AFTER more than three hours of closed-door meeting with the leadership of the 63 political parties in Abuja yesterday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) dumped its plan to hold the National Assembly election today. It announced Saturday, April 9, 2011 as the new date for the botched elections. .
The commission also shifted the presidential election from Saturday, April 9, 2011 to Saturday, April 16 while the governorship polls come up on Tuesday, April 26, 2011.
INEC said with the new dates, it was well placed to conduct credible and acceptable general elections in the country.
Announcing the decision, which overwhelmingly enjoyed the support of all the chairmen of the parties at the meeting, INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, said it was in deference to several counsel, which had poured into the commission since the Saturday's announcement of today as the new election date.
It was also in line with the proposal earlier adopted yesterday by the political parties under the aegis of the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC), which announced its rejection of today for the election.
According to Jega, the new date for the National Assembly elections comprising the Senate and House of Representatives is April 9, the presidential polls originally scheduled for this Saturday has now been shifted to April 16, while the governorship/state Houses of Assembly elections slated for that date would now hold on Tuesday, April 26. The long shift, it was gathered was because of the Easter break, which falls between April 22 and 25. .
The decision particularly enjoyed the support of the leadership of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).
Dr. Haliru Mohammed, the Acting Chairman of the PDP told reporters that though the decision was unfortunate, it was better that it was taken in the quest by the nation to have free, fair and credible elections. He said despite all that had happened, the party still believed in the integrity of Jega and urged all Nigerians to give him the necessary co-operation and understanding to succeed.
For Prince Tony Momoh, the CPC chairman, the shift could not have come as a special relief to the party, given the omissions of its logo and names as identified in some states of the federation. He said: "Even before now, I had written officially to the commission outlining these anomalies and I believe this shift will provide the window of opportunity for INEC to rectify the problems. .
Senator Lawali Shuaibu, the National Secretary of the ACN, said the shift is desirable to enable INEC do a thorough job. "During the meeting, there were complaints by some political parties of the omission of their names and logos, which could have adversely affected the conduct of the elections. It also meant that if the elections had been conducted like that, there is no way the outcome would not have been challenged."
Also in a statement titled: "INEC reschedules 2011 general elections," its Secretary, Abdullahi Kaugama said: "Yesterday (Saturday), the Independent National Electoral Commission announced the rescheduling of the 2011 National Assembly (Senate and House of Representatives) elections from April 2 to April 4 , 2011 due to late arrival of result sheets. Since that announcement, several representations have been made to the commission urging it to consult more widely and to ensure that the two-day postponement is enough to address all the logistical issues that may militate against a successful conduct of the rescheduled elections.
"Following these representations and subsequent consultations with stakeholders, the commission has found that the overwhelming sentiment is to further reschedule the elections. Requests to reschedule the National Assembly elections have come from a cross-section of stakeholders, including political parties and civil society organisations. However, rescheduling the National Assembly elections would have implications for the schedule of all the other elections. Consequently, the Commission weighed all the options and considered the wide-ranging counsel of Nigerians and decided to reschedule all the elections as follows:
• Saturday, April 9, 2011 - Senate and House of Representatives (National Assembly) elections.
• Saturday, April 16, 2011 - Presidential election
• Tuesday, April 26, 2011 - State House of Assembly and Governorship elections
"We thank all Nigerians for their enthusiasm for these elections and support for the commission and the electoral process. Your sacrifices are not lost on the commission and we are even more determined now to ensure that the 2011 elections are free, fair and credible." .
Answering questions later, Jega said while it would have been possible to hold both National Assembly and presidential elections on the same day, the commission believed that the nation would be better served in separating the two. "We do not want the logistical preparations for one to affect the other, we all know that the international community is interested in observing all the elections, but they are more particularly interested in terms of the outcome of the presidential elections.
"We as a commission and with the endorsement of all the stakeholders that we have consulted felt that Nigeria is better served in terms of bringing about free, fair and credible elections, if we separated these elections and that was the reason for these separations."
Before proceeding to the parley with INEC, party leaders, who met in Abuja took opposing stance on calls for boycott of the rescheduled National Assembly polls slated for today to protest against INEC unilateral action.
At the meeting in Abuja, some party leaders canvassed a boycott of the election into the federal legislature should INEC go ahead with its plan to hold the polls today.
