Under the leadership of Prof Mahmud Yakubu, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has held a number of inconclusive elections in some parts of the country. Will it do better in the forthcoming governorship elections in Edo on September 10 and in Ondo on November 26? Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines INEC’s challenges and suggests what should be done to redeem its image.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is under fire. Its Chairman, Prof. Mahmud Yakubu, is on the weighing scale over the string of inconclusive elections conducted under his leadership. So far, all of them have been inconclusive; making people to doubt the capacity of the electoral umpire to organise credible and fair governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states in September 10 and November 26 respectively.
The integrity and capacity of INEC under Yakubu was first put to task with Kogi governorship poll. It ended in a fiasco, with the cancellation of the exercise in 59 polling units due to non adherence to Card reader usage. It argued that since the number of cancelled votes was 49,953, while the difference between the votes scored by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidates stood at 41,353, the election could not yet be declared as conclusive. The matter became further complicated with the sudden death of the APC flag bearer, Abubakar Audu. Litigations over the election are still pending at the Appeal Court.
Many thought the commission would use the Kogi experience to perfect its lapses during the Bayelsa governorship election. But, the trend persisted. In fact, it took almost a month for the final result to be released. The same trend was noticed in Rivers.
The usual excuse by the electoral commission was that the exercise was characterised by irregularities. Analysts are worried by the growing number of inconclusive elections in the country under the new INEC boss. The recurring question is that if the commission cannot conduct credible election in isolated cases like the above, what is the guarantee that it can cope with a nationwide contest at different levels in 2019?
On his first day in office in full glare of cameras, Yakubu declared that INEC’s job could be considered the simplest work to do and wondered why people complain. After the Kogi and Bayelsa governorship polls, the National assembly and House of Assembly reruns in Rivers, and now in Imo, it is doubtful if the chief electoral officer still considers his job an easy one.
It is very unfortunate that INEC, which had been making steady progress from 2011, under Prof. Attahiru Jega, is now on a path of retrogression.
Analysts argue that if the INEC could bungle the above isolated elections, despite extensive preparations and resources at its disposal, its capacity to conduct a hitch-free exercise simultaneously in 31 states in 2019 is in doubt. According to such analysts, the increasing number of inconclusive elections conducted under Prof. Yakubu clearly suggests that the 2019 general elections may be at risk of being declared inconclusive.
INEC has a historic duty to live up to expectations, as it prepares for the governorship polls holding in Edo State on September 10 and Ondo State on November 26. To conduct a credible and transparent exercise in the two states, observers say the commission must avoid the shortcomings witnessed so far in Kogi, Bayelsa, Rivers and other states.
To conduct credible and transparent elections in Edo and Ondo, an election observer, Dr Elijah Edokie, said INEC should ensure that electoral materials and officials arrive promptly at the polling units. He noted that the commission failed the elementary test of credibility in Kogi and Bayelsa, as its officials reported late for the assignment in many local governments.
Edokie said: “Where the officials reported for the assignment, they did not show up with essential polling materials. The most critical material is the voter’s register. The names of many voters were omitted from the register. Voters were disillusioned. Many returned home in protest. The implication was that many were disenfranchised. Although the poll was postponed till the next day in some units, voters did not show up, because it was on a Sunday.
“Elections have become a burden in Nigeria. Rather than being perceived as an opportunity for political choice and change, election periods are usually dark moments when the polity is submerged in a tremor of wild politicking, do or die contest, and violence, which often make the critical contest a sort of war. The incidence of thuggery during governorship elections is higher than that of presidential and National Assembly elections. Thus, the fear of democratic elections at the state level has contributed to the fragile democracy”.
He described the Bayelsa election as one of the worst ever conducted in this country, adding that its outcome reflects INEC’s poor preparation. He said: “Bayelsa governorship election was a total catastrophe; it was a total disgrace to the nation. Voting materials were carted away by gunmen; INEC officials were kidnapped and were not released until two or three weeks after the poll; many voters were disenfranchised, especially those living in the creeks. Yet, official results were announced by the electoral commission.
“Yakubu should have held INEC integrity in tact by announcing total cancellation of the fatally flawed election and announce a new date for a fresh election. No amount of supplementary would make it credible or change the view of local and international observers on Bayelsa. I recall in 2011, when the electoral commission was about to wreck a monumental havoc on democracy before the immediate past INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, had to cancel the first leg of the general elections. If the polls were not abruptly stopped and postponed, it would have resulted into an avoidable electoral calamity. Yakubu should have taken a cue from that incident. He should have own up and redeem INEC’s image.”
