Knocks, kudos trail postponment of general elections

AS mixed reactions greeted last weekend’s postponement of the February general elections, a significant yearning now is that the action should not in any way affect the May 29 handover date in order to mitigate the already brewing constitutional problem. 

   At a news conference Sunday in Enugu, the International Organization on Sustainable Development (ISOD) tasked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to use the six-week postponement period to tidy up its acts and “galvanize Nigerians who are already registered to get their permanent voter cards.”

   ISOD Head of Mission, Ambassador Timothy Ihemadu, said the organization supports the postponement because “the PVCs are not the in the hands of the electorate and many people will be disfranchised if the elections were so held. 

   “No nation at war with millions of its people displaced will go on with an election. The position is correct as long as the constitutional requirement that provides for handover of power on May 29 is not impeded.”

   He further alleged that the distribution of PVCs has been hijacked and is in the hands of ezes, emirs and obas, whose palaces have become collection points, adding also that in Lagos State, many people from the South East and South-South could not get their PVCs. 

   Similarly, the National Chairman of Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA), Peter Ameh, expressed concern over the tension being generated by the development. He noted that it was obvious from the document developed and presented to stakeholders by INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, that the commission would do better if the election date was shifted.

   However, he warned that under no circumstance should the commission tamper with the May 29 handover date, stressing that only the handover date is sacrosanct and the shift in election date would not affect it if INEC maintains its stand.

   According to him, “Nigeria held elections in April in 2003, same thing in 2007 and 2011. This means we have developed the culture of holding elections in April. The shift will only enable Jega to prepare properly. What is sacrosanct is the handover date.

   “Jega said the security report he received was something INEC could not ignore or take lightly. Are we saying that Jega should tell staff and ad-hoc staff to go and conduct elections under security threat?

   However, the Niger Delta Peace Coalition (NDPC) yesterday condemned the action. In an online statement yesterday by its national coordinator, Zik Gbemre, the group said that Jega’s excuse that INEC took informed decision based on the advice of national security authorities on the activities of insurgents in the north was not only preposterous and unjustifiable but also laughable and unfounded. 

   It queried: “Why postpone the elections now – just one week to the earlier scheduled date? Why didn’t INEC postpone the elections earlier? Why didn’t the so-called security operatives not advice INEC about their concerns in the conduct before now? What magic will the security operatives perform in six weeks that they have not been able to do all these past months?”

   Likewise, human rights group, Centre for the Vulnerable and the Underprivileged (Centrep), describing it as “an act of desperation by the Presidency to rig and manipulate the elections.

   Speaking through its executive director, Oghenejabor Ikimi, it stressed that the action did not come to them as a surprise as there have been enormous pressure from the Presidency on the commission to postpone the exercise despite the latter’s insistence and assurances, and that of heads of security agencies on their preparedness.

   Ikimi stated that both INEC and the security agencies can no longer be trusted by the electorates and the international community for a free and fair general polls come March 28 and April, 11, having been compromised by the Presidency.

   A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Ondo State, Kunle Adebayo, said it is “akin to a palace coup against the people of Nigeria. There is no doubt that INEC was pressured against its will to fire the damning bullet against the heart of Nigerians.

   These notwithstanding, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) lauded the move, considering INEC’s poor preparations. In a statement, its spokesman, Eric Omare, said it was “the best decision in the circumstances and we commend INEC for its boldness to take the right decision despite the negative propaganda by some of the political leaders and parties.

   The body called on INEC to display utmost transparency in its preparation towards the rescheduled elections so as to let Nigerians know its level of preparation. It also urged leaders, especially in the south, to mobilise their people to collect their PVCs.

   Also, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State’s last governorship elections, Olusola Oke, said the postponement, “given the reasons advanced by INEC,” was in order, as “this election is too important to Nigeria and anything that could make it less credible must be avoided.

   “The postponement was done within the stipulated time by a legally-constituted body that has the right to postpone the exercise.”

   Also, the Director-General of the Goodluck/Sambo Campaign Group in the state, Tokunbo Modupe, said the it was a welcome development “in view of the complaints that almost 35 percent of registered voters have not collected their PVCs, coupled with security challenges.