By Sufuyan Ojeifo<\/p>\n
Just like many\u00a0 Nigerians, I was initially pissed off by the eleventh hour decision Sufuyan OjeifoEditor- in- ChiefThe Congresswatch Magazine+234 8034727013 By Sufuyan Ojeifo Just like many\u00a0 Nigerians, I was initially pissed off by the eleventh hour decision taken bythe Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone thepresidential and national assembly…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n
\ntaken bythe Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone
\nthepresidential and national assembly election scheduled to hold
\ncountrywide lastSaturday. Millions of Nigerians with the permanent voter
\ncards (PVC) wereputting finishing touches to their plans to troop out
\nen-mass to perform theircivic duty when rumour, at first, began to do the
\nround that the election mightbe postponed.The basis ofthe rumour was the
\nemergency stakeholders\u2019 meeting convened at the behest ofthe National
\nChairman of the INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, about 10 pm lastFriday in
\nAbuja. Indeed, the atmospherics in which the very critical electoral
\nprocesswas unfolding had become tentative and the nuanced expressions on
\nthe faces ofmembers of the Commission\u2019s leadership guard had further
\naggravated doubt in thepolity over the exercise, thus giving rise to the
\nspeculation. But by thetime the meeting ended about 2.30 am, the
\nCommission had let the cat out of thebag: the election had been postponed!
\nThe Commission had met minds with stakeholderson the reasons it was
\nunable to proceed with the scheduled process. \u00a0Its inability was due
\nlargely to failure to deliversensitive materials to some of the states.
\nThe Commission had blamed this on badweathers that had made landing by
\naircraft conveying sensitive electionmaterials impossible.There wereother
\nreasons cited by the Commission ranging from the fire that gutted some
\nofficesof the Commission in Abia, Plateau and Anambra States within the
\nspace orinterval of a week before the election. In Anambra, in particular,
\nover 4,900card readers were burnt.\u00a0 Despite theeffort by the Commission to
\nimprovise and replace damaged items, other unforeseensituations had arisen
\nto cast a pall on the smooth conduct of theelection.\u00a0 \u00a0I had listenedto
\nsome parts of the interactions at the session between the Commission and
\nthestakeholders where Yakubu reeled out the various incidents and problems
\noflogistics that had conspired with other acts of sabotage to undermine
\nthe poll;and, hence, the decision to postpone the election by a week.
\nIndeed, given theplethora of problems that reared their head on the eve of
\nthe exercise,postponement was, in my view, appropriate. Indeed,
\ntheCommission would have done itself and the nation a disservice to muddle
\nthroughthe election when the option to postpone was on the table. The
\nextant lawspermit it to act administratively and contingently in such a
\ncircumstance. Thepressure on the Commission was more of delivering a
\ncredible process that wouldsave democracy and bolster its integrity than
\nconducting the election anyhow ina haphazard manner, bungle the process
\nthat would have produced a questionableoutcome, and become a butt of all
\nmanner of criticisms and snide remarks.On this score,yes, for not caving
\nin to pressure from some probably interested quarters, Yakubuand his team
\nat the INEC must be commended for taking the right decision andkeeping
\ntheir eyes on the ball. The Commission could have gone ahead to fallinto
\nthe trap of the conspiracy theory of staggered election by alleged
\nfifthcolumnists in order to achieve some predetermined agenda. But Yakubu
\nand histeam shunned that path and option by committing the Commission to
\nthe conductof the national election on the same day. While thepresidential
\nand national assembly election will now hold on Saturday, February23, the
\ngovernorship and state houses of assembly election, which was
\noriginallyscheduled to hold on Saturday, March 2, will hold on Saturday,
\nMarch 9. Theschedules give certainty to the time-table and enable the
\nCommission to applyitself to the precise nature of the exercise. The
\nuniformity in the conduct ofthe presidential election, in particular,
\nwould reinforce the integrity of theprocess. It is hoped the Commission
\nwill get it right next time round (this Saturday).Although, thedecision by
\nthe Commission to postpone the exercise had drawn flak from some ofthe
\nstakeholders, such reactions were justifiable, given the timing of
