The Deputy Director-General (Operations) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, has advised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to redeem its image by conducting a free, fair and credible election on Saturday. Mamora, who described the postponement of the elections by the electoral body as a national embarrassment, said the image of the country is also at stake.
He said the postponement was unexpected against the backdrop that at every point in time INEC had consistently assured the nation of its readiness to conduct the elections as scheduled. He recalled that when INEC office in Anambra was razed down by fire, the electoral body said there was no cause for alarm and promised that the election would hold as scheduled. The postponement is very painful, he said.
He said: “It’s hard to quantify the economic losses and inconveniences that the postponement had caused.. Many people had travelled to where they registered only for them to wake up on Saturday morning and heard that INEC had postponed the election. It had great implications on businesses. Many people had postponed social programmes such as wedding, funerals and house warming to Februry 23 because of the election that didn’t hold, now their plans have been distorted by the new date fixed for the poll”.
For the political parties, Mamora said the postponement means extra budget for logistics and mobilisation of their members and supporters, adding that they have to seek additional funds to meet up.
According to him, the trauma would also affect the foreign observers who had planned their programmes based on INEC time table, meaning they would stay longer in the country than what they envisaged.
Mamora urged INEC to work assiduously to strengthen our democratic process through free, fair and credible election. This, he said, would ameliorate postponement.
Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN) said the Electoral Act permits the Commission to postpone elections in the national interest. He cited Section 26(1) of the Electoral Act 2010 (As Amended) to back up his argument. Akintola said: “INEC has powers to postpone. But the sad thing about this postponement is that it waited till very late at night, disrupting the economy, the political lifeline of the country, the social traffic of the country.
He said the postponement had caused inconveniences to the people. For instance, The President had travelled to his home town in Daura, the Vice President had travelled, practically everyone that is somebody had travelled.
He urged INEC to learn fromits mistakes and redeem its image by making sure it conducts a transparent, free and fair election.
Lawyer and human rights activist, Mr Monday Ubani agreed that the postponement had implications on the economy. He said many people had travelled far and near to where they registered in order to cast their votes but they were disappointed by the shift.
Ubani said: “I travelled all the way from Lagos to my village in Abia State for the election. I woke up on Saturday morning to be informed that the election had been postponed. I will still come home because of the election on February 23. But how many Nigerians can afford to travel twice in a week because they want to cast their votes”.
He said INEC may have good reasons to postpone the election. It is better we endure with the electoral commission to conduct a free, fair and credible election than to rush things and end up with sham election, he added.
The chairman of the United Peoples Party, (UPP)Chekwas Okorie said: “The postponement of the election came to Nigerians irrespective of parties as a rude shock. We know quite well that there had been postponement in the past, that is in 2011 and 2015. They should have decided on how to avoid this situation. INEC should have been guided by the experience and not allow it to repeat itself. Now, it repeated itself in a manner that causes embarrassment. The cost in term of work not done, sitting at home, and businesses shut down and on the social scale you cannot begin to enumerate the social dislocation as a result of what happened. In another Saturday, the economy will be shut down for another round of election which ought to have taken place.
He added: “The reason given by INEC may not be enough, we would not cry took much over spilled milk, this matter will continue to gain currency even after the election, so thing ought to be done well.
“Nigeria is a vast country, we have been clamouring for electronic voting, the clamour started when UPP was registered as a party. We pointed this anomaly as one of the things the electronic voting will help us overcome. But unfortunately even the current President who promised us, when he was first elected, the UPP paid him a visit and advised him on electronic voting. He acknowledged that the card reader largely contributed to his winning the election.
“Unfortunately for whatever reason, he has not been able to implement it. I understand he refused to sign the amended electoral bill and the aspect of the constitution that would have electronic voting possible, now we are here in this situation.
“Again, the international community and people at home have to understand that our democracy is still developing. But INEC should ensure that it does not repeat itself and the new date is not shifted. Everybody is disappointed including the international community.
“INEC should give the election the attention it deserved, so that it may end up being the most credible election Nigeria ever had. That is the only way Prof. Mamood Yakubu can justify the shift, otherwise I will recommend they should prepare their resignation letter and hand it over.”
