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INEC’s Dribbling Tactics

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OSUN GUBER: INEC, PDP disagree over alleged creation of illegal polling units

By John Chukwu…

There is a special sweetness that early morning sleep carries. I was drenched in that sweetness – last Saturday morning. I was stylishly changing my sleeping position and relishing every moment. The weather was so cozy, and my neighbourhood was as serene as a dreaded grave yard. And I was even dreaming! In my dream I was on a couch with one awesomely delectable, physically alluring and effortlessly captivating young beauty who was already surrendering to my harmless and genuine advances. She was on the verge of giving me a rare, warm, passionate embrace when I suddenly woke up and sluggishly stretched my right hand to pick up my ringing and vibrating phone. I usually keep it – my phone – close to my bed.

Thus, there is no how I will not know that someone was calling. My good friend, brother and internationally acclaimed and award winning journalist, Patrick Egwu, was the one calling. I was alarmed. “Why is Big Pat calling me by this time?”, I queried. The time was 4:49am. “Ogbeni, good morning. INEC don postpone election o”, he said. Hearing this news, I left my bed and checked some credible online media and confirmed the veracity of the information.

Nigerians were left devastated, transfixed and nonplussed; following the 11th hour postponement of the 2019 general elections scheduled to hold on Saturday, 16th February and Saturday, 2nd March – by one week – by the Independent National Electoral Commission – INEC. Prior to this unceremonious, hasty and abrupt postponement, the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has always reiterated that the Commission is ready to conduct the elections and has no intention of postponing the dates for going to the polling units. In one of the interviews he granted before the postponement, he was asked: “Given the level of preparedness you have expressed is there any possibility of postponement of the 2019 general elections?”

“I can’t foresee any possibility of postponement. We started this a longtime ago. We’ve gone ahead with our preparations. There is no possibility of postponement. INEC is not seen contemplating the postponement of the 2019 general elections. 16th February is for the national elections and 2nd March for the state elections and the FCT. We are prepared”, he asserted.

Critically examining the words of Prof. Yakubu, no one would have believed that the general elections would be postponed. He spoke confidently. He was sure of the elections holding on the fixed dates. He also dismissed any possibility of postponing them. But, then, the Nigerian factor happened. The election did not hold as scheduled. In a memo the commission served, they hinged the postponement on the problems of logistics and operational plan.

“Following a careful review of the implementation of its logistics and operational plan and determination to conduct free, fair and credible elections, the Commission came to the conclusion that proceeding with the elections as scheduled is no longer feasible.
Consequently, the Commission has decided to reschedule the Presidential and National Assembly Elections to Saturday, 23rd February 2019. Furthermore, the Governorship, State House of Assembly and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council Elections is scheduled to Saturday 9th March 2019. This will afford the Commission the opportunity to address identified challenges in order to maintain the quality of our elections”, it said.

Nigerians who have travelled from far and near to vote at their registered polling units were left utterly saddened and heavily disappointed. The entire nation was shut down as markets were closed, no wedding ceremonies, vehicular movement, burial ceremonies, birthday parties, conferences among others were scheduled to hold. And INEC did not give a prior notice of the postponement. Thus, Nigerians were left to bear the diverse social-economic minuses which the late postponement portends.

The general director of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry – LCCI – Muda Yusuf, stated “the cost of the economy of the postponement of the election is horrendous. The economy was on partial shut down the day before, and total shut down on Saturday for the elections”. He estimated that the shut down cost the nation $1.5 billion. On the other hand, the President, National Association of Nigerian Traders – NANTs – Mr Ken Ukaoha has said that the postponement of the commencement of the elections has cost the country over #140 billion.

There have also been monumental outcry by people who have ceremonies fixed on the rescheduled dates – Saturday, 23rd February and Saturday, 9th March. Most of them are left confused as to how possible to reschedule their dates and this would definitely cost them a lot. This is sad.

