2019: The Many Hurdles Before INEC
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recently cleared the coast for the conduct of the 2019 elections by announcing relevant dates for the exercise. But many watchers believe that the coast may not yet be clear as the commission still has several hurdles on its way. Daily Trust on Sunday examines the hurdles.
While defending INEC’s budget before the House of Representatives’ Committee on Electoral Matters in Abuja recently, the chairman of the commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, said they had begun preparations for the 2019 general elections.
Also, during the opening ceremony of a two-day strategic workshop to review the implementation of the commission’s strategic plan, Prof. Yakubu said the electoral body is determined to building a functional system ahead of the 2019 general elections.
Stressing the need to reflect on the constitutional and legally defined responsibilities of the commission, Yakubu said: “We need to re-strategise for the 2019 general elections and beyond to come up with practical solutions on how to strengthen the electoral process. This we will do based on the policies of fairness, transparency, credibility and impartiality.”
Perhaps it was to convince Nigerians of its level of preparedness that INEC went ahead and rolled out dates for the conduct of key elections in 2019, a development that took not a few Nigerians by surprise, being the first time in the history of the country that an electoral umpire was coming up with election dates two years ahead of time.
The commission fixed Saturday, February 16, 2019 for the conduct of the presidential election while the governorship, state assemblies and Federal Capital Territory area council elections have been slated to hold on Saturday March 2.
Citing some advanced democracies in the world, national commissioner in charge of the South-West, Prince Solomon Soyebi, who announced the dates at a news briefing said: “Our democracy is maturing and the commission believes that there should be certainty with regards to timetable for elections. For instance, in the United States, general elections always hold on the second Tuesday of November in the election year. In Ghana, it’s the 7th of December of the election year, while in other places like Mexico, Norway, Sweden, Costa Rica and Switzerland, the dates are also known.”
By announcing dates for key elections two years earlier, the INEC has set the ball rolling for the conduct of the 2019 general elections. But many observers and analysts believe the coast is far from clear as there are many hurdles the commission would have to face before the election year. Daily Trust on Sunday highlights some of the hurdles below.
Absence of resident electoral commissioners
One of the major hurdles INEC will face ahead of the 2019 elections is the absence of resident electoral commissioners, who are responsible for piloting the affairs of the commission’s offices in the states. Currently, as many as 33 states are without such commissioners, thereby leaving the management of the commission’s offices in the affected states in the hands of administrative secretaries.
On March 4, this year, INEC announced that five more resident electoral commissioners (RECs) completed their tenure. They include Prof. Jacob Jatau (Federal Capital Territory), Mr. Segun Agbaje (Ondo), Barrister Austin Okojie (Bayelsa), Mr. Nasir Ayilara (Niger) and Baba Abba Yusuf (Adamawa).
Before then, 28 RECs had earlier completed their tenures, leaving the affected states without commissioners. The states were Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Edo, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara.
In addition to these, three more RECs will be leaving the services of INEC in July, and once they leave, the commission will be left with only one REC, whose tenure will end in 2020 after the 2019 general elections. Those that would quit in July, according to our findings, are Aniedi Ikoiwak (Rivers), Baritor Kpagig (Delta) and Habu Zarma Hinna (Taraba).
By implication, it is only Abdullahi Kaugama’s (Kaduna) tenure that will end in 2020. Although INEC said it had made representation to the presidency, which is saddled with the statutory responsibility of appointing RECs, it is believed that their absence in the states would affect the conduct of the 2019 elections. Constituency delineation Experts also believe that constituency delineation would constitute a hurdle for the INEC ahead of the 2019 general elections. The last time constituency delineation was carried out in Nigeria was in 1996 during the government of the late General Sani Abacha, over 20 years ago.
Section 73 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) provides that constituency delineation exercise should be carried out at intervals of not less than 10 years.
Perhaps it was against this background that some legal experts, during a recent roundtable discussion on constituency delineation held in Abuja, warned of a looming constitutional crisis if INEC goes ahead to conduct the 2019 elections based on the 1996 constituency delineation exercise.
Their fears were predicated on the fact that the population of the country has grown vastly since the last delineation exercise and there is an increase in the different areas of the country; hence the need to carry out a delineation of constituencies ahead of the 2019 polls.
Since representation is the bedrock of democracy, it goes without saying that constituency delineation is a critical component of the electoral process and the participation of the citizens in the process. This is because it is not only a constitutional
The commission fixed Saturday, February 16, 2019 for the conduct of the presidential election while the governorship, state assemblies and Federal Capital Territory area council elections have been slated to hold on Saturday March 2.
issue; it is statutory, political and demographic.
Creation of additional polling units
In the buildup to the 2015 general elections, the then chairman of INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega, had proposed the creation of 30,000 additional polling units across the country. But that was not realised due to the attendant criticisms from some sections of the country who alleged an ulterior motive.
