February 14 annulment: knocks, kudos, kicks trail INEC

Emeka Ibemere

Despite the fixed feeling trailing the postponement of the scheduled February 14 election which was earlier ear-marked to start with the Presidential election, a Group has commended the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for its bold and courageous spirit in postponing the election.

The Commission rose from a long-hour meeting on Friday, February 6, to announce the annulment of the date of the election. Professor Attahiru Jega, the Chairman of the INEC cited security and non availability of the Permanent Voters’ Card, PVC, as an excuse for stretching the election date to six weeks.

Earlier now, interest groups, organizations and individuals have expressed concern over the date because of the shoddy preparations of the INEC and the insecurity in parts of the Northern states as reasons. Some bodies however threatened to sue the commission if they go ahead to conduct the election.

Apparently heeding to their calls and pressures from service Chiefs on the INEC, Jega decided to shift the election by six weeks.

Meanwhile, Eastern Union, a social-political organization has commended the commission for listening to the yearnings of majority of Nigerians to the date and hailed INEC.

In a media briefing in Abuja, nations Capital, Charles Anike, National President of the Group said his organization has been vindicated following the postponement. He said Jega has proved that he is capable of conducting a credible election. He said with this move, no Nigerian can now say he has been disenfranchised.  Anike had last month called for the postponement of the election because of non-availability of the scarce PVC.

“This is if the elections were not postpone, INEC would have disenfranchised many Nigerians. The postponement by the INEC chairman became necessary as a result of security advice and it will also create an opportunity for the Commission to continue to tidying up and strengthening the preparations for the elections”, he added.

“It Will also enable the over burdened Nigeria security operatives to tackle and check the activities of insurgency, especially in the North East region.  So, that Internal Displaced Persons, IDPS, can freely participate in the election processes. It will also allow for proper coordination of strategies with the foreign military aids”.

According to Anike, Nigerians must have to understand that those who are insisting on having the election no matter what ever reasons are selfish and are not sincere as their insistence on February 14 is pregnant with meaning.

He stated that it wasn’t for the good of the country that made them to insist on February 14 date and that such motive was not from a pure heart, nor for the genuine interest of Nigerians.

 “Rather they are looking for loopholes to discredit the efforts of INEC and also trying to insight the uninformed to protest. Such politicians calling for the head of Jega for postponing the date are mainly from the oppositions. These people have at various times showed disrespect and dishonor to the exalted office of Mr. President, a position they may never attain in their life time”.

According to Anike, it’s unfortunate that some people in some parts of the country are attacking the convoy of the president.

“It’s very painful that some people who have been brain washed to turn against the President who has sacrificed all for the good of the country. This was evident in the comments on the social media by some ignorant and brain washed people, after the visit of Mr. President to Winners Chapel last month and again last week at The Redeemed Camp”.

“This should be the time for positive change in the political history of Nigeria. People should have re-orientated and know that disunity has never and will never bring any positive change and development in the regions; rather it will continue to give opportunity to one man political giants(Goliaths) from one generation to another, instead of raising champions like David”.

He said Nigerians need serious orientation which is necessary and adding that without it the enemies of the people would cash on the ignorance of the people. “Serious re-orientation is expected from every Nigerian before the March 28 general election, so as to clear ignorance from the political space of Nigeria.

Meanwhile, President of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Dr. Nasir Fagge, expressed displeasure over the postponement of the general elections, saying there was no justification for it.

Fagge said in Lagos that the security issue, which the polls shift, was predicated on was not sufficient.

Fagge said the nation’s security chiefs ought to have alerted INEC well ahead of time, of their inability to guarantee security during the elections.

He said the current development would not speak well of Nigeria before international communities, while expressing doubts if the six weeks extension would be enough to tackle the security issue believed to be the major reason for postponing the elections.

“However, if the election umpire has been convinced enough to have the elections postponed, especially as it concerns security, then let us give them the benefit of doubt. All I can say at this point is to call on Nigerians to organise themselves very well and keep their eyes open”, he added.