This was strongly opposed by those who argued that it would give the PDP "unearned victory."
Parties whose leaderships were represented at the meting included ACN, CPC, National Democratic Party (NDP), Labour Party (LP), United Nigerian Peoples Party (UNPP), African Liberation Party (ALP), African Renaissance Party (ARP), Progressive Action Council (PAC), National Conscience Party (NCP), among others.
The meeting at the NICON Luxury Hotel ahead of the emergency meeting called by INEC was to consult the parties on the latest development.
But all the party leaders agreed that all the elections shifted by at least one week would give INEC time to address some of the logistical challenges thrown up by the late delivery of some essential materials for the exercise. They said apart from the late delivery of polls materials, the non-listing of the logos of some political parties was also a serious logistical problem.
In a statement signed by IPAC chairman Emmanuel Osita Okereke and Secretary, Shittu Mohammed, the parties said INEC, having failed in its "most basic responsibility" to conduct the April 2, 2011 National Assembly elections arbitrarily announced a new date without consultation with the political parties, who are the major stakeholders in the elections. .
The differences within the party leaders became apparent during the question and answer session when diverse opinions on the way forward started emerging. For instance, while Okereke, who chaired the meeting was asked what would they do if Jega insisted on going on with the elections, he said the parties would boycott the polls, a view that was not supported by two of the main opposition parties. .
First to spurn the suggestion was the CPC, which National Secretary Buba Galadima said the party would not boycott the elections. According to him, those advancing the boycott agenda were pushing the PDP agenda, which must not be allowed. A similar position was canvassed by the Deputy National Chairman of the ACN, Mr. Boss Mustapha.
"The fact of the matter is that our party has very clearly expressed its position as given out by the National Publicity Secretary advancing five cogent reasons why ACN feels that to proceed with the conduct of the elections would not be a very wise decision. And we are all Nigerians we know the problems that Jega now faces." .
Okereke said, "as it stands now, the parties are not prepared or ready for this new date and as such we are not party to the date as dictated by INEC. Therefore, the political parties have resolved that no election should hold on Monday, April 4, 2011 and that INEC should immediately convey a meeting of all leaders of political parties to chart an acceptable way forward."
They proposed that the botched National Assembly election should hold on April 9, the presidential election should be shifted to April 16, while the governorship/state assembly polls should come up on April 23, 2011. .
According to the resolution, "it is on record that partial voting took place in some states of the federation such as Lagos, Kano and Kaduna that have approximately 15 million registered voters. In this regard about 15 million ballot papers have been used for this partial voting. The question is how does INEC intend to replace the 15 million ballot papers already used in the botched process under 24 hours?
"Also, it is on record that ballot papers have been partially issued to most voting centres in the federation, implying that the security of the ballot papers and the ballot boxes have been compromised. We, therefore totally doubt INEC's ability to safeguard and guarantee the safety of these electoral materials now freely in circulation, bearing in mind that it was broadcast on national television that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members involved in the process were conveyed to centres by private vehicles. Besides, the nation has been told by INEC that its failure is a direct consequence of defaults on the part of its contractor to deliver the necessary materials. INEC needs to specify, who this contractor is and every effort ought to be made to arrest and prosecute those responsible."
The statement added that with the on-going West African Examinations Council examinations, it was not feasible to hold elections on Monday (today) as doing so would disenfranchise many students who are taking the examinations. "In the light of the foregoing electoral logjam and given the goings-on in the Cote d'Ivoire and other African countries, we ask that stakeholders put all hands on deck to chart a new course for the country."
The Guardian learnt that what crippled operations and triggered off sabotage inside INEC was that Jega distributed operations and logistics portfolios of the bureaucracy and national commissioners among his kinsmen in the North: National Commissioner for Logistics is Col. Hammanga (rtd), (Adamawa); Director of Logistics, Alhaji Usman Farouk, National Commissioner for Operations, Dr. Nuhu Yakubu while the commission's boss held the portfolio of Information and Communication Technology because "he does not trust anybody...."
When Jega was confronted on this structure last Wednesday in Abuja when he addressed journalists, he said: "I met them here and I did not touch them." .
Source: How INEC bowed to parties' pressure for polls extension (http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=43682:how-inec-bowed-to-parties-pressure-for-polls-extension&catid=1:national&Itemid=559)