President, Nigeria Voters’ Assembly (VOTAS), Comrade Moshood Erubami, is worried over the number of inconclusive elections that the new INEC boss has recorded within a very short time in office. He said given the past experiences of inconclusive elections in Kogi, Bayelsa and Rivers, which were marred by unprecedented violence, mass destruction of voting materials and electoral malpractices, it will be difficult to say that INEC’s promise of credible elections in Edo and Ondo will be fulfilled.
Erubami said INEC will always assure the public that it is on top of the situation, as long as stakeholders give undertaken that they will abide by the rules and regulations put in place for conducting the election.
He said: “From the experience of past elections, this has not always been the case. The attitude of stakeholders has always marred the electoral process, making elections inconclusive. This is due to a number of factors: political parties usually break the law; the electorates do not equally fulfill their civic responsibilities; while the police also fail in their duty of securing the polling centres, as well as voting materials and the protection of the rights of voters.
“The police are guiltier in this respect; there would always a large number of officers at the polling units, to assure the voters of their safety, but in the end they will be exposed to the negative consequences of electoral violence.”
A legal practitioner, Illiyas Alkali, said it would be wrong to jump into conclusion that the new INEC Chairman is incompetent to conduct free and fair election, because he had declared some elections inconclusive. He said the Electoral Act empowered INEC to suspend elections where there was violence or threat to public peace.
He said: “Are we saying INEC should overlook cases of violence, physical attacks, election irregularities, snatching of ballot boxes and declare results of election held in such circumstances?
“It is not the responsibility of INEC to secure the environment, but that the security agencies. If security agencies fail to maintain law and order, which is sine-qua-non to peaceful and credible election, INEC cannot be blamed for that. The responsibility of the electoral commission is to provide logistics and manpower for the election.”
He admitted that there were lapses in INEC preparation in the cases mentioned. The lapses, he said, include: late arrival of voting materials and electoral officers; mal-functioning of Card Readers; and omission of names in voters’ register. The lapses ought to be plugged, he added, if the commission wants to improve on its performance. “Where there are irregularities, INEC should not hesitate to cancel the election and order a re-run, no matter what it will take to have a credible result,” Alkali stressed.
Commenting on the issue of inconclusive elections under his leadership, Yakubu explained that the commission was forced to declare the elections inconclusive, due to violence at the polling units, because it had no control over security forces. He emphasised that the commission cannot secure voting environment.
He said: “We have a responsibility to our staff, ad hoc and regular, as well as the voters. Yes, we are challenged by it and we have been working with the security agencies to see what we can do. But, appreciate the constraints. INEC cannot guarantee the security of elections. The responsibility belongs to another agency of government. But, if the environment is not secured, there is no way we can guarantee elections.”
Yakubu noted that control of violence is the responsibility of security agencies, not that of the election management body. He hinted that a stakeholder meeting involving all the political parties participating in the coming elections will be held with security agencies. He added that the commission is also holding a meeting with inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security to brainstorm on security, as well as election risk management.
Ahead of Edo and Ondo polls, Yakubu said: “We are going to identify the flashpoints and give the information to the security agencies to deploy accordingly. We don’t expect that there will be any breakdown of law and order, but where it happens, I am sure that with the work that we are doing with the security agencies, they can quickly deploy their officers to bring the situation under control.”
On whether the commission is empowered to declare elections inconclusive, he said that it was provided for in the Electoral Act. “Nobody has said that we have declared any election inconclusive outside the provision of the law. Section 26 of the Election Act is clear. Where you have threats or natural disaster, INEC has the powers to suspend elections,” he said.
For INEC to excel in the coming Edo and Ondo governorship polls, stakeholders have urged the commission to go back to the drawing board and come up with strategies that would correct the lapses of the past exercises.
A political scientist, Prof. Ayo Olukotun, said INEC must close the logistical gap that has afflicted other elections, such as those of Kogi and Bayelsa. Olukotun, a lecturer at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, stressed the need for the commission to plan ahead and ensure that everything was in place before the polling day.
He said: “This boils down to ensuring that voting materials arrive on time, Card Readers work and INEC officials are up and about. Special preparation must be made for challenging landscapes, such as riverine parts of Ondo State. Collaboration with security agencies is required to prevent intimidation of voters and outright violence.”
Erubami also advised INEC to double its efforts, to convince the populace that the results of Edo and Ondo would not follow the pattern recorded in Kogi, Bayelsa and Rivers states. He added: “INEC should work diligently with the security agencies to ensure that peaceful electoral environment prevails during the elections. They must prevent the movement of politicians who pretend to be monitoring electoral process.”
The civil rights activist also enjoined INEC to improve its processes, to ensure that the usual transport logistic problems become a thing of the past. “Its officials must arrive early enough with adequate voting materials to conduct the elections; it must ensure that Card Readers function well; it also has the responsibility of create a conducive atmosphere for credible collation of results and the safety of the ballot boxes,” he added.