“I also want to seize this opportunity to appeal to them to use this period to ensure that they collect their voter cards and ensure that they do not only vote but also ensure that their votes count”.

For Prof. Solomon Akinboye, lecturer at the University of Lagos, there was nothing wrong with the postponement of the polls’ dates change as long as it did not affect the hand-over date.

Akinboye, who is Head, Department of Political Science at the university, said since INEC had given reasons for postponing the elections, Nigerians were left with no choice than to accept it.

“I have no problems with the shift in dates for the elections, so long as they do not affect the hand-over date of May 29, which I consider sacrosanct.

“Again, the issue of security, I think it is very critical on occasions such as election even though INEC should have taken such into cognizance while preparing for the process”, he stated.

“What should really matter here is for us to go back to the drawing board, see where we are having challenges, try and get it right before the new election dates.

“As long as they are convinced that they will also use the period to ensure that eligible Nigerians will all have their Permanent Voter Cards prior to the elections, then I do not have anything against the change in date,” Akinboye said.

According to him, what the country needed at this point in time was a free, fair and credible election that would create a platform for accelerated development.

Dr. Ronke Ogunmakin, Director, Media and Information, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), said there was need for Nigerians to support the efforts of INEC in ensuring a free, fair and credible election.

Ogunmakin said if the polls postponement is one of the indices that would guarantee a safe political electoral process, then the development is welcome.

Following the postponement of the 2015 general elections by the INEC, PDP also declared that it is not scared of the six-week delay of the election.

Director, Media and Publicity of PDP Presidential Campaign Organization, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, at a news conference in Abuja, said rather than accuse PDP of being scared of going into election, the unsatisfactory distribution of PVCs, where Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar and Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola of Lagos are finding it difficult to get their PVCs is worrisome to justify a shift in the election.

"On our part, we will increase advocacy and sensitization on the PVC collection because we are not comfortable with the fact that as at the time INEC announced the shift in election dates, 34 per cent of eligible voters have not been able to access theirs.

 "Our campaign organisation will be ready to collaborate with the APC Presidential Campaign Organisation to support the process of PVCs collection, so that no part of the country is seen to have been deliberately manipulated into a position of disadvantage through low percentage rate of PVCs distribution and collection whilst the other part of the country has recorded between 80 and 98 per cent collection”, he added.

"If people like the Sultan of Sokoto and Governor Fashola of Lagos are finding it difficult to pick PVCs, what about the downtrodden? What is important is to encourage INEC to make available PVC to registered voters".

Fani-Kayode explained that the postponement was the right thing to have been done, because the parties would have to campaign for another six weeks.

He urged stakeholders in the elections to take advantage of the extension to get their acts together and prepare for the elections.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) senators in the senate condemned the action in its strongest terms. According to them in their reactions to the postponement of the 2015 general elections by the INEC, from 14th and 28th of this month to March 28 and April 11, 2015, the group’s spokesperson, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, who is representing Ekiti Central in a statement, described the postponement as a 'tele-guided plot' by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to derail democracy. "What we are seeing is a desperate and jittery response to the imminent defeat of the PDP. The postponement has shown the helplessness of INEC in the face of a malicious cabal bent on destroying the fabric of democracy", Ojodu said.

The group lamented that the decision has raised a big credibility question on INEC and the forthcoming elections, saying, “This decision is borne out of fear of defeat and malice against the people of Nigeria in the face of the overwhelming support the APC command across the country.  He alleged that the PDP leadership in collaboration with INEC has put Nigeria in extremely bad light in the comity of nations.

The postponement according to the APC senators "is a diversionary tactics which undermines the aspirations of Nigerians  and dims the hope for change in a country that in the past has seen bitter upheavals due to similar partisan posture of the election umpire",

"INEC, by his decision yesterday night, has placed itself above the interest of the people and run contrary to the decision of the Council of State. The action of the PDP will have serious negative impact on the economy. It will spur public distrust, dampen people's morale and deplete the resources of stakeholders in the electoral process”, he explained.

