Can We be Fair to INEC?

Last week I wrote this column where I called out INEC for disenfranchising millions of Nigerians because of its inefficiency in distribution of PVC’s. I still believe that INEC disenfranchised millions of people. I also maintain that INEC not releasing the list of total collected PVC’s in each local government as at the time of postponement and as at the time of writing this piece is not only withholding public information but diluting its transparency as an independent body. That said, INEC has now saddled Nigerians with a postponement of elections by 1 week for ‘’logistic reasons’’.

My first instinct should be to continue my tirade on how inefficient INEC has been. This is reinforced by the facts that INEC has given the impression that its ‘’logistic’’ management was defective, and it was callous in announcing a postponement 6 hours before election was to commence. Despite the justifiable penchant to blame INEC, I think we should stop for a minute to see the other side of the coin. If we take a step back, we would surely see some extenuating circumstances to readily offer in INEC’s defense.

On a general note, any discerning Nigerian will agree that the 2019 election is very different from any other election held in this country since the advent of INEC. I will point out a few differences that come readily to me.

Firstly in 2019 INEC is expected to manage and supervise elections involving 91 political parties and 73 Presidential candidates. What an astounding number? To put this in context, note that the 2015 elections had 26 political parties and 11 candidates for Presidency. In 2019, the printing of the oversized ballot paper for Presidential elections with 73 parties on the ballot would definitely take longer than usual. Do not forget that INEC is also responsible for hand-holding all these 91 political parties through registrations, voter education; supervising their primaries and the outcomes; monitoring campaign funding and more.

Secondly, despite the INEC Chairman’s attempt to thread carefully and to avoid a blame game, it is no secret that the fractious relationship between the Senate and the Presidency delayed INEC’s budget for elections and the budget was passed only on 10th October 2018 – 4 months to the election scheduled for 16th February 2019. Note also that given government bureaucracy INEC’s account would not be credited immediately after the budget has been approved. So we were already cutting it close.

Thirdly, 2019 election has seen reported cases of arson on INEC materials a few days to elections. In Abia, Plateau, Anambra, Akwa Ibom states, PVC’s and/or card readers were set ablaze a few days to elections. Note one incident in Akwa Ibom where buses carrying materials were burnt by ‘’unknown’’ persons a day after postponement was announced. Who sponsored these arsonists? What is the intention? Your guess is as good as mine, but the key point we must accept is that these incidences are capable of disrupting INEC’s programme.

Fourthly, with 2019 elections we have seen a scenario where the Nigerian Air force planes carrying certain sensitive materials failed to deliver INEC materials in certain airports in the country. INEC says this was due to bad weather and some pundits say the planes failed to land because of ‘’orders from above’’. Whichever version you believe the point is that the planes did not deliver the materials that INEC required to conduct elections in those states. Whilst we are at it, we all saw on TV that some materials that were locked up in the Central Bank Offices in Edo state were not released for some inextricable reason. There is also much talk on social media about how the Central Bank offices in other locations were closed on that Friday for some inextricable reason which frustrated the delivery or release of INEC materials. Why? How? Who? I don’t know but the point is that these events, if true, would be enough to frustrate INEC and lead to a postponement.

Fifthly, with 91 political parties conducting primaries and many of them having failed internal democracies, many party primaries ended up in court to determine who the rightful candidates are. This is a major diversion for INEC which had to spade through hundreds of court actions and judgements to decide who the right candidates are. Remember that INEC would delay printing ballot papers in states where the candidates are still embroiled in legal battles until a definitive position is taken. INEC has over 600 cases in court of which majority of them border on candidacy. What a distraction?

Sixthly, and finally the 2019 election is one where the stakes are arguably the highest. The 2019 election dwarfs the 2015 election at the box office for drama and intrigues. There has been no dull moment. In my view the award-winning dramas emanate from Kogi State. First one stars a lady called Hadiza Natasha Akpoti, who is vying for the Senatorial seat for Kogi Central senatorial district as an SDP candidate. Natasha has raised alarms regarding threats to her life by Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello. She recently raised an alarm that her father’s house was burnt, and at some point, she was attacked by political thugs. The second thriller involves Senator Dino Melaye of Kogi State who is always under siege from the police. Under these circumstances we would be living in a fool’s paradise to assume that the INEC Chairman is not being pressured from different quarters to bend the rules. Such pressure has consequences which may include a postponement if INEC thinks a postponement is necessary in the interest of our democracy. A postponed election is better than a flawed process.

Having said all, we still need to play our part as citizens. I therefore urge all registered voters not to let the imperfections of the system and the postponement frustrate you. We must go out there and make a choice from whatever menu the political parties have set before us. No choice, No voice!

