Insinuations that the Independent National Electoral Commission might postpone the presidential and National Assembly elections rescheduled for February 23 are disturbing. The elections were fixed originally for February 16, until an early morning announcement by the INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, abruptly forced a postponement by one week. The initial shift, which INEC blamed on logistics and inclement weather, was woeful for the country economically and reputation-wise. Rightly, INEC insisted on Wednesday that Saturday was sacrosanct. Another postponement will be a disaster, a strong sign of an unstable and failing political system. To ensure the integrity of the polls, INEC should not contemplate a second postponement under any guise. Although nothing is official yet, some politicians are said to be mounting pressure on INEC to call off the polls once again. It is encouraging that INEC has said “only an act of God” can stop the elections.
Among other subterranean reasons, the amorphous group is justifying the postponement based on the security situation in some parts of the country. It is claimed that in the past few weeks, Adamawa, Borno and Kaduna states have witnessed an upsurge of insecurity. The convoy of Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State was attacked by Boko Haram insurgents last week on his way to Gamboru-Ngala. Days to the polls, horrendous killings reportedly occurred in Kajuru, Kaduna State, while insurgency spiked in Adamawa as well. Just on Tuesday, President Muhammadu Buhari held an emergency meeting with the governors of the affected states and the nation’s security chiefs.
Yet, this is a most unpatriotic call as it is borne out of insidious political designs. To shift nationwide elections based on this is completely unjustifiable. To save Nigeria from needless political crisis and restore its image as a growing democracy, these delicate times demand resolve. Following the initial shift six hours before polling last Saturday, INEC has constantly assured all stakeholders, the electorate and the international community that it is ready to conduct a credible election on February 23. Media reports state that the non-sensitive and sensitive materials have been distributed through the Central Bank of Nigeria and the security agencies to all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Crucially, INEC’s Information and Communications Technology Department has reportedly re-configured all the 180,000 Smart Card Readers to be used on Saturday. Significantly, the three states – Plateau, Anambra and Abia – where arsonists burned down thousands of SCRs, ballot boxes, uncollected Permanent Voter Cards and other electoral materials have all received replacements. This is unlike last week. Then, electoral materials – particularly those produced overseas – piled up at some international airports, waiting for distribution to far-flung areas of the country.
This leaves us with the inflammatory statements of politicians, who are hell-bent on intimidating INEC into another shift or excluding a few states from voting this Saturday. It is the stock-in-trade of our crooked politicians, who have turned our elections into a mini-war. These politicians are just clutching at the straws. INEC should not mind their desperate tactics but should go ahead with the elections in the interest of Nigeria.
Though INEC insists that it is ready with “95 per cent” of arrangements in place, strong signals are emerging of sinister moves to compel the umpire to postpone altogether or stagger the polling. We unequivocally reject both options. Nothing less than simultaneous voting for the presidential and federal parliamentary elections is acceptable.
In times of real or potential national crisis, individuals of stern character and integrity are the bulwarks. As head of INEC, Yakubu will need to stand firm and inscribe his name in gold by following the path of honour trodden by his predecessor, Attahiru Jega, to resist all the intrigues and sinister pressure from politicians and hold free and fair elections on Saturday. In this task, he needs all the support of Nigerians and the global community.
Allegations and counter-allegations are being made. As often claimed by Buhari himself, his generals and ministers, insecurity was worse in the North-East region when insurgents controlled 17 local government areas, but that did not stop the 2015 elections being held across the country on the same day.
Yes, bandits in Zamfara, communal clashes in Kaduna and kidnappers in many states are stretching the security system, but these are nowhere near the point of threatening polling. Syria successfully held local elections in September 2018 in government-controlled areas despite being menaced on every side by various rebel groups. Afghanistan held its third presidential election in 2014 amid raging civil war and nationwide parliamentary elections in October 2018, while despite rebel activities on their soil, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo have also held elections. In November 2018, the Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau, insisted, “of course, there is no doubt that Boko Haram has been degraded. Don’t forget the fact that in 2015 when this government came in, about 14 local governments were under Boko Haram control. That is not the case today.”
National and global attention is now riveted on Yakubu, who is facing his most severe test in Nigeria’s predatory political jungle: just as Jega’s resolute stand on integrity saved the 2015 presidential election from descending into another debacle, he should muster the courage to resist pressure from within and without to compromise the process. He should not be swayed or intimidated by officials or political actors from any quarter to postpone or tamper with the will of the electorate. The fact that he and his team are being vilified by the main rival parties suggests impartiality so far: he should stoutly maintain this and demonstrate it at every turn to persuade an electorate traumatised since 1999 by a vicious election-rigging political class and complicit electoral and security officials.
To reassure Nigerians, INEC should be holding regular media briefings to directly communicate the latest developments and its preparations to the Nigerian people. This will help douse the tension raised by the avalanche of fake news, rumours and conspiracy theories flying around, as well as the irresponsible utterances of politicians.
Partisan involvement of security agencies in our elections has been extreme. This is a threat to our democracy. A joint statement by the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States on the Osun State re-run election on September 27, 2018 states, “In contrast to our overall findings on the vote of September 22, we were concerned to witness widespread incidents of interference and intimidation of voters, journalists, and civil society observers by some political party supporters and security agencies. We commend the work of INEC leadership during both elections. But it is clear that the neutrality of the security services and responsible conduct by party agents, both inside and outside polling units, will be essential to ensure free, fair, credible and peaceful elections in 2019.”
The continued interference of state agencies like the State Security Service and the selective attention of anti-graft agencies is, therefore, deplorable. Yakubu and INEC should resist the harassment of such state actors by all lawful means. They should also resist the attempt by some politicians to decide for Nigerians or compel the posting of INEC commissioners that will not do their nefarious bidding.
The security agencies should not allow themselves to be used as they were in 2015 when they manipulated security concerns to compel a six-week postponement of the presidential election. Some politicians, including regrettably, public office holders, have embarked on a widespread campaign with the strategic goal of undermining trust in INEC and inciting post-election political and social discord. This is dangerous. They should stop. The point must be clearly made: Though there are other players in our election ecosystem, it is only INEC that is constitutionally empowered to conduct these elections.
The price of complacency is huge. Despite the hiccups, Nigerians should not be discouraged from voting; apathy favours the rapacious political class who can always mobilise their hard core supporters to the polling booths. Nigerians should reclaim their destiny; we are paying a heavy price for our collective indifference and abdication of our civic responsibility to engage political office holders. The starting point is to vote to make their voices heard and their aspirations known. Yakubu and his team must ensure that the elections are conducted in an impartial and non-partisan way. They should do nothing to asphyxiate the people’s aspiration.