"This action has brought the integrity of Nigeria into an all time low. It has deepened the political crisis engineered in the first place by the PDP",

Gubernatorial Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for Lagos, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, said that the postponement of elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) fell in line with the Nigerian Constitution, although it meant more expenses and more stress for competitors.

According to him, the postponement would facilitate the holding of more credible and better inclusive elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). He said that a slight delay in the polls should raise no eyebrows so long as the May 29 handover date remained sacrosanct.

“It is apparent to everyone now that the postponement is within the confines of the Constitution and the electoral guidelines. As long as May 29 remains sacrosanct, everything is in order. And it is obvious that May 29 remains sacrosanct,” Agbaje said.

Kogi State Coordinator of General Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organisation, Barrister James Ocholi alleged that Nigeria Army and other security agents in the country have failed  in their constitutional responsibilities in defending the territorial integrity of Nigeria because of their alleged involvement in partisan politics of recent.

Ocholi stated in Lokoja while speaking with news men in his reaction to the postponement of February 14th and 28th Presidential and governorship elections said they have also allowed themselves to be used by politicians who hold the executive arm of government to influence or coerce and frustrate the INEC from conducting a transparent poll.

"Nigerian Army among other forces has failed in their constitutional responsibilities in defending the territorial integrity of Nigeria." He stated. He said it is now clear to Nigerians that the Nigeria Army wrote a letter to INEC that they were not prepared for the 14 and 28 general elections.

"The question I'll like to ask, did INEC ask them of their state of preparedness? When did the Nigeria Army know that they will be Election in Nigeria? If they were in this Nigeria, they have known over a year ago. What effort did they put on ground to ensure the safety of the people in the Election? He queried.

“When did they know that insurgence have been ravaging the North of Nigeria started, is it a week ago? This is a development that has been on for four years for crying out loud. And the executive arm of government has been handling this issue with kid gloves. Many of us are of the opinion that it is a ploy to enforce tenure elongation, as it is, in the next six weeks, they will repeat the same excuse, after another six weeks, they will repeat the same thing and plunge this country Into another constitutional crisis and foist on this country another doctrines of necessity that may lead Nigeria into an unbearable situation”.

The Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives and Imo State People’s Democratic Party, Governorship Candidate Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha on his own described the postponement of the 2015 general elections as a welcome development and in the best interest of the country.

The Deputy Speaker while addressing the congregation during a church service held at the Cathedral of Transfiguration Anglican Church, Owerri, Imo State said,

 “The postponement will reduce tension in the nation and indeed enable the Independent National Electoral Commission to provide Permanent Voters Cards PVCs to the electorate in the state and other Nigerians who would have been disenfranchised if the elections hold as earlier scheduled. The challenges encountered by INEC are local. For instance, i am aware that some LGAs in Imo State, including Owerri North have staged protests over the issue of PVCs and same apply to other areas in Nigeria”.

 While exonerating President Goodluck Jonathan of any blame on the postponement, he stressed that, “it’s not the fault of President Jonathan because INEC is independent and he does not interfere in their operations.

“I am sure funding is not the problem because we (National Assembly) approved their funds which the Executive released. I am aware that before this decision, high level consultations were held and majority of the parties and relevant stakeholders agreed to the postponement”, he said.

According to him, the issue of security and various complaints and agitations by over 2.4million Nigerians who are yet to collect their PVCs was a major concern.

“Not because they don’t want to collect theirs, but because the cards were not available. Consequently, it will not be right to allow such a huge number of our brothers and sisters to be disenfranchised. Therefore it became necessary that time be given to INEC to ensure adequate provision of PVCs, enlightenment of the electorate and training of the Ad Hoc staff to ensure credible and transparent polls”.

 The PDP governorship hopeful urged the voters to continue to have faith and remain committed to the electoral process as all efforts are being made to ensure hitch-free general elections.