Read also: ELECTION POSTPONEMENT: Another predictable mess

As expected, the postponement got politicized by the two major political parties – the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party – in the elections. In a press statement issued by the Director, Strategic Communications, APC Presidential Campaign Council – Official Spokesperson – Festus Keyamo, said “We condemn and deprecate this tardiness of the electoral umpire in the strongest terms possible.

President Muhammadu Buhari had since cooperated fully with INEC by ensuring EVERYTHING it demanded to conduct free and fair elections were promptly made available to it. This news is therefore a huge disappointment to us and to our teeming supporters nationwide and around the world, many of whom have come into the country to exercise their franchise”.

He went further to drag the PDP in when he asserted “we do hope that INEC will remain neutral and impartial in this process as the rumor mill is agog with the suggestion that this postponement has been orchestrated in collusion with the main opposition, the PDP, that was NEVER ready for this election. It did the same as the ruling Party in 2015, when it realized the game was up, by orchestrating the postponement of the 2015 elections by six weeks. Now, it may be up to its old trick again”.

Similarly, while reacting to the postponement, PDP Presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, stated “this postponement is obviously a case of the hand of Esau but the voice of Jacob. By instigating this postponement, the Buhari administration hopes to disenfranchise the Nigerian electorate in order to ensure that turn out is low on the rescheduled date. Nigerians must frustrate their plans by coming out in even greater numbers on Saturday, 23 February and Saturday, 9 March respectively.

Knowing that the Nigerian people are determined to reject them, they are desperate and will do anything in their power to avoid their rejection by the Nigerian people. Their plan is to provoke the public, hoping for a negative reaction, and then use that as an excuse for further anti-democratic acts. As such, I call on all Nigerians to be patient. We have tolerated the maladministration of this government for four years. We can extend our tolerance a few more days and give them our verdict via our votes”.

I must state that inasmuch as it is normal to politicize this issue, playing up accusations and counter-accusations can only drag us back, heat up the polity and set us on the path of avoidable uproar and pandemonium prior to the rescheduled dates for the general elections.

Prof. Yakubu did organize a stakeholders’ meeting held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, in the afternoon of Saturday, 16th February 2019, where he gave a thorough explanation on why the elections were abruptly postponed.

“Indeed, managing 91 political parties and 23,316 candidates for whom votes will be cast in 119,973 polling units by over 84 million voters is certainly astounding. No doubt preparations for the 2019 general elections have been extremely tasking for the Commission. It is therefore not unexpected that such a tremendous national mobilization of men and materials will encounter operational challenges and we have had our own fair share of such challenges. There have been delays in delivering ballot papers sheets for the elections which are not unusual”, part of the statement he made reads.

He hinted that the Commission had 40 different court orders on whether to add or drop candidates. He also stressed that flights within the country, lately, have been adversely affected by bad weather. And in a space of two weeks, they had to deal with serious fire incidents in three of their offices in Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area of Abia State, Qu’an Pan Local Government Area of Plateau State and Awka of Anambra State.
The excuses Prof. Yakubu can elicit pity from any sane person. However, he had all the time in the world to see that all these do not get in his way.

If he had been proactive enough, these would not have been an issue. It is pertinent to note that the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, on Sunday, affirmed that the country’s weather was good for flight operations on the eve of the elections, contradicting claims made by Prof. Yakubu. For the fire incidents that were experienced in their offices, if the INEC chairman had provided precautionary measures especially in providing adequate security to the offices, the mishap would have been averted. The Commission had enough money to ensure that everything was ready and secured for the voting on the original dates.

This is an utter disgrace and ignominy of high proportions to us as a nation and even in the eyes of the international community – as foreign observers from United States of America, United Kingdom, Cameroon, Ghana etc were already around to observe the election. Nevertheless, nothing in Nigeria surprises me again and it is only people who are yet to grasp the political and socio-economic dynamics of this country that will bury their joy over the glaring administrative ineptitude and alleged governmental interference of INEC. INEC should quit dribbling Nigerians.

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