Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has stated that many investors are currently reluctant about putting their money to work in the country because of the forthcoming elections.
Osinbajo made this submission at a conference on “credible elections and an economy in transition”, at the 14th leadership conference and awards in Abuja.
During his speech, the Vice President said there was a reluctance to invest before the elections, because consumers were careful not to spend their savings or to be bullish in the stock market, because of the fear of electoral disturbances that might spiral out of control and make business and commerce impossible.
Osinbajo noted that Nigeria’s known electoral history had too many examples of electoral violence following disputed electoral outcomes, which usually meant the destruction, sometimes, of public and private property and infrastructure.
The VP, therefore, urged the political elite to ensure that elections and electoral dispute resolution processes were free, fair and credible, adding that it was the least they could offer the nation and the African continent.
“The daily struggles for food, for shelter, for clothing are bigger than any other matter. Certainly, bread and butter trumps everything else. So, in our democracy, where we have today over 200 million people, 90 million of whom require education, and job opportunities, those are under the age of 30 and all others requiring health care infrastructure and social service, the enormity of the challenges are stuck.
“Democracy, the rule of law and the election of governments by free and fair elections are crucial, because they are meant to support the primary objective of enabling citizens to live well and have access to well-paying jobs, opportunities, and services, or in a broad sense, to support the growth and stability of the economy and the social structure of the nation.
“So, it is evident then that we must carefully curate these safeguards for the wellbeing of our citizens to ensure that they do not negatively affect the very wellbeing that they are meant to protect, namely, the economy and the social structure of society. And this is a delicate task indeed because in every election cycle, the first casualty is the economy. For the most sophisticated economic actors, it makes sense to simply wait until the complexion of the new government is clear.
“But the prospects for the disruption of the economy is even greater. Where elections for one reason or the other, produce governments that are not credible, legitimacy of governments as conferred by the freely given mandate of the electorate, is a major consideration as we’ve heard from our guest speaker, for self, for savvy investors, both local and foreign capital, they say is a great coward, running away from the slightest sign of trouble.
“I also want to emphasise the integrity of the electoral courts. Where the umpire is perceived as unfair, there is potential for trouble; where the courts are perceived as arbitrary, as whimsical or acting in contradiction. To establish precedents, there is an almost commensurate loss of confidence by the electorate. The political elite in Nigeria have a duty in the interest of the economic wellbeing of our citizens, and of course, in the overall interest of our people, who we claim to represent,” Osinbajo explained.