Last week I wrote this column where I called out INEC for disenfranchising millions of Nigerians because of its inefficiency in distribution of PVC’s. I still believe that INEC disenfranchised millions of people. I also maintain that INEC not releasing the list of total collected PVC’s in each local government as at the time of postponement and as at the time of writing this piece is not only withholding public information but diluting its transparency as an independent body. That said, INEC has now saddled Nigerians with a postponement of elections by 1 week for ‘’logistic reasons’’.

My first instinct should be to continue my tirade on how inefficient INEC has been. This is reinforced by the facts that INEC has given the impression that its ‘’logistic’’ management was defective, and it was callous in announcing a postponement 6 hours before election was to commence. Despite the justifiable penchant to blame INEC, I think we should stop for a minute to see the other side of the coin. If we take a step back, we would surely see some extenuating circumstances to readily offer in INEC’s defense.

On a general note, any discerning Nigerian will agree that the 2019 election is very different from any other election held in this country since the advent of INEC. I will point out a few differences that come readily to me.

Firstly in 2019 INEC is expected to manage and supervise elections involving 91 political parties and 73 Presidential candidates. What an astounding number? To put this in context, note that the 2015 elections had 26 political parties and 11 candidates for Presidency. In 2019, the printing of the oversized ballot paper for Presidential elections with 73 parties on the ballot would definitely take longer than usual. Do not forget that INEC is also responsible for hand-holding all these 91 political parties through registrations, voter education; supervising their primaries and the outcomes; monitoring campaign funding and more.

Secondly, despite the INEC Chairman’s attempt to thread carefully and to avoid a blame game, it is no secret that the fractious relationship between the Senate and the Presidency delayed INEC’s budget for elections and the budget was passed only on 10th October 2018 – 4 months to the election scheduled for 16th February 2019. Note also that given government bureaucracy INEC’s account would not be credited immediately after the budget has been approved. So we were already cutting it close.

Thirdly, 2019 election has seen reported cases of arson on INEC materials a few days to elections. In Abia, Plateau, Anambra, Akwa Ibom states, PVC’s and/or card readers were set ablaze a few days to elections. Note one incident in Akwa Ibom where buses carrying materials were burnt by ‘’unknown’’ persons a day after postponement was announced. Who sponsored these arsonists? What is the intention? Your guess is as good as mine, but the key point we must accept is that these incidences are capable of disrupting INEC’s programme.

Fourthly, with 2019 elections we have seen a scenario where the Nigerian Air force planes carrying certain sensitive materials failed to deliver INEC materials in certain airports in the country. INEC says this was due to bad weather and some pundits say the planes failed to land because of ‘’orders from above’’. Whichever version you believe the point is that the planes did not deliver the materials that INEC required to conduct elections in those states. Whilst we are at it, we all saw on TV that some materials that were locked up in the Central Bank Offices in Edo state were not released for some inextricable reason. There is also much talk on social media about how the Central Bank offices in other locations were closed on that Friday for some inextricable reason which frustrated the delivery or release of INEC materials. Why? How? Who? I don’t know but the point is that these events, if true, would be enough to frustrate INEC and lead to a postponement.

Fifthly, with 91 political parties conducting primaries and many of them having failed internal democracies, many party primaries ended up in court to determine who the rightful candidates are. This is a major diversion for INEC which had to spade through hundreds of court actions and judgements to decide who the right candidates are. Remember that INEC would delay printing ballot papers in states where the candidates are still embroiled in legal battles until a definitive position is taken. INEC has over 600 cases in court of which majority of them border on candidacy. What a distraction?

Sixthly, and finally the 2019 election is one where the stakes are arguably the highest. The 2019 election dwarfs the 2015 election at the box office for drama and intrigues. There has been no dull moment. In my view the award-winning dramas emanate from Kogi State. First one stars a lady called Hadiza Natasha Akpoti, who is vying for the Senatorial seat for Kogi Central senatorial district as an SDP candidate. Natasha has raised alarms regarding threats to her life by Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello. She recently raised an alarm that her father’s house was burnt, and at some point, she was attacked by political thugs. The second thriller involves Senator Dino Melaye of Kogi State who is always under siege from the police. Under these circumstances we would be living in a fool’s paradise to assume that the INEC Chairman is not being pressured from different quarters to bend the rules. Such pressure has consequences which may include a postponement if INEC thinks a postponement is necessary in the interest of our democracy. A postponed election is better than a flawed process.

Having said all, we still need to play our part as citizens. I therefore urge all registered voters not to let the imperfections of the system and the postponement frustrate you. We must go out there and make a choice from whatever menu the political parties have set before us. No choice, No voice!

