Don’t postpone the elections

Without prejudice to Section 26 of the Electoral Act which
empowers the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) to postpone scheduled elections under certain
conditions, we urge the electoral agency to press ahead with
the presidential and gubernatorial elections as scheduled.
The calls for postponement have come from several sources,
one of the most remarkable being that of the National Security
Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki, at a forum in Chatham
House, London. He urged INEC to postpone the elections to
enable the commission distribute the remaining permanent
voter cards (PVCs).
At first, many had thought he spoke for the government, but
the ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and its
presidential candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan, have
since argued against a postponement. Other calls for a shift
had emanated from Nigerians who are justifiably perturbed by
the tone of the campaigns, the lack of civility and the
occasional outbreaks of violence. Much as these call for
concern, we do not think they are enough to justify a post­
ponement of the polls.
All the parties have been campaigning without let or
hindrance. They have been spending colossal sums of money
and they all are geared for the elections. A postponement,
unless all the parties agree to it, would seem like a plot to
deprive some parties of their real or imagined momentum.
The nation can be spared further controversy by going ahead
with the elections as scheduled while at the same time
working hard on the outstanding issues that are of concern to
Nigerians. The PVC issue is causing millions of Nigerians
sleepless nights because it has the potentiality of
disenfranchising millions of voters, especially if the INEC
insists, as it has done so far, that nobody will be allowed to
vote without it.
The figures concerning the PVCs are rather disturbing. The
INEC recorded 68.8 million registered voters for the elections.
Of this figure, only about 44 million voters have reportedly
collected their PVCs. In other words, if elections were to be
held today, about 24 million registered voters would be
disenfranchised.
Now, the issue bothering many Nigerians is the fear that
between now and February 14, 2015 when the first election
will hold, INEC would not have successfully fully distributed
the PVCs. The geographical spread of the distribution of the
cards is also so lopsided that it has led to suspicions that
some regions have already been disenfranchised.
We urge INEC to pull out all the stops and make every effort
to get the PVCs into the hands of registered voters. Millions
have gone to INEC offices and returned frustrated, unable to
pick their cards and not knowing what next to do. It is good
that the commission has extended the deadline for collection
of PVCs to February 8. It should make further special
arrangements to ensure that a lot more people collect their
cards before that date.
Registered voters should also now make extra effort to collect
their PVCs before the deadline because, ultimately, the
responsibility for collecting these cards rests solely on them.
The duty of INEC is only to make sure that the cards are
available at the designated places. The Federal Government
should also consider declaring tomorrow and Saturday work-
free days nationwide to give those who have not collected
their cards the opportunity to do so.
We are truly disappointed that at this last minute, INEC is still
bogged down with the collection of PVCs when it had a four-
year notice on these elections. The electoral agency owes
Nigeria clean elections after what happened in 2011, and in
previous elections. Otherwise, it would have failed its ultimate
test. We hope this does not happen.
The National Council of State is widely expected to deliberate
on the postponement, or otherwise, of the polls at a meeting
reportedly called by President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja
today. Our advice is that the elections be allowed to go on as
scheduled. Any decision to the contrary may lay the nation
open to a crisis with dire consequences for our democracy.