Barring any last-minute changes or unforeseen circumstances, Nigerians will on Saturday go to the polls to elect a President and National Assembly members for the next four years.
The elections, earlier billed to take place on February 16, were postponed to February 23 by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) few hours to the commencement of voting, citing what it said were logistical and operational difficulties.
Mahmood Yakubu, INEC boss, at a stakeholders’ forum later on Saturday said the delay was necessary to give the commission time to address vital issues, which could affect its ability to conduct free and fair elections. Many INEC personnel in some states told newsmen there was practically no way elections could have held simultaneously in all parts of the country as sensitive election materials didn’t get to some states at all or got to some only on Saturday morning.
Expectedly, the two main political parties have been trading blames, accusing INEC of working in concert with the other to disrupt the polls. While the ruling APC accused the opposition PDP of colluding with INEC to postpone the elections because it was not ready, the main opposition PDP blamed the ruling party for wanting to force INEC to withhold and stagger the elections, like it did in Osun State, which could give room for voter suppression and result manipulation in the rerun elections.
Regardless, the postponement of the elections just few hours before polling booths opened was a national embarrassment and reflects the weaknesses and failures of key state institutions to perform their routine functions. What is more, it has worsened Nigeria’s already negative image and heightened the perception that the country or its government could not be trusted or relied upon to honour its words, contracts or commitments.
“The sudden postponement few hours to election period…has deepened Nigeria’s political risk with dire consequences on investment decision,” said Sola Oni, a Lagos-based stockbroker.
Oni said the shock caused by the announcement may jolt foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and affect the country’s credit ratings.
But this is not the first time that national elections have been postponed in Nigeria. In 2011, INEC was forced to postpone the National Assembly elections even after voting had started because of logistics reasons. In 2015, on the instance of the government and security agencies, INEC was again forced to postpone the elections by six weeks ostensibly to allow the military conduct an operation to liberate the 17 local governments in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa States that were under the control of the dreaded terrorist group, Boko Haram, and to allow for the conduct of the elections across all parts of the country.
President Muhammadu Buhari could hardly conceal his irritation with INEC for postponing an election that was only six hours away. According to the 76-year-old former general, INEC has no explanations for what the nation went through.
“INEC had all the time and resources. It didn’t have to wait six hours to the elections to announce postponement,” Buhari said on Monday while addressing his party officials.
Although the constitution and law provide for INEC’s independence, he said, the commission must definitely “account for its incompetence” after the elections.
“Definitely, INEC must explain to Nigerians what happened. The constitution and the law protect INEC but they must not take us for granted,” Buhari fumed.
But with the president’s penchant to take the laws into his hands, disobey court orders and even unilaterally suspend the Chief Justice of the Federation without recourse to the law or constitution, no one would take the president’s threats lightly.
The president, also in his anger, forgot about democratic and human rights niceties and authorised security personnel attached to polling units to shoot ballot-box snatchers at sight.
“I am going to warn anybody who thinks he has enough influence in his locality to lead a body of thugs to snatch boxes or to disturb the voting system. He would do it at the expense of his own life,” Buhari warned.
But this clearly contravened INEC’s guidelines that prohibit all security agencies, including the army and police, from shooting at polling booths. The implication of the president’s threat of jungle justice is that the security agencies could shoot and kill just anyone and blame them for wanting to snatch ballot boxes. This is an invitation to anarchy.
Immediately after the speech, many people took to social media to denounce the president’s resort to jungle justice with the hashtag #APCjunglejustice trending on twitter.
“We are in a democratic dispensation. The president’s order of shoot at sight is appalling. There is nothing democratic about a president that incites violence. We have laws and institutions to manage such offenders,” A Nigerian, who identified herself simply as Francisca, tweeted.
Meanwhile, INEC, in a bid to alley apprehensions about its preparedness, has released an activity time-frame leading up to the elections on Saturday.
The timelines go as follows: “Sunday Feb 17th 2019: Configuration of smart card readers; Monday, Feb 18, 2019: Completion/confirmation of deployment of materials; Wednesday Feb 20, 2019: Receipt and deployment of sensitive electoral materials to LGAs; Thursday Feb 21, 2019: Refresher training for ad hoc staff; Friday Feb 22, 2019: Deployment of personnel to RACs; Saturday Feb 23, 2019: Election day.”
Clearly then, INEC appears ready to conduct Presidential and parliamentary elections come Saturday, February 23. The INEC boss has said the date is sacrosanct and cannot be compromised. INEC has shown its seriousness by the release of an activity timeframe. The onus is now on citizens, election monitors and civil societies to follow up and ensure the faithful implementation of the activities in the timeline.
The postponed election cost the Nigerian economy an estimated $10 billion. This is disregarding the social and other upheavals arising from the postponement. Nigeria and the international community cannot afford to bear that cost a second time.
Christopher Akor
