CIVIL SOCIETY AND PUBLIC POLICY MAKING IN NIGERIA: A CASE OF THE 2010 ELECTORAL ACT

BY

WISDOM IYEKEKPOLO
HARRISON OLUWASEYI NASIRU
PATIENCE ISOKEN EBUEKU (MRS)





A SEMINAR PAPER PRESENTED IN THE DEPARTMENT OF
POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION,
UNIVERSITY OF BENIN, BENIN CITY, NIGERIA



IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF REQUIREMENTS FOR
POL. 806 (PUBLIC POLICY ANALYSIS AND DECISION MAKING)



LECTURER: PROF. A.O. IKELEGBE





APRIL, 2011


ABSTRACT

Policy making is an integral part of Government which identifies good governance in any nation. Civil society has been assumed to play an important role in the policy making process in Nigeria. This paper attempts to examine the workings of the civil society’s role as it affects policy making in Nigeria. The paper identifies the nature of civil society, its aims and objectives. How the civil society is trying to positively influence governance by its contributions in the administration of Government through the roles it plays in the policy making process. We have used the system theory in analyzing the role and contribution of civil society in Nigeria using the 2010 Electoral act as a case study. This is going to be basically descriptive in approach.

INTRODUCTION

The development of any nation does not rest wholly on the government alone but on the contributions of every citizen generally and stakeholders in particular. This informed the analytical view of the role of the civil society in general and its contributions to policy making in Nigeria. The need for all hand to be on deck for the progress and development of the state cannot be over-emphasized and here in comes the civil society.
Civil society is a reinforcing mechanism for effective governance in the overall interest of the majority of the people. As democratic governance has been enthroned in Nigeria since May 29, 1999 the civil society has been persistent in it’s agitation for good governance and sustenance.
This study is focused at discussing the subject matter, civil society, its role in general term and in policy making in Nigeria with the 2010 Electoral act in focus. How has the civil society influenced policy formulation in Nigeria? In this democratic dispensation what role has it played to sustain democracy especially in the process of Electoral reform and the 2010 Electoral Act.

EVOLUTION OF THE CONCEPT CIVIL SOCIETY

Civil society has been defined variously by different scholars but it is important to state that the concept of civil society has evolved over the years. From a historical perspective, the actual meaning of the concept of civil society has changed twice from its original classical form. The Wikipedia elucidates that the first change occurred after the French Revolution, the second during the fall of communism in Europe.
In the classical era, the concept of civil society was seen as synonymous with good society. Generally, civil society was referred to as a political association governing social conflict through the imposition of rules that restrain citizens from harming one another (Edward 2004:6). In the modern era, G.W.F Hegel completely changed the meaning of civil society, giving rite to a modern liberal understanding of it as a form of market society as opposed to institutions of modern nation state. Hegel held that civil society had emerged at the particular period of capitalism and served its interest: Individual rights and private property (Dhanagare 2001:169). Hence, he used the German term “burgerliche Gesellschaft” to denote civil society as “Civilian Society” – a sphere regulated by the civil code (Zaleski 2008). The second change in civil society conceptualization in what is referred to as the post-modern era. The post modern way of understanding civil society was first developed by the political opposition in the former Soviet block East European countries in the 1980s. From then, the term civil society replaced that of political society. However, in the 1990s with the emergence of the nongovernmental organization and the new social movements (NSMs) on a global scale, civil society as a third sector became a key terrain of strategic action to construct an alternative social and world order. Henceforth, postmodern usage of the idea of civil society became divided into two main as political society and as the third sector (www.wikipedia.org). On this basis, the Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia puts that civil society is composed of the totality of voluntary social relationships, civic and social organizations and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society as distinct from the force backed structures of a state (regardless of that states political system) and the commercial institutions of the market. Together, state, market and civil society constitute the entirety of a society and the relations between these components determine the character of a society and its structure. The London School of Economics, Centre for Civil Society postulates that civil society refers to the arena of uncoerced collective action around shared interests purposes and values. In theory, its institutional form is distinct from those of the state and market, though in practice, the boundaries between state, civil society and market are often complex, blurred and negotiated. Civil society commonly embrace, a diversity of spaces, actors and institutional forms, varying in their degree of formality, autonomy and power. Civil societies are often populated by organizations such as registered charities, development non-governmental organizations, community groups, women’s organization, faith based organizations, professional associations, trade unions, self-help groups, social movements, business associations, coalitions and advocacy groups (www.wikipedia. org).
The civil society is more than just a formation. It is a site, a realm, a theatre and an instrument (Ikelegbe 2003). It possesses the capability to corporate with, engage, antagonize, contend and influence the state on behalf of the citizenry. The civil society is a realm of discourse, of interest articulation and aggregation, of deliberation of common affairs and of exchange between the civil society formation and other forces. It is also a context where citizen organizations relate and interact with the state, to influence moderate and cooperate or to oppose, resist, challenge and struggle against it. It can be regarded as an arena where self organized and autonomous groups engage the stage in hegemonic and counter-hegemonic struggles for domination, accommodation and opposition (Ikelegbe 2005, Abutudu 1997, Adejumobi 2001; Chazan 1994, Shaw 1994). The civil society in its engagement of the state, attempts to articulate and influence public policies in favour of the popular classes. It is also important in the assessment; measurement and evaluation of the impact of public policies on the masses as it acts as an organized instrument through which the citizenry interacts with the State.