\nthedecision. Announcing the postponement of an election of such magnitude
\non theD-Day may appear somewhat curious and unjustifiable, the Yakubu-led
\nINEC had,for good reasons, created history as the first to do it in the
\nannals ofelection conduct in Nigeria.There are,however, arguments that the
\npostponement did not benefit from the shape,texture and content of the
\n2015 incident that was due to the soaking tensionoccasioned by the
\ninsecurity that was unleashed by Boko Haram insurgents on thenortheast
\nzone.\u00a0 At that time, the prospectsof many Nigerians in that axis getting
\ndisenfranchised were very high. Someadministration officials were even
\npushing for the postponement of elections inBorno, Yobe and Adamawa States
\nwhere life and property were under real threat. Even at that,it was not
\nthe INEC, which was then under the chair of Professor Attahiru Jega,that
\ncalled for the postponement.\u00a0 The Commissionhad, in fact, boasted that it
\nwas ready for the election.\u00a0 But the entirety of the nation\u2019s security
\narchitectureunder the superintendence of the then National Security
\nAdviser, Col. SamboDasuki (retd.) had called for the postponement by six
\nweeks to enable the administrationdecimate and, as much as it was
\npossible, clear the zone and the Sambisa Forestof Boko Haram insurgents so
\nthat security could be guaranteed during the seriesof election. But, in
\nthisinstance, the Commission had called for and announced a postponement
\nof theelection. Its action was in apple-pie order and within its powers to
\ntake,especially in order to deliver on its mandate of conducting free,
\nfair andcredible elections. And to the extent of preserving its integrity
\nby deliveringelections that are free, fair, transparent and credible to
\nNigerians andinternational community, the decision to reschedule has found
\na justifiable anchorage.Looking at theface of Professor Yakubu and his
\nvery calm disposition as he answered questionsfrom some stakeholders, I
\nremain convinced that he is determined to ensurepropriety in the conduct
\nof the critical general election. Something keepstelling me that by
\npostponing the election and, thereby, guarding against asituation of
\nstaggered exercise, Yakubu and his team at INEC had saved thenation and
\nour nascent democracy from potential danger. The tensionthat had built up
\nhad somewhat dissipated. Besides, Yakubu had also shown how wellprepared
\nthe Commission is for contingencies in terms of prudent management
\nanddeployment of funds to meet up with them. In his reaction to the
\npostponement,President Muhammadu Buhari had said that all the funds
\nrequested for by theCommission had been released to it and therefore had
\nno excuse not todeliver.\u00a0 But the goodthing is that Yakubu is not asking
\nfor fresh funds to be able to conduct thepostponed election despite media
\nreport that a whopping N120 billion might havegone into the requisite
\nprovisions for the rescheduled February 16 election. Heis only demanding
\nthe cooperation and understanding of stakeholders andNigerians. To be
\nsure, Yakubu and his team at the INEC are on the cusp ofhistory. Professor
\nJega and his team wrote their name in gold in 2015 byconducting a general
\nelection in which an incumbent president was defeated. Thecurrent INEC
\nteam has an uphill task to surpass the Jega record. In essence,
\nYakubucannot afford to go below the milestone. His eyes must be on the
\nhigher marks.This, perhaps, explains his seeming sure-footed responses to
\nquestions and reactionsto developments ahead of the election. Yakubu seems
\nunruffled and determined toput national interest over all other interests
\nin the conduct of the generalelection evidently for posterity. I therefore
\nurge all stakeholders inparticular and Nigerians in general to cooperate
\nwith the urbane professor todeliver on his onerous assignment.\u00a0 Equally,
\nsignificantly,the international community must rein in the Buhari
\nadministration and otheridentified forces in order to ensure that they do
\nnot deliberately do anything untowardto undermine the commitment invested
\nby all and sundry in the perfect administrationof the electoral process
\nand impair it from yielding positive results thatalign with reasonable
\nexpectations harboured by Nigerians and the world fromthe general
\nelection.
\n– Ojeifo contributed this piece from Abuja via\u00a0ojwonderngr@yahoo.com<\/a><\/p>\n
\n+234 8023024800<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"