Following the cancellation of the Senate and following the cancellation of the Senate and House of Representatives elections yesterday, Nigerians have been assessing the impact of the cancellation.
One of such is the huge capital losses the postponement will add to the already castigated 94.3 billion naira set out for the 2011 general election. Obviously, the entire 94.3 billion naira allocated for the entire process would not have been lost but it will not be incorrect to assume that a substantial part of the money must have been lost to the cancellation.
Mention must be made that out of the initial 87.7 billion naira allocated for the entire process, 25.8 billion was set aside as recurrent expenditure for INEC staff who consists largely of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member while 61.9 billion naira was separated as capital expenditure from which funds used for the printing of ballot papers used for the botched election were drawn.
At this juncture, some questions beg for answers. Topmost among them is what happens to the entitlements of the ad hoc staff mobilized for the election that was never held? What happens to the logistics that have paid for preparatory to the elections? Will the ad hoc staff used by INEC be paid for a job some of them did not even start? Will the ad hoc staff be demobilized and mobilized in less than 48 hours for the election tomorrow?
But this should be the least of worries if the much desired free and fair election is taken into consideration. Obviously, the biggest loss of the postponed election is that Nigerians, and by extension politicians, know understand the depth of INEC. They now know the strength and weakness of the electoral body and may be waiting in the wings to take advantage of the lapses they saw yesterday.
Despite the assurances given by Professor Attahiru Jega that voting had not started as at 12:30 when he addressed the nation yesterday, voting had actually started in some places.The list of prominent Nigerians who voted is endless–former President Olusegun Obasanjo, presidential candidate of the Congress for Political Change (CPC), Muhammadu Buhari and the Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, had all exercised their franchise before the announcement was made. At least pictures do not lie.
Away from the late arrival of voting materials that INEC claimed to have necessitated the cancelation, what happened between the about five hours that some Nigerians thought they were voting calls for serious concerns. Yesterday, Nigerians saw INEC ad hoc staff carrying election materials on their heads without proper arrangement by INEC for their transportation. In many of the polling booths, there were no policemen to provide security during the elections as only a handful of men of the Nigeria Civil Defence were available.
The ugly scenario of the past that Nigerians thought the nation had passed also raised its ugly head once again as many people could not find their names on the voter’s list. In some parts of Jigawa State, the police had difficult time managing the trouble that broke out after it was discovered that the name of the Congress for Political Change (CPC) was omitted on the ballot papers. Then, there was the name of a non-existing party, AC, on the ballot papers and the non appearance of an existing party, the Alliance for Democracy (AD).
These lapses put a question mark on the possibility of having an election that will be devoid of the usual practices of the past. Nigerian politicians are said to be aggressive; they will stop at anything to win an election. Now, they now have an upstart. The biggest being that they now know how the ballot papers look like. Not only that, they now know the colour and the serialization of the ballot papers.
With a paltry 48 hours postponement, how far INEC can go into correcting the advantages it has offered phony Nigerian politicians is still unknown. Just how much loopholes can the electoral body block in less than 48 hours?
Already, two of the leading political parties in the country—ACN and CPC—have have raised concerns over the desirability of the election holding tomorrow. Even the Jonathan Presidential Campaign Committee has expressed its concern.
Publicity Secretary of the ACN, Lai Mohammed, said ‘the new date does not give us enough time to re-mobilize 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 mobilize our agents for Monday’s election? Only the PDP can quickly mobilize such fund. So, that date cannot stand,” Mohammed said.
The PDP is not celebrating the postponement either. Speaking yesterday, Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State said, “from what I have received from my colleagues across the nation, Jega has failed us. We still insist that people should be accredited, vote and go away, if we don’t want violence. I no longer have confidence in Professor Jega.”
Truly, Professor Jega has no reason to fail the nation since he was provided the needed condition to thrive. President Goodluck Jonathan equally did not interfere in the activities of INEC as he promised the nation and it is reasonable to distance him from any tantrum that may be thrown at Jega and his INEC. The Senate, realising the importance of the election, also appropriated the necessary fund for INEC without much questioning every time he asked for it. For these reasons, Professor Jega has no reason to fail and Nigerians are waiting to see on which side he will fall in the chequered history of the nation.