FEATURE ARTICLE

Temple Chima UbochiWednesday, February 11, 2015
[email protected]
Bonn, Germany

ANNOUNCE THIS ARTICLE
TO YOUR FRIENDS

2015 GENERAL ELECTIONS:
FACTUAL ANALYSES AND MY ENDORSEMENT (10)

advertisement

Continued from Part 9

There's no harm in hoping for the best as long as you're prepared for the worst (Stephen King)

People were always getting ready for tomorrow. I didn't believe in that. Tomorrow wasn't getting ready for them. It didn't even know they were there (Cormac McCarthy)

Don't rush in order to have things done early. Be prepared before you set off. That's the rule. However, this does not mean that you keep delaying the time for beginning. You must begin by all means! Go, get prepared! (Israelmore Ayivor)

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has decided to postpone the February polls. The poll shifts were something many of us have been clamoring for, due to the incomplete distribution of the PVCs, amongst other factors, because, according to Hunter S. Thompson (1937 -2005) "anything worth doing, is worth doing right". No need rushing to conduct elections, when INEC was unprepared for the exercise, contrary to the false picture the body painted that it was ready for the polls, and, coupled with the fact that the prevalent conditions in some parts of Nigeria make it impossible for polls to hold in those areas, without first of all addressing and remedying those dangerous conditions. The shifts show that God still loves Nigeria, and Wants us to get it right, because, if the polls were allowed to go ahead as earlier scheduled, on February 14 and 28 respectively, things would have gotten out of hand, leading to a snowballing series of mistakes with catastrophic consequences of unimaginable proportion for Nigeria. Many would have been disenfranchised due to not receiving their Personal Voting Card (PVC) before the elections; INEC would have sent out its personnel and ad hoc staff to conduct the elections, without properly training them on how to use the new gadgets such as the card reading machines, thereby putting the whole exercise into jeopardy, as the outcome of the elections could have been compromised by such hitches, and probably, glitches. Now, INEC has the ample time to train the election workers on how to use those machines. Few days to February 14, the former date for the presidential poll, INEC was still to distribute all the materials for the elections to all parts of the states in Nigeria; INEC was facing logistic nightmares, so now, it has the time to distribute all the materials to wherever they are needed. Holding the election this February would have distracted the military; in order to avoid the military giving us the excuse that the election made it not to concentrate fully in its battle against Boko Haram, the shifts are then worthwhile.

Most importantly, the shifts will expose most of the contestants for who they really are. The shifts might sort the grains out of the chaff, as so many of the contestants are fakes, who were trudging, hoping that the elections would be over in a week or two, as the case may be. With the shifts, many of the fake contestants might not make it till the new dates. So many of the contestants were hanging on, with the hope that it will all be over in a few days or a week time, but, the shifts "pulled the rug out from under them", as they no longer have the wherewithal to go the extra "mile", till the new dates. The shifts will show us those wearing "borrowed robes", which they promised to give back to the owners by February ending. Now, they will finish the race "nakedly", thereby exposing who they really are. Many of the contestants borrowed to stay on the race, but now, with the shifts, what they borrowed might not carry them through to the new dates. Let's see the contestants who will have the physical, mental and financial strengths to make it to the end. Many campaigns would be dead by the end of February, watch out! The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), while commending INEC for putting the national interest first, by postponing the polls in order to seek a peaceable atmosphere during the elections, enabling all Nigerians of voting age to effectively participate at the polls, also bemoaned the effect of the postponement, when it said: "We would be amiss if we did not admit that this sudden INEC action will bring untold hardship and undue stress to all the 2015 Electoral contestants, who were looking forward to some respite in the few days ahead, after the long campaigns. Secondary to this action however, they will now need to continue a prolonged campaign and also, source for fresh funding to sustain same. Frankly, that is not an appeasing thought".

Insignificantly, the new dates will also give yours truly a little breathing space, 'cause, I was galloping to finish this article before February 14, the former date (I wouldn't have made it anyway).

