all-important distinction between the ruling party and the government of the day.
First, the sum. It is not entirely clear how and through what accounting mechanisms the Federal Government arrived at the sum of N135 billion, a large amount of money by any measure. What kind of litigation is being anticipated? In any event, various government bodies (the police and the electoral commission, for instance) have their own allocations in anticipation of election litigation. Why does the Federal Government need a separate bucket of money, and one so deep, when it is unlikely to be involved in any litigation as the government, and when the entities that would normally be expected to face litigation are already well prepared?
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The more disturbing issue here is the conflation of the ruling party with the government of the day, leading to the common practice whereby those in power at all levels defend their mandates using public funds, even when it is obvious that it is the ruling party that ought to fund the litigation. In all probability, this is what the N135 billion in question is meant to do: provide a war chest to be tapped into by the government in the more than likely event that the ruling party is sued after the 2027 election. If Nigeria’s political history shows anything, it is the fact that at all levels, those in power have little or no reservations using the power of incumbency to criminal advantage. This is why challenging an incumbent governor or president is often a herculean task for opposition candidates with scant financial wherewithal. It is also partly why there has been intense advocacy for all election-related cases to be concluded before winners announced by the electoral commission are sworn into office.
To be sure, there is nothing wrong with Service-Wide Votes as a matter of principle. As a general-purpose vehicle in budgeting, they are used for a variety of things, allowing the government to move fast when delay can be costly, and keeping the engine of administration purring. But a good idea can also be abused, and it appears to us that this is what is going on here. The Federal Government has a lot of explaining to do. It is already being widely, and some might say legitimately, criticised for its apparent attempts to demobilise the opposition. A dubious budget for election lawsuits can only give its critics further ammunition.
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