By Sufuyan Ojeifo
Just like many Nigerians, I was initially pissed off by the eleventh hour decision
taken bythe Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone
thepresidential and national assembly election scheduled to hold
countrywide lastSaturday. Millions of Nigerians with the permanent voter
cards (PVC) wereputting finishing touches to their plans to troop out
en-mass to perform theircivic duty when rumour, at first, began to do the
round that the election mightbe postponed.The basis ofthe rumour was the
emergency stakeholders’ meeting convened at the behest ofthe National
Chairman of the INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, about 10 pm lastFriday in
Abuja. Indeed, the atmospherics in which the very critical electoral
processwas unfolding had become tentative and the nuanced expressions on
the faces ofmembers of the Commission’s leadership guard had further
aggravated doubt in thepolity over the exercise, thus giving rise to the
speculation. But by thetime the meeting ended about 2.30 am, the
Commission had let the cat out of thebag: the election had been postponed!
The Commission had met minds with stakeholderson the reasons it was
unable to proceed with the scheduled process. Its inability was due
largely to failure to deliversensitive materials to some of the states.
The Commission had blamed this on badweathers that had made landing by
aircraft conveying sensitive electionmaterials impossible.There wereother
reasons cited by the Commission ranging from the fire that gutted some
officesof the Commission in Abia, Plateau and Anambra States within the
space orinterval of a week before the election. In Anambra, in particular,
over 4,900card readers were burnt. Despite theeffort by the Commission to
improvise and replace damaged items, other unforeseensituations had arisen
to cast a pall on the smooth conduct of theelection. I had listenedto
some parts of the interactions at the session between the Commission and
thestakeholders where Yakubu reeled out the various incidents and problems
oflogistics that had conspired with other acts of sabotage to undermine
the poll;and, hence, the decision to postpone the election by a week.
Indeed, given theplethora of problems that reared their head on the eve of
the exercise,postponement was, in my view, appropriate. Indeed,
theCommission would have done itself and the nation a disservice to muddle
throughthe election when the option to postpone was on the table. The
extant lawspermit it to act administratively and contingently in such a
circumstance. Thepressure on the Commission was more of delivering a
credible process that wouldsave democracy and bolster its integrity than
conducting the election anyhow ina haphazard manner, bungle the process
that would have produced a questionableoutcome, and become a butt of all
manner of criticisms and snide remarks.On this score,yes, for not caving
in to pressure from some probably interested quarters, Yakubuand his team
at the INEC must be commended for taking the right decision andkeeping
their eyes on the ball. The Commission could have gone ahead to fallinto
the trap of the conspiracy theory of staggered election by alleged
fifthcolumnists in order to achieve some predetermined agenda. But Yakubu
and histeam shunned that path and option by committing the Commission to
the conductof the national election on the same day. While thepresidential
and national assembly election will now hold on Saturday, February23, the
governorship and state houses of assembly election, which was
originallyscheduled to hold on Saturday, March 2, will hold on Saturday,
March 9. Theschedules give certainty to the time-table and enable the
Commission to applyitself to the precise nature of the exercise. The
uniformity in the conduct ofthe presidential election, in particular,
would reinforce the integrity of theprocess. It is hoped the Commission
will get it right next time round (this Saturday).Although, thedecision by
the Commission to postpone the exercise had drawn flak from some ofthe
stakeholders, such reactions were justifiable, given the timing of
thedecision. Announcing the postponement of an election of such magnitude
on theD-Day may appear somewhat curious and unjustifiable, the Yakubu-led
INEC had,for good reasons, created history as the first to do it in the
annals ofelection conduct in Nigeria.There are,however, arguments that the
postponement did not benefit from the shape,texture and content of the
2015 incident that was due to the soaking tensionoccasioned by the
insecurity that was unleashed by Boko Haram insurgents on thenortheast
zone. At that time, the prospectsof many Nigerians in that axis getting
disenfranchised were very high. Someadministration officials were even
pushing for the postponement of elections inBorno, Yobe and Adamawa States
where life and property were under real threat. Even at that,it was not
the INEC, which was then under the chair of Professor Attahiru Jega,that
called for the postponement. The Commissionhad, in fact, boasted that it
was ready for the election. But the entirety of the nation’s security
architectureunder the superintendence of the then National Security
Adviser, Col. SamboDasuki (retd.) had called for the postponement by six
weeks to enable the administrationdecimate and, as much as it was
possible, clear the zone and the Sambisa Forestof Boko Haram insurgents so
that security could be guaranteed during the seriesof election. But, in
thisinstance, the Commission had called for and announced a postponement
of theelection. Its action was in apple-pie order and within its powers to
take,especially in order to deliver on its mandate of conducting free,
fair andcredible elections. And to the extent of preserving its integrity
by deliveringelections that are free, fair, transparent and credible to
Nigerians andinternational community, the decision to reschedule has found
a justifiable anchorage.Looking at theface of Professor Yakubu and his
very calm disposition as he answered questionsfrom some stakeholders, I
remain convinced that he is determined to ensurepropriety in the conduct
of the critical general election. Something keepstelling me that by
postponing the election and, thereby, guarding against asituation of
staggered exercise, Yakubu and his team at INEC had saved thenation and
our nascent democracy from potential danger. The tensionthat had built up
had somewhat dissipated. Besides, Yakubu had also shown how wellprepared
the Commission is for contingencies in terms of prudent management
anddeployment of funds to meet up with them. In his reaction to the
postponement,President Muhammadu Buhari had said that all the funds
requested for by theCommission had been released to it and therefore had
no excuse not todeliver. But the goodthing is that Yakubu is not asking
for fresh funds to be able to conduct thepostponed election despite media
report that a whopping N120 billion might havegone into the requisite
provisions for the rescheduled February 16 election. Heis only demanding
the cooperation and understanding of stakeholders andNigerians. To be
sure, Yakubu and his team at the INEC are on the cusp ofhistory. Professor
Jega and his team wrote their name in gold in 2015 byconducting a general
election in which an incumbent president was defeated. Thecurrent INEC
team has an uphill task to surpass the Jega record. In essence,
Yakubucannot afford to go below the milestone. His eyes must be on the
higher marks.This, perhaps, explains his seeming sure-footed responses to
questions and reactionsto developments ahead of the election. Yakubu seems
unruffled and determined toput national interest over all other interests
in the conduct of the generalelection evidently for posterity. I therefore
urge all stakeholders inparticular and Nigerians in general to cooperate
with the urbane professor todeliver on his onerous assignment. Equally,
significantly,the international community must rein in the Buhari
administration and otheridentified forces in order to ensure that they do
not deliberately do anything untowardto undermine the commitment invested
by all and sundry in the perfect administrationof the electoral process
and impair it from yielding positive results thatalign with reasonable
expectations harboured by Nigerians and the world fromthe general
election.
– Ojeifo contributed this piece from Abuja via ojwonderngr@yahoo.com
Sufuyan OjeifoEditor- in- ChiefThe Congresswatch Magazine+234 8034727013
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