Last week I wrote this column where I called out INEC for disenfranchising millions of Nigerians because of its inefficiency in distribution of PVC’s. I still believe that INEC disenfranchised millions of people. I also maintain that INEC not releasing the list of total collected PVC’s in each local government as at the time of postponement and as at the time of writing this piece is not only withholding public information but diluting its transparency as an independent body. That said, INEC has now saddled Nigerians with a postponement of elections by 1 week for ‘’logistic reasons’’.

My first instinct should be to continue my tirade on how inefficient INEC has been. This is reinforced by the facts that INEC has given the impression that its ‘’logistic’’ management was defective, and it was callous in announcing a postponement 6 hours before election was to commence. Despite the justifiable penchant to blame INEC, I think we should stop for a minute to see the other side of the coin. If we take a step back, we would surely see some extenuating circumstances to readily offer in INEC’s defense.

On a general note, any discerning Nigerian will agree that the 2019 election is very different from any other election held in this country since the advent of INEC. I will point out a few differences that come readily to me.

Firstly in 2019 INEC is expected to manage and supervise elections involving 91 political parties and 73 Presidential candidates. What an astounding number? To put this in context, note that the 2015 elections had 26 political parties and 11 candidates for Presidency. In 2019, the printing of the oversized ballot paper for Presidential elections with 73 parties on the ballot would definitely take longer than usual. Do not forget that INEC is also responsible for hand-holding all these 91 political parties through registrations, voter education; supervising their primaries and the outcomes; monitoring campaign funding and more.

Secondly, despite the INEC Chairman’s attempt to thread carefully and to avoid a blame game, it is no secret that the fractious relationship between the Senate and the Presidency delayed INEC’s budget for elections and the budget was passed only on 10th October 2018 – 4 months to the election scheduled for 16th February 2019. Note also that given government bureaucracy INEC’s account would not be credited immediately after the budget has been approved. So we were already cutting it close.

Thirdly, 2019 election has seen reported cases of arson on INEC materials a few days to elections. In Abia, Plateau, Anambra, Akwa Ibom states, PVC’s and/or card readers were set ablaze a few days to elections. Note one incident in Akwa Ibom where buses carrying materials were burnt by ‘’unknown’’ persons a day after postponement was announced. Who sponsored these arsonists? What is the intention? Your guess is as good as mine, but the key point we must accept is that these incidences are capable of disrupting INEC’s programme.

Fourthly, with 2019 elections we have seen a scenario where the Nigerian Air force planes carrying certain sensitive materials failed to deliver INEC materials in certain airports in the country. INEC says this was due to bad weather and some pundits say the planes failed to land because of ‘’orders from above’’. Whichever version you believe the point is that the planes did not deliver the materials that INEC required to conduct elections in those states. Whilst we are at it, we all saw on TV that some materials that were locked up in the Central Bank Offices in Edo state were not released for some inextricable reason. There is also much talk on social media about how the Central Bank offices in other locations were closed on that Friday for some inextricable reason which frustrated the delivery or release of INEC materials. Why? How? Who? I don’t know but the point is that these events, if true, would be enough to frustrate INEC and lead to a postponement.

Fifthly, with 91 political parties conducting primaries and many of them having failed internal democracies, many party primaries ended up in court to determine who the rightful candidates are. This is a major diversion for INEC which had to spade through hundreds of court actions and judgements to decide who the right candidates are. Remember that INEC would delay printing ballot papers in states where the candidates are still embroiled in legal battles until a definitive position is taken. INEC has over 600 cases in court of which majority of them border on candidacy. What a distraction?

Sixthly, and finally the 2019 election is one where the stakes are arguably the highest. The 2019 election dwarfs the 2015 election at the box office for drama and intrigues. There has been no dull moment. In my view the award-winning dramas emanate from Kogi State. First one stars a lady called Hadiza Natasha Akpoti, who is vying for the Senatorial seat for Kogi Central senatorial district as an SDP candidate. Natasha has raised alarms regarding threats to her life by Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello. She recently raised an alarm that her father’s house was burnt, and at some point, she was attacked by political thugs. The second thriller involves Senator Dino Melaye of Kogi State who is always under siege from the police. Under these circumstances we would be living in a fool’s paradise to assume that the INEC Chairman is not being pressured from different quarters to bend the rules. Such pressure has consequences which may include a postponement if INEC thinks a postponement is necessary in the interest of our democracy. A postponed election is better than a flawed process.

Having said all, we still need to play our part as citizens. I therefore urge all registered voters not to let the imperfections of the system and the postponement frustrate you. We must go out there and make a choice from whatever menu the political parties have set before us. No choice, No voice!