THE CONCEPT OF PUBLIC POLICY

Public policy has been defined by various scholars in different ways. Carl Friedrich in Ikelegbe (2006:3) defined public policy as the proposed course of action of the government or one of its divisions. Egonmwan (2000:1) defined public policy as important action of government. Olamiyi (1998:17) defined public policy as the management of human and material resources by policy actors to address a policy problem identified at any point in time while Ikelegbe (2006:3) defined public policy as governmental actions or course of actions, or proposed actions or course of proposed actions that are directed at achieving certain goals. From the foregoing it is evident that public policy in governmental action to remedy perceived societal problems.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The system theory was propounded by David Easton and it describes public policy as an output of the political system. The theory conceives of political activity as essentially involving the environment, the political system and output (Ikelegbe 2006:36). The environment is where demands arises and are placed on the political system. Demands of different kinds emanate in a society and are expressed through various methods upon the political system.
The political system is made up of institutions, processes and government personnel, (Ikelegbe 2006:37) and the political system is the processor of the demands (inputs) from different societal groups into outputs which are the public policy. The authoritative allocations or outputs are the public policies. Public policies are the reaction of the political system to environmental demands and pressure (Ikelegbe 2006:37).
The kind of society determines the type of policy demands. In an autocratic society the policy demand will essentially be that of political reforms or demand for democratization. The nature of the political system whether developed or developing determines its ability to process accurately the demands from the environment.
The outputs which are public policies are continually responded to by the citizenry and this is feedback to the system that brings about new policies or the modification of existing policies (Ikelegbe 2006:37).
All theoretical frameworks have its limitations and the system theory is not an exception. Ikelegbe (2006:37) observes that the theory assumes that policies are environmental input converted by the political system. It fails to recognize that the characteristics of the political system itself may have considerable independent effect on the content of policies. Despite this, the system theory has the advantage of insights into the totality of the policy process and the interactions between the component parts.

