How INEC’s one week election postponement unnerved APC

Last Saturday, a series of general elections whose umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) had almost four year time span to prepare, was cancelled on the date it was to commence.

Chairman of the commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, in a statement announced the postponement by a week, the presidential and National Assembly elections earlier fixed for last February 16. His statement which he read to newsmen at 2.45 am on the day of the election, read in part: “INEC met on Friday. 15 February, 2019 and reviewed its preparations for the 2019 general election scheduled for 16 February, 2019 and 2 March, 2019.

“Following a careful review of the implementation of its logistics and operational plan and the 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 23 February, 2019. Furthermore, the governorship, state House of Assembly and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections are rescheduled to 9 March, 2019. This will afford the commission the opportunity to address identified challenges in order to maintain the quality of our elections.”

Yakubu dropped the bombshell, walked away without entertaining questions from agitated journalists. But it was, indeed, a pronouncement that stirred anger, confusion and trepidation in the polity. At a stakeholders’ meeting held in Abuja, last Saturday, Professor Yakubu identified bad weather condition which impaired flight operations and sabotage by arsonists as the greatest impediments to his commission, adding that these two factors frustrated its efforts to hold the presidential and National Assembly elections, as earlier scheduled.

Addressing a gathering of angry party national chairmen, local and international observers, including a former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, the INEC chairman said flight disruptions, as a result of bad weather conditions undermined the movements of voting materials to different locations across the country. He noted that his commission was compelled to rely on slow-moving long haulage vehicles to locations that could not be serviced by air.

Political actors across party divides expressed consternation over the sudden postponement, without prior notice by the commission. Former Aviation Minister, Osita Chidoka who represented the national of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, at the stakeholders’ session, along with certain leaders of other opposition parties, called on the leadership of INEC to inspire public confidence in their activities.

Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, was acerbic as he accused the national electoral body of incompetence and treating Nigerians with disdain. The former president of the organised labour took serious exception to the time the INEC chairman announced the unsavoury postponement.

“For those who are here to observe, well, I don’t know what you think but for we [sic] real players, it is a huge shock. I am happy with the rather moderate tone of PDP but me I came from a village this morning; I didn’t sleep all night [as] we mobilised through all day. So, I asked you sir, why didn’t you inform us, at least, 48 hours before when you noticed that you have issues with weather, that you have issues with logistics and at the airport people can see a lot of cargoes?

“You didn’t know all of these until 2am? Of course, you can’t but accept responsibility but it doesn’t offer me any comfort. I think you must go further to apologise to the Nigerian nation because you have embarrassed us as a country and as a people.

“On behalf of APC, we demand apology from INEC. We insist that it is wrong to have announced it [the postponement] at 2 am. You had the benefit to have announced it much earlier so that you can save us all the cost that we have incurred. So, as much as I listen to all your explanations and I can’t fault them, the only thing that is missing is, given all these facts that you know why, wait till 2am when most decent Nigerians have gone to bed?”

In what has been describe as a misplaced aggression, Oshiomhole, before dropping the microphone for other party leaders to speak, stunned the gathering when he expressed reservations over what he called special treatment being accorded international observers in the country for the general elections. The APC national chairman frowned at the situation, as he claimed that some seats were reserved for the nation’s guests, the international observers.

At the APC expanded national caucus held on Monday at its national secretariat, the chairman of the party went further to accuse the INEC chairman of plotting with certain individuals to frustrate the conduct of elections as he alleged a sinister agenda to foist an Interim National Government (ING) on Nigerians. He therefore demanded for the removal of the INEC chairman and certain Resident Electoral Commissioners (REC) whom he claimed have compromised their positions.

“Mr President, I have no difficulty in seconding my colleague in PDP, Secondus, to demand for the removal of the INEC chairman. This INEC leadership is up for a game. There are elements that are anti- democratic who are working to ensure that the elections don’t hold so that they can push for an interim national government!

“Mr President, I also believe that because you are the Chief Security Officer of the country, you are the president, you have dual responsibilities. One is to ensure that, any institution of state that has mediated, anybody that is involved in that act, particularly actions that will clearly weaken the fabric of our democracy, Mr President, you have a duty to trigger the process that will compel everyone involved in all of these to account. We cannot be helpless because, at the end of the day, all fingers will point at you, even as innocent as you are…

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“Those INEC RECs that have been compromised, we will press on INEC leadership that they don’t have a right to impose corrupt or compromised INEC RECs on us. When sufficient doubts have been raised on the character and the integrity of a referee, no responsible match authority will impose that referee on the players. We don’t care where anybody is posted to because INEC has discretion to move people around,” he angrily said.

President Muhammadu Buhari aligned himself with the submission and fears of his party chairman over what led to the postponement, but he rebuffed the demand for the removal of the INEC chairman. The president however promised to investigate INEC after the general elections might have been concluded.

“INEC had all the time and all the resources they wanted and didn’t have to wait for only six hours to cancel the elections and tell us it was impossible. Definitely, the reason why such incompetence manifested has to be explained to the nation. After the elections, we have to know exactly what happened and who is responsible. Otherwise, our efforts to make sure that this system is acceptable would have been eroded.

“The constitution and the law protected INEC, but they must not take us for granted. If, for example, the National Assembly refused to approve what they wanted, INEC would have had moral reasons why they couldn’t perform. If the time of four years of election was not constitutionally obeyed by the government, INEC would have a case. But we don’t understand the reason for this inefficiency and we have to go into details after the elections to find out who is responsible,” he said.

At the end of its closed door meeting, the ruling party, in a communique read by Oshiomhole, resolved “that the 23 February election date must remain sacrosanct. Issues of logistics and other foreseeable challenges must be addressed to ensure the elections do not suffer any hitch whatsoever.

It equally expressed curiosity “over the fact that certain leaders of PDP had full knowledge of the plan to postpone the elections, several hours before INEC made the unfortunate announcement. The Caucus therefore urged INEC to demonstrate its independence and neutrality beyond doubts in all of its activities before, during and after the period of elections.”

While APC and the main opposition party, PDP, continue to point fingers of scorn at the electoral umpire, the next 48 hours remain an acid test for the embattled INEC chairman to inspire public confidence or be permanently condemned as a man destined to toil with the fate of a fragile nation.