What is it all about? The electoral umpire, INEC, has shifted the 2015 general elections' dates, from February 14 to March 28 for the presidential election, and, from February 28 to April 11 for the governorship election. The shifts came after INEC's series of meetings with political stakeholders. While justifying the shift, INEC gave a plethora of reasons why it had to change the dates. Addressing a news conference, the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, said postponement of the election had become imperative in view of the security situation in the country. He said the security agencies had said they could not guarantee the safety of INEC staff, election materials and the electorate, and that since the electoral body could not compromise the safety of its staff, the election has to be shifted. The point Jega made was that the poll shift would allow extra time for a newly constituted multinational force to secure the North-East, which is currently being plagued by Boko Haram attacks. And that it would also enable the commission continue distribution of Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) to citizens to prevent mass disenfranchisement. From Jega, we learnt that the Security Services needed at least six weeks within which to conclude a major military operation against the insurgency in the Northeast; and that during this operation, the military will be concentrating its attention in the theatre of operations, such that they may not be able to provide the traditional support they render to the Police and other agencies during elections. The military made it clear that it can't afford to divide its attention by facing the war it is fighting against Boko Haram, and at the same time guaranteeing the safety of the INEC personnel and materials on one hand, and that of the voters and observers, on the other. It then advised INEC to postpone the election, for at least 6 weeks, so that it could put all its effort in routing the insurgents, since it has been re-armed with the arrival of latest and sophisticated weapons, so that thereafter, elections would hold all over Nigeria at the same time.

According to Jega, "the commission decided to take the advice of the security chiefs and adjust the dates of the elections in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act. For the fact the commission was not a security agency that could guarantee protection of personnel, voters during elections and observers, the commission could not likely wave-off the advice by the nation's security chiefs. The commission is concerned about the security of our ad-hoc staff, the young men and women of the NYSC and students of the tertiary education who constitute at least 600,000 young men and women that we will use in the election. The concern was not limited to the areas in the north-eastern part of the nation that has witnessed series of attacks by the members of a terrorist group, the Boko Haram, but to the security of the commission's officials and the observers. We believe that few election management bodies around the world will contemplate conducting elections under these circumstances. I emphasize that the prospect for free, fair and credible elections will not be guaranteed if the election was held as scheduled. We call on security agencies to restore sufficient normalcy for elections to take place within the period of extension. Nigerians and political parties' candidates should accept the decision in good faith and ensure the maintenance of peace". Jega also added that the postponement of the election will further give political parties more time to seek supports votes.

But, it wasn't only the security situation that made INEC to shift the dates. Infact, INEC wanted the shift of the dates, but, didn't know how to ask for it, and was relieved a great deal, when the military asked for same. In other words, the military made INEC to get what it has been looking for and didn't know how to ask for it. Apart from security concerns, logistic problems also led to the shift of the dates: The issue of Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) distribution is also one of the reasons for the shift of the dates, as many people have lamented that the process of the distribution was going on at a snail's speed. So, the postponement will afford INEC more time to distribute the remaining PVCs, as not to disenfranchise anybody who wants to vote. Think about it: When people such as Governor Fashola have not received his PVC till now, what is the fate of so many other ordinary Nigerians? Also, the INEC is not fully prepared for the elections, as it hasn't trained its personnel and ad hoc staff on how to use the election gadgets. Some many INEC personnel don't know how to operate the card readers; and the card readers have not been supplied to all the states, thereby depriving the INEC personnel and the ad hoc staff, in those states, the opportunity to acquaint themselves with the workings of the machines (the various intricacies of the machine's workings) before the elections. The shifts will now afford INEC the time to make up for those shortcomings, and to fix any problem not yet addressed prior to the shifts.

I have a problem with Prof. Jega here. He blew the security issue and the letter the Service Chief wrote to INEC out of proportion. In the kind of environment we now live, and in respect of the on-going war against insurgency, such a letter from the security chiefs should have been handled as "Top Secret", without "throwing" it out into the public domain. What the INEC boss should have done was to call the leaders of the political parties and explain to them, in confidence and as a secret to be guarded, that the Service Chiefs asked for time to mop up their on-going operations, thereby asking the Political Parties' bosses not to divulge the information out. Over emphasizing this letter from the security chiefs, must have tipped the Boko Haram off, and would make them to gear up for more battle, now it has heard that there's a plan to "finish it up" in 6 weeks. Don't be surprised, if tomorrow, the leader of Boko Haram releases a new video commenting on this issue of "6 weeks" and Nigeria's election. Infact, Shekau immediately asked the multi-national forces to "come and take their defeat from him".