CIVIL SOCIETY IN NIGERIA: HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

The evolution of civil society in Nigeria could be traced back to the colonial era when nationalists resisted and strived to put an end to the colonial domination and subjugation of the country.
The nationalists struggle and opposition to colonial rule was strengthened by the formation of civil society organizations like the Egbe Omo Oduduwa, the Jamiyar Mutanin Arewa etc. These organizations were used as spring boards to express the wishes and aspirations of the citizens. It is worthy of note that some of these organizations later metamorphosed into political parties in attempts to seek power.
Taking a cue from the foregoing, we can ascertain that civil society formations in Nigeria have a very long history of existence, so the present status of Nigerian civil society could be said to be an appendage of historical evolution of a vibrant social structure in the polity in order to guide against the subversion of the will of the people (Omodia and Erunke 2007).
Under the military regimes in Nigeria, there were attempts to stop, reduce or manipulate the activities of the civil society. This is not unexpected as we may attest to the fact that civil society organizations thrive better in free democratic and liberal society. The civil society under the military, struggled to survive and credit could be ascribed to it as a major part of the final ouster of military rule in Nigeria. Organization like NADECO, Civil Liberty Organization, Campaign for Democracy etc were part of the civil society that fought against the subversion of the will of Nigerians and enthronement of democracy.
Since the return to democratic rule in 1999, the state has become relatively open to criticism and allows inputs from the public space. By implication, therefore, the various interests are largely articulated in the scheme of the nation’s policy making processes for an enhanced socio-economic and political development in Nigeria (Omodia and Erunke 2007). There has been proliferation and strengthening of civil society organizations (CSOs) influence public policies in different spheres of the social political life of Nigerians. These civil society organizations cut across the academia, activist groups, charities, clubs, community organizations, cooperatives, churches, cultural groups, environmental groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), professional associations, trade unions, women’s groups etc. Some of the prominent civil society organizations are the Save Nigeria Group, OPC, Ijaw Youth Movement, Campaign for Democracy (CD); Women in Nigeria (WIN), Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR), Constitutional Rights Projects (CRP), United Action for Democracy (UAD); National Democratic Coalition (NADECO); Joint Action Committee of Nigeria (JACON); Democratic Alternatives (DA); National Association of Seadogs (NAS); etc.

ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS (CSOs)

Civil society organizations are very important to the policy makers or the state as they are better placed to know population needs in terms of development and good governance. In recent years, CSOs have become more prominent, more visible and more diverse all over the world. One of the factors influencing the growth of CSOs has been the increased challenge to imbalances of power between state and its structures on the one hand and civil society on the other. This has being driven by many forces such as reactions to centralized authority in state structures, dissatisfaction with state performance on public services and dissatisfaction with policy positions taken by the state in international arenas. CSO networks have been formed within and across countries to promote a wider support to public interests on global policy issues such as human rights environment, debt recovery development and health etc (www.who.int). The CSOs have the responsibility to influencing public policy processes including counter balancing of commercial interest and consensus building on societal priorities. The CSO also provide a legal authority for public participation and the enhancement of civic education and expanding opportunities for greater involvement in governmental programs. Attahiru Jaga enumerated roles of civil societies in Nigeria when he listed three roles thus:
• The promotion and defense of the constitution and rule of law
• The enhancement of the integrity and efficacy of the democratic institutions and processes as well as
• The development of a viable democratic political culture in the polity.
In other words, civil society can positively contribute to sustainability of democracy by legitimizing and entrenching institutions, processes and the culture of democracy, as well as by contesting, de-legitimizing and opposing authoritarian, undemocratic and uncivil practices and dispositions (Jega 2007:247).



