• Concern over chair’s links with S/South gov.
Desire of the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to honour an international invitation may have informed the decision to reschedule the Edo State governorship poll for Wednesday, September 28, a work day.
INEC had first cited security advice from the police and the Department of State Security (DSS) for moving the election from Saturday, September 10 to the new date.
The 18-day postponement came as a surprise to the leading candidates and stakeholders who argued that a week would have been better in view of the huge logistics burden on them.
The shift also necessitated the rescheduling of the coronation of Crown Prince Ehenede Erediauwa as new Oba of Benin from September 26 to October 28.
An investigation revealed that the INEC chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, preferred September 28 to earlier dates suggested by some of his commissioners to enable him honour an invitation by the German electoral body to be part of a team of observers for the state elections in the country scheduled for today (September 18).
At a stakeholders meeting held in Benin penultimate Wednesday, the INEC boss said that the original September 10 was immutable only to make a volte face 24 hours later following security concerns raised by the Police and the DSS that Boko Haram planned to strike during the Sallah holiday in a number of locations across the country including Edo State.
The INEC chairman jetted out of the country last week ahead of Germany’s municipal elections held last Sunday, September 11.
Meanwhile, INEC’s decision to fix the rescheduled poll for a work day has drawn fresh protests from parents whose wards are billed to sit for Alternative to Physics, Food and Nutrition and Building and Construction on September 28 in the ongoing General Certification of Education (GCE) examinations.
It was also gathered that the Presidency is in possession of intelligence reports revealing “a more than causal relationship” between the INEC boss and Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.
Professor Yakubu served as Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), an agency under the Federal Ministry of Education when Wike was Supervisory minister in charge.
The relationship between them is said to be “very, very close.”
The Rivers governor is one of the arrow-heads of Peoples Democratic Party’s battle to wrest Edo from the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Honestly, this sort of affiliation is a source of concern for anyone desirous of a free and fair election,” said a source yesterday.
Until INEC decided to shift the September 10 date, parents in Edo had similarly protested against holding the polls when their wards were scheduled to sit for Mathematics.
Speaking at the weekend, the Lagos Head of Public Affairs of the West African Examination Council, Mr. Demianus Ojijeogu, said that INEC did not consult it before fixing the new date.
But he said the council would go ahead with the September 28 examinations.
Said Ojijeogu, “We were not consulted before the new date was fixed, I do not know why. But candidates will sit for the examination in Edo State because their population is small.
“Only candidates who missed the first examination would sit for the Alternative to Physics. Both Food and Nutrition and Building and Construction are not general courses. So, only a few candidates will sit for the papers.
“It is a work day but the government will declare it work-free.”
A senior official of the Edo State Government at the weekend spoke in the same vein, saying: “The way the INEC chairman has been running the affairs of the elections leaves much to be desired. It came as a surprise to us when we heard a Wednesday had been fixed as the new date for the election. Why not September 17 or 24?
“How can you just go ahead and declare that election will now hold on a work day without having consulted with the state government or securing its buy-in since you would want that day declared a holiday.
“In fact, not only Wednesday will be declared holiday Tuesday will also have to be made holiday, just as Thursday will also likely be observed unofficially as holiday. Again, no one seems to also care about the implication of fixing election on a work day for road-users transiting through Edo as a major gateway between the South-west, South-east and the North.”
But when contacted, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, who is the Chief Press Secretary to INEC chairman, said the postponement was a collective decision of INEC management.
He said the poll shift was not a personal decision of the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Yakubu.
Oyekanmi said: “It is very wicked for anybody to insinuate that the chairman of INEC is working in tandem with one governor to postpone the Edo Governorship Election.
“As you may be aware, the law gives INEC the power to fix dates for election. The commission is independent.
“Edo governorship election would have been held and concluded on September 10 but for the advisory that came from security agencies asking INEC to postpone the election due to security reasons.
“In picking a new date, a number of things were considered. The first is the provision in the law that says election must be concluded clear 30 days before the expiration of the tenure of the incumbent governor.
“We were also advised by the Bini Traditional Council about the initial date set for the coronation of the Oba of Benin to avoid any clash.
“The issue of whether or not Germany was going to hold election was not part of the reasons for postponing the election.”
He insisted that the decision to shift the election and the new date agreed upon was a collective one by INEC management.
He added: “The INEC chairman was in Benin with four National Commissioners who formed a quorum to take the decision because as at then INEC had only six National Commissioners.
“The poll shift was a collective decision. That date was jointly arrived at as a decision of the commission and not that of the chairman.”