The current chairman of INEC, Professor Yakubu had, upon assumption of office, indicated his desire to revive the proposal before the 2019 elections. In an interview with Daily Trust on Sunday in March 2016, Yakubu had said: “It is inevitable for this nation to establish additional polling units. Take Gwarimpa in Abuja for example. When these polling units were created as part of delineation of constituencies in 1996, there was no Gwarimpa, or if there was, it was just a small place. Gwarimpa is now described as the largest housing estate in Africa, but you will be surprised to know that there are only two polling units there.
“Every good decision we take in this country is sometimes subjected to unbelievable political considerations and interpretations. I don’t see how creation of additional polling units will help anybody; the only beneficiary, and that is the concern of the commission, is the voter. For instance, if you have in the FCT 1.22 million plus registered voters and you have 500 polling units and you create 800 more polling units, it is still 800 polling units for the same number of registered voters. In other words, the number of polling units will not increase the register of voters, so nobody gets any advantage at all. So we will go back to that; there is no doubt about it,” Yakubu had said. Every good decision we take in this country is sometimes subjected to unbelievable political considerations and interpretations. I don’t see how creation of additional polling units will help anybody; the only beneficiary, and that is the concern of the commission, is the voter.
One of the criticisms that trailed the proposal by his predecessor for the creation of additional polling units was the timing. Many critics said it was coming too close to the 2015 elections. It is against this backdrop that many also see the current INEC facing the same hurdle since the exercise is yet to commence.
Registration of political parties
By the last count, INEC had disclosed that the number of political associations that applied for registration as political parties had gone up to 86. The number is likely to rise. This was confirmed by the chairman of the commission, Professor Yakubu during INEC’s quarterly consultative meeting with leaders of political parties in Abuja last week. During the meeting, the commission welcomed 10 political parties that were deregistered after the 2015 general elections but were reinstated by court orders, bringing the current number of registered political parties in the country to 40.
Although INEC is statutorily mandated to register and de-register political parties as the case may be, many believe that it may be impossible for the commission to handle all the applications it currently received before the 2019 elections. The Electoral Act provides for the INEC to respond to each application within 30 days of receipt, failure of which the political association that applied would deem its application to have been considered. Registration of more political parties is, therefore, another hurdle that INEC would have to face ahead of the 2019 elections.
The Ken Nnamani Electoral Reform Committee report
Shortly after assumption of office, President Muhammadu Buhari, in October last year, inaugurated the Senator Ken Nnamani-led Electoral and Constitution Reform Committee. It was given eight weeks to complete its assignment. Not a few Nigerians had criticised the decision to inaugurate another committee on the subject matter. While some critics dismissed it as needless and wasteful, others argued that instead of the committee, the government should have implemented the retired Justice Mohammed Uwais Electoral Reform Committee’s report. To this school of thought, the Uwais committee, which also had Professor Attahiru Jega, who later became the national chairman of INEC as a member, made a series of all-encompassing recommendations covering the system of government, election conduct, election petitions, the judiciary, security, the role of the media, citizens, civil society organisations, among others. It went ahead to propose constitutional amendments that would lead to credible polls.
Currently, nothing appears to be heard of the committee, which has since exceeded its time frame. INEC is, however, expected to be availed of the committee’s report in order to study its recommendations and factor them into its preparations for the 2019 general elections. Permanent voter’s cards Every registered Nigerian voter is supposed to obtain a permanent voter’s card with which to be accredited during elections. However, in almost all the elections held under the current INEC, many voters were without PVCs. INEC had promised to provide those affected with their PVCs before the 2019 elections, but many still don’t have it. This will certainly pose another hurdle for the commission ahead of the 2019 polls. Diaspora voting Although the current leadership of INEC had expressed its readiness to allow Nigerians in the Diaspora to vote during elections, it appears the legal clauses restraining them are unlikely to be removed by the National Assembly before the 2019 elections.
INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, in November last year, while hosting the Senate Committee on Diaspora and NonGovernmental Organisations at the commission’s headquarters, said Nigerians in the Diaspora should be allowed to vote because of their population, economic contribution, as well as the fact that it is a global best practice in democracy.
“Allowing for Diaspora voting will enable Nigerians living abroad to register and vote in their countries of residence. However, for this to happen, several sections of the constitution and the Electoral Act have to be amended,” he said.
Perhaps it was in this regard that INEC later ruled out electronic and Diaspora voting in the 2019 general elections. Prof Yakubu made this known when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Finance to defend the commission’s 2017 budget.
He said that until the constitution was amended and necessary logistics put in place, it could not delve into electronic and Diaspora voting. We are on course - INEC But the Independent National Electoral Commission said it had put everything in process for the successful conduct of the 2019 elections. The chief press secretary to INEC chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, however, said the only hurdles were in the areas of delineation of constituencies and Diaspora voting, which were constitutional matters.
“We are on course; the only areas that pose a problem are delineation of constituencies and Diaspora voting. All these require constitutional amendments,” he said.
On the appointment of resident electoral commissioners, he said it was the belief of the commission that within the shortest possible time, the federal government would do the needful.
Allowing for Diaspora voting will enable Nigerians living abroad to register and vote in their countries of residence. However, for this to happen, several sections of the constitution and the Electoral Act have to be amended