THE ROLE OF THE CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE FORMULATION OF THE 2010 NIGERIAN ELECTORAL ACT

There had been an overwhelming consensus among Nigerians that the electoral system was in dire need of reform. Since the return to civil rule in 1999, all the elections conducted and even the 2007 election that brought the President Yar’Adua government to power had been flawed by both local and international observers. Different reasons for this electoral aberration have been put forward from the people to the government and even the international community but that is not the focus of this paper.
On August 28, 2007, late President Musa Yar’Adua fulfilling promises made during his inauguration speech which was a consequence of the continuous clamour of the civil society to reform Nigeria’s electoral system, appointed a 22-member Electoral Reform Committee (ERC) headed by Hon. Justice Muhammadu Lawal Uwais, former Chief Justice of Nigeria. The Committee was composed of prominent individuals from both public and private sector. The committee’s mandate was to examine the entire electoral process with a view of ensuring that we raise the quality and a standard of our general elections and thereby deepen our democracy. During its proceedings, the committee received 1,466 memoranda from both Nigerian and the international community and held Public hearings in 12 states and Abuja, the Nigerian capital during which 907 presentations were made (www.electoralreformnetwork.org). The submission of memoranda, public hearings and presentations marked a concrete step towards the 2010 Electoral Act and the contributions of the civil society in the amendment and re-amendment of the act. The committee was as it were expected to interact with the citizens and seek their wishes concerning the electoral system. It was practically impossible to hear the views of every Nigerian. So the most practicable was to engage the civil society organizations as their views are perceived to be the views of the mass population.
The systems theory as earlier discussed conceives of political activity as essentially involving the environment, the political system and output. The environment consists of the objective conditions and forces that generate demand and support input. Demand, are the articulated needs, problems and aspirations which are brought to bear upon the political system (Ikelegbe 2006:36-37). The civil society being populated by social-political groups that relate with the State in the interest of the masses is a part of the environment. It is the civil society which is a component of the environment that articulates the needs, problems and aspiration of the environment and therefore places the demand on the political system or state for onward processing and subsequent output in the form of public policies.
The scenario painted above was the case in the formulation of the 2010 Electoral Act in Nigeria. There was the problem of bad leadership that was traceable to the manipulated electoral system. The environment or the mass population had clamoured for the amendment of the Electoral Act as a panacea to the electoral fraud being perpetuated by the political class. This wishes and aspirations were channeled through the civil society to the political system. The civil society organizations influence on the policy process occurs at every stage. They are active in the initiation, generation and formulation of public policies and in the determination of their content and direction (Ikelegbe 2006:116). The civil society groups were active in the initiation of the Electoral Reform. This role was performed through criticisms of the electoral system and the Independent National Electoral Commission that facilitated the elections that returned civilian governments to power. These criticisms were put forward through the mass media, public debates, seminars etc.

CIVIL SOCIETY AND ITS ROLE IN ELECTORAL PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION AND ARTICULATION

Civil society in Nigeria has been critical of the manner in which the electoral process has been managed; in particular, in respect of the voters register, voter education, and election observation. The large numbers, expertise, and geographical reach of civil society organizations give them great potentials to play a strong role in the electoral process, and in conflict prevention and resolution.
The main issues raised by civil society representatives regarding electoral administration include: INEC’s lack of independence and impartiality, limited civil society access to INEC, inaccuracy of the voters register, lack of transparency and credibility in the determination of results, and late granting or refusal of domestic observers accreditation. Civil groups were also critical of political parties’ lack of ideological differentiation, lack of intra-party democracy, the use of thugs and intimidation, and abuse of state resources by incumbent powers at both federal and state levels. The pervasiveness of corruption was also identified as a fundamental obstacle in the electoral process (www.nigeria.usembassy.gov).