Also, there are allegations against Prof. Jega, on how he has been compromised, and how he is not what he wants people to believe about him. Nobody knows the fact from the fiction for now. All I know is that I read where it was written that "the embattled INEC Chairman had opted to resign several times before the 2015 election following unflattering practices attributed to his person and office. The latest round of accusation against the INEC Chairman comes amid calls for his resignation over broad allegations of bias from groups across the country. Many of the groups alleged that Prof Jega's actions had showed his bias against the southern regions of Nigerian and against political parties who are not in-line with the All Progressive Congress [APC]". TheCable wrote that "An uneasy relationship now exists between presidency and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the reason adduced for the adjustment of the general election dates. Attahiru Jega, a professor of political science and INEC chairman, had attributed the shift in dates from February 14 and 28 to March 28 and April 11 respectively to a letter written by the military over its "inability" to provide security for the elections because of ongoing operations against Boko Haram in the north-east. But a presidency official who spoke with TheCable at the weekend said Jega was being "clever by half" and was attempting to "pass the buck" in order to cover up for INEC's poor preparations for the elections. The official only spoke on the condition that he would not be quoted. "Jega was not sincere at all. The collection of PVCs was to end last Saturday and 23 million cards were yet to be distributed. Why was Jega not man enough to admit they would have bungled the elections if the dates had remained unchanged?" he asked. According to the official, who is a presidential aide, the security issue was just one of the several factors that necessitated the shift in the dates "but Jega has cleverly gone to tell the whole world that it was the security agencies that forced him to change the dates." He said journalists should have asked him what he intended to do with the 23 million uncollected PVCs as well as the ones that were stolen from INEC's custody. "Jega was also silent on the fact that the machines that would be deployed to read the cards had not been tested and its officials had not even been trained on how to use them, while there is yet no consolidated voter register. Jega himself admitted to his commissioners that the election would have ended in chaos if INEC had gone ahead. The letter written by the chief of defence staff was the perfect excuse for him to shift the polls and heap all the blame on security," he said".

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has cried foul about the shifts, lamenting that such was a major setback for Nigerian democracy. Thinking that momentum resides with it, the APC accused the PDP of using the postponement to prevent its imminent defeat. All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, told AFP that he was expecting a clear victory against incumbent Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party. As we can remember, immediately after the Council of State Meeting last week, APC, through Governor Rochas Okorocha, misinformed the public that INEC is ready for the election, and that the Council of State asked it to go ahead without any change of dates, contrary to what Governor Mimiko of PDP was saying that Jega was asked to go and consult with INEC directors and other stakeholders. Now, Nigerians know who was saying the truth.

The United States of America frowned at the shifts; reminded that the world is watching Nigeria; and thereby urging that the elections should not be delayed further than the new dates. A statement from the office of the US Secretary of States, John Kerry, reads, amongst other things, "It is critical that the government not use security concerns as a pretext for impeding the democratic process". Also, the United Kingdom, through its Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, said the shift of the elections was a cause for concern. Hear him: "While we support Nigeria in its struggle against terrorism, the security situation should not be used as a reason to deny the Nigerian people from exercising their democratic rights. It is vital that the elections are kept on track and held as soon as possible in accordance with international norms."

United States and United Kingdom are hypocrites; they are playing double standards. What is the USA saying, when it refused to sell us weapons to fight the terrorists? If USA had sold the weapons to us, when we asked for them, by now the war against the terrorists would have been over, and then, there wouldn't have been any need to shift the dates of the elections. What's the USA or UK's interest in this election, when none of them wanted to equip the Nigerian military for the battle ahead? The worst was that the United States blocked all the European countries in NATO from selling any weapon to Nigeria. The United States also stopped Israel from selling cobra helicopters to Nigeria, so what does the United States really want from Nigeria?

What's important now is no longer the shifting of the dates of the elections, but, fixing the problems, which led to the shifts, before the Presidential election coming up on March 28. Joe summed it thus: "We have a 6 week window to make Jega do the work he is paid for. He should: 1. Distribute the remaining 23 million PVCs. In an election expected to be close, 23 million disenfranchised voters is too high a number. 2. Confirm that all the required card readers have been delivered to the states. 3. Test ALL the card readers to ensure they are working. 4. TRAIN ALL the ad hoc staff in the use of this equipment. Will the card readers run on electricity? Batteries? I doubt that Jega can answer yes 100% to these questions today. He now has breathing space to finalize the arrangements. And we need to focus pressure on Jega. He is the only one with the power to provide us a free and fair election".

Read more:

https://elombah.com/detail.php?world=29931

https://elombah.com/detail.php?world=29844

https://247ureports.com/why-jega-has-already-drafted-his-resignation-letter/

https://www.thecable.ng/exclusive-presidency-angry-jega-blaming-poll-shift-security-chiefs

https://nigeriapulse.com/jega-plots-with-northern-elders-to-install-buhari-southern-leaders/

To be continued!

TIT BITS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZf-Zft85Xs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_A4x52BPMo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGyIqT6HvJQ&list=RDeGyIqT6HvJQ#t=2

THE THANX IS ALL YOURS!!!

Continued from Part 9

advertisement
IMAGES IN THE NEWS