THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has ruled out the possibility of postponing the coming presidential and National Assembly elections, describing calls to that effect as “unconstitutional at this juncture.”
A coalition of opposition parties had risen from a meeting on Tuesday night in Abuja with a demand for the postponement of the elections on the ground that last Saturday’s governorship and state Assembly elections were massively rigged across the country.
They asked that the shift be taken until a level-playing field is provided for elections. Vice President Atiku Abubakar attended the afternoon session of the meeting, which lasted till late evening.
But INEC’s National Commissioner in charge of Publicity, Philip Umeadi (Jnr), told The Guardian yesterday that the elections would hold as scheduled. He argued that a postponement, as canvassed by the opposition parties, would lead to a violation of the 1999 Constitution.
His words: “No postponement of any scheduled elections on Saturday. We will not violate the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Section 132 (2) of the Constitution is quite clear on the issue. We cannot accommodate the demand of the opposition parties without violating the Constitution.”
Section 132 of the constitution provides:
(1) An election to the office of the President shall be held on a date to be appointed by the Independent Electoral Commission.
(2) An election to the said office shall be held on a date not earlier than sixty days and not later than thirty days before the expiration of the term of office of the last holder of that office.”
Umeadi, a legal practitioner added: “There is no way we can postpone the elections without running foul of the law. In this regard, we cannot conduct election before March 29, 2007 and we cannot conduct it after April 29, according to the Constitution.”
Umeadi argued further: “We cannot amend the constitution, even if we can amend the Electoral Act 2006. The Constitution is supreme. I think those suggesting postponement, are not aware of the provision of the Constitution on this issue. So, where is the time for adjustment from 14 April to April 28?”
The INEC Commissioner said that it was paradoxical that the same opposition leaders who had last month demanded that the elections hold as scheduled, were now canvassing a contrary position.
He said: “It is a big irony really that the same set of people who barely a month ago accused us of attempt to postpone elections and shoddy preparation are now asking us to postpone elections until level-playing ground can be achieved. When will the ground be level to accommodate that?”
He continued: “They should be asking us whether we are ready to accommodate the AC (Action Congress) presidential candidate whom the Supreme Court has ruled should be included. Even the AC members who fought a hard won battle to include their candidate should be concerned about whether we can accommodate them. Not how we should disrupt the election that the whole world has come here to observe.”
Umeadi declared further: “INEC is ready to meet the ballot paper requirement. We prepared for the exigency that the Supreme Court judgment has imposed on us as far as the AC candidate is concerned. That should be our challenge. But we are ready to meet that challenge”.
The INEC spokesman wondered why “people and political analysts are not talking about the level playing ground in Lagos, Kano and Abia states where even international observers have hailed INEC.”
He blamed the mayhem that trailed the last Saturday’s election in several parts of the country on “scenario builders and analysts who had predicted from the comfort of their rooms how the elections should be lost and won.”
He continued: “The trouble is that the analysts and the elite most of whom did not vote, had prepared the minds of the malleable and gullible people about possible outcome of the elections without considering variables that determine outcomes of elections. Some conducted polls in the cities where people and respondents hardly vote. That is the building block for the reaction that greeted some results”.
Meanwhile, The Guardian learnt that INEC would today take delivery of fresh ballot papers that contain the logo of the AC, a party that was initially excluded before last Monday’s landmark judgment.