CIVIL SOCIETY AND ITS ROLE IN POLICY AGENDA PROCESS: THE ELECTORAL REFORM PROCESS

The persisting clamour/demand for electoral reform started yielding results when the late President Yar’adua in his inauguration speech acknowledged the flaws in the electoral process that brought him to power and promised a reform of the process. This promise culminated in the set-up of the Electoral Reform Committee (ERC) in 2008. The ERCs attempt at generating a policy document had to return them to the civil society through whom the people’s aspirations are articulated. The ERC requested for memoranda and presentations at public hearings from mainly the Civil Society Organizations. The role of the civil society became evident again as they articulated the desires of the environment in an effort to influence and place demand on the political system.
The ERC commenced its work with a public Call for Memoranda followed by release of a schedule for public hearings that held in 12 venues across the country. In recognition of the importance of the work of the ERC, civil society groups met at a number of strategy meetings to map out a plan for effective engagement of the ERC. One of such meetings held in September 2007, where it was agreed that the key civil society coalitions focused on constitutional and electoral reforms should seek a unified platform for engaging the work of the ERC. In response to this, the Civil Society Coordinating Committee on Electoral Reforms (CSCC) was set up with the following groups as member:
• Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)
• Alliance For Credible Elections (ACE)
• Electoral Reform Network (ERN)
• Transition Monitoring Group (TMG)
• National Coalition On Affirmative Action (NCAA)
• Gender And Constitutional Reform Network (GECORN)
• Citizens Forum For Constitutional Reform (CFCR)
The Alliance for Credible Elections (ACE) was nominated as the secretariat of the CSCC.
Following the establishment of the CSCC, the secretariats of the member coalitions met to develop a joint plan of action. The following activities were implemented on the platform of the CSCC:
• Commissioning of experts to develop position papers on thematic areas covered in the ERC’s terms of reference
• 2 expert meetings
• Zonal Civil society consultations on the position papers
• Consultations with special interest groups (women, political parties, religious groups, organized private sector) on electoral reforms
• Judicial colloquium on electoral reforms
• Civil society participation at the public hearings organized by the ERC
• National civil society validation meeting
The CSCC came up with a civil society charter. Though the positions contained in this charter were initially drafted by commissioned experts, the positions were widely deliberated upon by a cross section of stakeholders across the country at the various consultations facilitated by the CSCC (CSCC, 2008).
The CSCC made useful recommendations to the ERC on
-the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) & State Independent Electoral Commission (SIECs)
1. Model of INEC & SIECs
2. Composition of INEC & SIECs
3. Appointment into INEC
3.1. INEC Commissioners
3.2. Chairperson of INEC
3.3. Executive Secretary and Resident Secretary of INEC
4. Finance and Administration of the Commission
5. Tenure of office
5.1. Chairperson of the Commission
5.2. National Commissioners
-the conduct of elections
1. Voter registration
2. Voting system
3. Declaration of election results
4. Voter education
5. Ad-hoc staff for electoral duties etc.
Recommendations were also made on civil society, media and media regulatory agencies, women, persons living with disabilities, youth, international community, political parties, security agencies, electoral justice system, prosecution of Electoral Offences, election Petitions, and other legislations that have bearing on the electoral process (CSCC, 2008).
The Nigerian Labour Congress made presentation at the public hearing on electoral reforms on Thursday, 26 June, 2008, at the ECOWAS secretariat, Abuja were it clearly stated positions in line with the CSCC (www.nlcng.org). These memoranda and presentations were made to the ERC whom in this case is a governmental actor acting on behalf of the executive in the policy process. This was designed to influence the governmental actors to incorporate these demands and choices into the Electoral Act which is the policy action in this case.

THE ROLE OF THE CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE NIGERIA ELECTORAL POLICY CHOICE

The ERC submitted its final report to the President on December 12, 2008. The report concluded that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the State Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) lacked the necessary independence to perform their duties (www.electoralreformnetwork.org). The ERC made critical recommendations in its report and in response to this report; the government released a white paper on March 11, 2009 indicating its readiness to implement some, not all of the recommendations. On April 30, 2009, the President submitted 7 bills in this regard to the National Assembly (Owodiong-Idemeko 2009). There was great delay in the passage of the bill which prompted further role by the civil society organization. The Electoral Reform Network, a network of over 100 civil society organization dedicated to the reform of Nigeria’s electoral system on 15th September 2009 organized a Civil Society-Legislative consultative Forum at the National Assembly Complex Abuja. The consultative forum attracted members of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Reform, Civil Society Organizations and members of the media (www.electoralreformnetwork.org). The consultative forum had as its purpose the creation of an avenue for dialogue on the review of the 1999 constitution and the electoral process in Nigeria. This was just one of the many efforts of the civil society to influence the passage of the electoral act. There was also the Strategy meeting for Civil Society Organizations on Constitutional and Electoral Reforms organized by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA). The theme of the strategy meeting held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja on Thursday September 10, 2009 was Constitutional and Electoral Reform Process in Nigeria – Towards Effective Citizen’s participation. It was attended by representatives of various Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), political pressure groups, the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties, the academia and the media. The meeting took place against the background of calls on CSOs and other political pressure groups in the country to re-think their strategy towards ensuring that both the executive and legislative arms of government implement much-needed electoral and constitutional reforms agenda especially in the wake of popular clamour for the adoption of the main recommendations of the Justice Uwais led Electoral Reform Panel (OSIWA, 2009). The Electoral Act was finally passed in 2010 after some amendments by the National Assembly and assented to by the President. This is now a policy which is the output of the demand placed on the political system by the environment represented by the civil society.



THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS OF THE ELECTORAL ACT

The policy document does not end the role of the civil society as they are also involved in the development of a viable democratic political culture in the polity (Jega 2007:247). The CSOs continue in the education of the populace on the democratic process, electoral procedures and the importance of political participation. This was elaborated by Ikelegbe (2006:117) when he elucidates that groups influence the implementation of policies too. They enhance implementation of policy programmes through their support, cooperation and participation. In this case, they are participating actively to ensure that the electoral process is properly implemented.
Domestic Civil Society Organisations were engaged in a positive dialogue with INEC, playing an important role in promoting the rule of law, the adherence to election regulations, and encouraging an overall orderly electoral process. CSO’s dialogue platforms brought to public attention among other issues, logistical and operational challenges during the registration and voting processes, voters’ lists shortcomings, instances of electoral malpractices, the need for enhanced civic education on voting procedures, concerns about the security of the ballot and voters, and called for the establishment of INEC Election Day hotlines (EU, 2011:37).
The European Union Election Observation Mission to Nigeria Final Report on the 2011 General Election captured explicitly the different roles of the CSOs in the implementation of the electoral act and in the 2011 electoral process in Nigeria. Worth mentioning is the Election Situation Room, a joint platform of 28 CSO’s actively engaged in cooperation with the electoral authorities. Its main concerns were the performance of the law enforcement agencies and political parties, and the role of the judiciary in the electoral process. The Election Situation Room identified security hotspots ahead of the polls and widely called on political parties to condemn and refrain from violence. The 2011 Project Swift Count, a partnership of four well-established CSO’s observed the general election in all 774 LGA’s and provided stakeholders with real-time information on the conduct of the polls. Swift Count also conducted parallel vote counting for the Presidential election, presenting their findings in a timely and professional manner. The National Elections incident Centre (NEIC) managed an internet based map on incidents with popular participation. The Independent Republic Institute (IRI) in partnership with INEC and political stakeholders, contributing to the signing of the Code of Conduct for political parties, while the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) in collaboration with the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) produced information on the voters mandate protection. Also the CLEEN Foundation published guidelines for the conduct of Police Officers on Electoral Duty. The CSO “Enough is enough” established a platform to track information on social media that allowed to monitor the conduct of elections and violence, and to interact constructively with INEC and security agencies. A number of State-based and regional CSO’s were also noted to observe the electoral process throughout the country. The electoral commission received technical assistance from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) in the areas of voters’ registration, voter and civic education, training of staff, election dispute resolution systems, and in the capacity building of judges and lawyers to administer and facilitate the election dispute resolution (European Union, 2011:37-38). The contribution of the civil society organization is evident in the positive comments made on the 2011 elections by both local and international observers.

CONCLUSION

The civil society which is made up various groups, the professional groups, religious groups, market guilds, road transport workers union, development associations, environmental protection organizations and even secret cults seek to influence public policy with specific proposals to suit not only or necessarily their interest but that of the masses. The articulation of the peoples interest is carried out by the civil society organizations through submission of specific proposals for legislation or working through legislative or executive officials to ensure the enactment of policy proposals favourable to the entire society (Egonmwan 2000:119).
This paper has reviewed how the civil society has been able to influence the policy making process of the state in the enactment of the 2010 Electoral Act in Nigeria. In its review which has been basically descriptive in approach, it applied the system theory as a basis of analysis. We have observed and analyzed that the demand or support from the environment to the political process is mainly articulated by the civil society organizations. These articulated issues determine, guide and influence the state or government or better still, governmental policy actors’ policy agenda and subsequent policy choice and even the implementation. The output of the political process is the public policy which is meant to impact directly on the people. The impact or non-impact of these public policies will generate feedback which is again fed back to the political system either as demand or support as articulated by the civil society on behalf of the environment for a continued process.





















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INTERNET SOURCES

CDC holds voters education on new Electoral Act http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/03/cdc-holds-voters-education-on-new-electoral-act/ Retrieved 11-04-2011

http://www.electoralreformnetwork.org/ Retrieved 11-04-2011

http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/CCS/what_is_civil_society.htm. Retrieved 11-04-2011

Civil Society http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/civil_society Retrieved 11-04-2011