WORRIED IN TARABA

The Independent National Electoral Commission’s re-deployment of officers raises eyebrows, writes Amos Agada

Evil political seeds are being sowed by enemies of Taraba State ahead of the 2019 elections in the state. The youth wing of the Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Taraba State recently uncovered the plot and raised the alarm. The group has established, to the surprise and consternation of all peace-loving people of Taraba, cases of ill-motivated redeployment of many officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) who are Christians in many local government areas of the state. All the re-deployed staff were replaced by Muslims, according to the group’s findings.

At a well-attended news conference addressed in Jalingo, September 22, 2017, Pastor Ephraim Kwanchi, chairman of the CAN youth wing, said the re-deployments were part of a grand plan being masterminded by some religious bigots in and outside Taraba State to manipulate “the ongoing processes of producing the updated voters register nationwide by the national electoral body.” The plot, the group said, “is aimed at disenfranchising Christians in Taraba State and possibly inflating the number of prospective Muslim voters through the registration of under-aged persons. The entire plot is aimed at influencing the outcome of future elections in the state in favour of Muslim candidates.

The group quoted statistics on past and recent deployments of INEC electoral officials in the state to support its allegation of bias and injustice against Christians. It said that during the 2015 general election, “only three out of the 16 electoral officers were Christians. The remaining were Muslims. But following the post-election review carried out which saw to the reshuffling of electoral officers nationwide, 12 out of the 16 officers posted to or retained in Taraba State were Christians while the remaining four were Muslims.”

The group observed that the most recent re-deployment of six out of the 12 Christians who have now been replaced with Muslims now brings the number of Muslim electoral officers to 10 leaving six Christian officers. It then asked a pertinent question: “Why is INEC removing six Christian electoral officers now and replacing them with Muslim electoral officers when it did not deem it necessary to do same during the 2015 general election when there were 13 Muslim electoral officers and only three Christian electoral officers?” The group said it found it curious that the six affected electoral officers were deployed only two months after they were posted to the local government areas affected by the recent postings.

The development, according to the group, is worrisome because of the potential threat it poses to peace and security in the state. “It is very clear to us that the motive behind this unacceptable action of INEC is for these Muslim electoral officers to ensure that non-Muslims are denied the opportunity of registration and the permanent voter card. We suspect that this is part of the grand design to manipulate the outcome of major future elections. This is unacceptable to the Christian community in Taraba State.” It condemned these deployments as an attempt by religious bigots to manipulate the voter registration exercise and the entire electoral process and warned those behind it to retrace their steps.

In case INEC leaders in Jalingo and Abuja do not know, the CAN youth wing that addressed the press on this sensitive issue spoke the minds of millions of Christians in the state. They demonstrated a huge amount of courage and patriotism by taking the bold, mature and legitimate steps they have taken to draw the attention of INEC authorities to this highly explosive issue. They deserve commendation for their choice of this very mature approach of channelling their complaints. Some other groups would take to the streets in protest and in the process cause mayhem. It is now left for INEC to heed the advice the group has voluntarily offered on this issue. It must act fast in nullifying the suspicious re-deployments and halt further similar actions that are suggestive of religious bias.

There are two lessons to be learnt from the patriotic action of the CAN youth wing in Taraba on this issue. One is that, Nigeria is a religiously sensitive country. Taraba State is no exception. Any important institutional arrangement such as elections must not exhibit any form of bias against any of the two main religious persuasions – Christianity and Islam. What INEC has done with the clearly ill-motivated re-deployment of INEC officials in Wukari, Kurmi, Karim Lamido, Ussa, Ibi and Jalingo amounts to sowing the seeds of political discord that is destined to lead to bitter and regrettable consequences in future. We all must thank God that these youths are drawing attention to this political landmine in good time.

Election, as members of the group observed in the press statement, is the major ingredient for the sustenance of democracy. It is also the best means of political recruitment for service to the people. If election is flawed, democracy will be gravely hampered. Therefore, nothing must be done to put the electoral process in jeopardy. The deliberate advantage that the replacement of re-deployed Christian INEC officers by their Muslim counterparts seeks to guarantee Muslim candidates in future elections is a clear attempt to bastardise the electoral process in the state. It amounts to rigging the elections right from the voter registration stages. Tarabans are not as politically naive as those behind this unfortunate rigging plot probably think.

The second lesson is the need to avoid anything that will threaten peace and security which the Governor Ishaku administration has achieved for the state through hard work. There cannot be peace if there is no justice. This obviously biased re-deployment of INEC electoral officers is one clear case of injustice done against the Christian community in the state. It has evoked impassioned sentiments which, if not promptly and properly redressed, could threaten peace and stability in the state.

The issue is now at the door-steps of INEC. What it does with the points raised by these patriotic young Christians will go a long way in determining the peaceful conduct and the legitimacy or otherwise of the election of 2019. It will also determine whether the people will go into the elections in peace or in crisis fuelled by injustice and mutual suspicion. The choice is INEC’s to make. And it must do so quickly by nullifying the controversial re-deployments and resist further attempts to be cajoled into making unfair decisions capable of inducing tension and crisis in the polity.

Agada wrote from Jalingo