THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is embattled. It knows this and has in the past few months sought to extricate itself from the burdens that hobble its performance, some of them self-inflicted. It worries that the Nigerian politician’s litigious propensity does not seem to be assuaged by anything the electoral body might introduce to organise and manage elections more credibly and efficiently. From one statement to another, and conferences to conferences, INEC has kept on pointing at policies and measures militating against its operations.
Could the electoral body absolve itself of a part of the blame in the 2019 Imo State governorship election where its presiding officers were alleged to have colluded with some party agents to fiddle with the ballots? Could it also absolve itself of a huge part of the blame in the 2015 and 2019 Kogi State governorship polls, where, despite the open and publicised violence that marred the polls, not a whimper was heard from INEC? With the passage of years, electoral atrocities and robberies have become more flagrant and provocative. Elections have in short become more chaotic and less and less credible, regardless of the court cases that swamp the polls and sometimes egregiously distort the outcomes.
But hear the INEC chief, Mahmood Yakubu, speaking at a recent meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) in Abuja on Friday: “Going forward, INEC has decided that although the Commission has no power under the law to cancel an election, it will not proceed with the process in any constituency where the safety of voters, our personnel and materials is threatened. Furthermore, collation of results will not proceed where the collation centres are invaded. No declaration of winners will be made where Returning Officers are threatened.” This belated oath is an attempt by INEC to salve its conscience.
The public will of course salute INEC’s ambition and hope that the electoral body does not lack the resolve to fulfil its promises. But more critically, the puzzle is why it has taken Prof Yakubu so long to put some grit in his spine. Politicians bear a huge part of the blame for continuously subverting the electoral process. So, too, the courts. And unfortunately, INEC itself, which accounts for a sizable portion of the reasons Nigeria’s electoral process has become so badly compromised over the past few election cycles.
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