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| Professor Attahiru Jega |
Strong reactions trailed Saturday’s postponement of the National Assembly election by Independent National Electoral Commission.
While several Nigerians described the development as a huge failure and national embarrassment, others felt it was too early to start casting aspersions on the commission and its chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega.
Former Head of State and the presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, Major-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari[rtd] said the bungled election was an act of sabotage.
Speaking through his spokesman, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, the retired general said the late arrival of some sensitive materials meant for the election has shown how unprepared the government is regarding the conduct of the election.
“It is a testimony of the national incompetence that governs Nigeria. We knew we were going to have elections four years ago and we failed to begin preparations on time, until almost the last minute. We suspect sabotage by those who are afraid of the new voting formula,” he said.
Odumakin said those who are not positively disposed to the new idea of voting may likely be working to frustrate the exercise by trying to make it difficult for materials to get to various polling centres.
“We appeal to Nigerians not to be downcast but to preserve and be ready to come to vote on Monday.
“We support the move by INEC chairman to postpone the election to another day to avoid the evil plans of those who may want to discredit the election plan, especially the new form of voting being experimented by the commission, which has the potential for checkmating rigging,” he said.
But the chairman of the party, Prince Tony Momoh, was of the opinion that it is still early in the day to start condemning Jega, noting that there are more fundamental problems that should be looked into beyond the postponement of the election.
His counterpart in the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Haliru Muhammed, said although PDP had thought the elections would hold yesterday, it is however ready to go to polls any time.
He expressed concern over the state of security of the ballot papers that had already been exposed to the public. “How safe will they be?” he asked, adding that INEC would have to do more in ensuring credible polls.
Both the National Publicity and National Organising Secretaries of the PDP, Professor Rufai Alkali and Uche Secondus shared the same view as their chairman.
In his reaction, former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, stated the postponement of the election did not come to him as a surprise in view of the limited time left for the preparation of the election, but appealed to Nigerians to be patient with Jega.
In a statement from his spokesman, Kassim Afeg-bua, the former military president said: “The postponement of the National Assembly elections did not come as a surprise because of the short time available to the electoral body in preparing for these elections.”
According to General Babangida, “Even at that and despite the shortcomings experienced as a result of the unanticipated late arrival of result sheets, the INEC chairman should be commended for his courage to own up to these discrepancies and inadequacies.
“He deserves to be encouraged and motivated in the light of our present shortcomings, so that the electoral body would be able to conduct a better election rather than conduct one that would be the subject of condemnation and rejection.
“With the late arrival of election materials, it would have been impossible to conduct the elections as scheduled and whose results would be acceptable to the electorate.
“Professor Jega has introduced a new approach to the responsibility of the electoral body. By accepting the bare-faced fact that the elections should be postponed till Monday, he has displayed a unique courage and accepted full responsibility for the shortcomings.
“That alone is the hallmark of leadership that is responsible, humble, calculated, bold, courageous and responsive to unanticipated challenges.
“Rather than condemn him in wholesale terms, we should empathise with him, we should motivate him to ensure a credible outcome, we should commend him for having that peculiar courage to own up to the failings and frailties of INEC.
By Monday, Nigerians would be expecting better conduct, by which time, the electoral body would have put its house in order to ensure a hitch-free exercise.
“Democracy often comes with all manners of challenges and very peculiar hiccups. It is our ability to withstand the shocks that would continue to motivate us to move forward in our democratic journey.
“Let us not crucify Professor Jega without commending him for his courage. Let us believe that this is an opportunity for the electoral body to make amends and deliver credible elections to Nigerians without equivocation,” he stated.
But the Action Congress of Nigeria has rejected Monday as the new date for the National Assembly election.
In a statement issued in Ilorin Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party described the bungling of the poll as a national calamity and an avoidable embarrassment, which would further expose Nigeria to ridicule in the comity of nations.
ACN suggested that the National Assembly election should be held on Saturday, April 9 while the presidential election can be postponed to the middle of the upper week, and the governorship/state assembly elections can be held on April 16.
''We reject this unilateral decision by INEC to fix the postponed National Asse-mbly election for Monday. The new date does not give us enough time to re-mobilise our agents and put in place the necessary logistics. The only day between Saturday and Monday is Sunday, when banks do not open.
“Where does he expect us to get the funds to mobilise our agents for Monday's election?
“Only the PDP can quickly mobilise such funds. So that date cannot stand unless Jega is working against the opposition,” ACN stated.
The party said the delay in the arrival and distribution of the result sheet is not the only thing that was wrong with the election of yesterday, but that there were many lapses on the part of INEC which cannot be rectified between now and Monday.
ACN advised the INEC chairman to look inwards to identify the reasons for the bungling of the National Assembly poll, reminding him of its consistent warning that his integrity alone would not translate to credible polls, but that the commission still harbours the rump of Maurice Iwu's mafia that ensured no election was successful during his (Iwu's) tenure.
''For instance, if the materials were supposed to have arrived on Thursday and they did not arrive, as Jega said, shouldn't INEC have saved Nigerians this huge embarrassment and waste of scarce resources by postponing the poll, instead of cancelling it after it has started? ''
Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, while addressing a press conference the on postponed elections said: “On our part, we would embark on intensive voters education, to ensure the electorate is not discouraged from coming out en masse again on Monday to exercise their civic rights.”
His colleague in Kwara State, Governor Bukola Saraki described the cancellation as a big disappointment and a major setback for the march towards consolidating the nation’s democratic gains.
Saraki, who spoke shortly after the news was broken that the election had been postponed, however, appealed to Nigerians not to be discouraged by the challenges being encountered by INEC.
Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu said Saturday that the commission was not ready for the elections, but urged Nigerians to be patient and show some level of understanding.
Ekweremadu, who spoke with newsmen at his Mpu country home in Aninri Local Government Area of the state, expressed dismay over the development but urged INEC to ensure that the logistics challenges are addressed before Monday.
Senate Committee Chairman on Capital Market and the Action Congress of Nigeria’s Senatorial candidate in Lagos West, Senator Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon described Jega and the electoral commission as monumental failures.
He said the decision of INEC to cancel the election and postpone it to Monday is a clear demonstration of INEC’s ill-preparedness for an election that is supposed to be periodical.
“He came in about ten months ago and everything he demanded to be made available to him was given to him. That he is still struggling with elementary issues such as transportation of materials to polling boots and lack of accurate voter register shows lack of organisation on his part.”
Chairman, Commonwealth Observer Group, Festus Mogae, said: “We are naturally very disappointed at the fact that INEC has not been able to hold the National Assembly elections as scheduled.
“We fully understand and sympathise with the frustration felt by the Nigerian people as a result. We have noted the explanation provided by Professor Jega, for the inability of INEC to proceed with the election today and the postponement of the National Assembly election to Monday, 4 April.
“We hope that INEC would have learnt the necessary lessons from this experience and ensure that there are no further impediments that frustrate the ability of the Nigerian people to exercise their franchise.
“We also call for calm and restraint on the part of all stakeholders, so that the elections can still take place in an atmosphere of peace and order.”
For the presidential candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau, what happened was an unfortunate and tragic development to Nigerians, who were expecting a smooth take-off of the elections.
“It is unfortunate and tragic that elections can be cancelled at this time,” he said.
Shekarau, who addressed newsmen in Kano shortly after INEC announced the postponement of the National Assembly election, however said the electoral umpire should be given a benefit of doubt hoping that they would get it right this time.
He said one of the biggest challenges INEC must address was to make sure that all election-sensitive materials are recovered and kept in a safe place for the election tomorrow
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