INEC and the burden of credible gubernatorial elections in Edo, Ondo
As the gubernatorial elections in Edo and Ondo states draw nearer, one of the major concerns of watchers of political events in Nigeria has been on the possibility of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) organising and supervising credible polls.
The apprehension stemmed from past experiences, where despite ample time for preparation and assurances by the Commission to deliver, outcomes were not salutary enough. INEC has continued to have problems delivering credible elections.
With a lot of interest being shown in the forth-coming elections in the two states, particularly Edo, pundits say INEC has a serious burden to prove its independence.
Tom Onos, a Lagos-based ICT specialist, said that INEC had the opportunity to rewrite its history and to clean up its image that had been soiled in its handling of recent elections.
“If you look at what is already playing out in Edo and Ondo states, the elections in the two states will be fierce. In Edo particularly, with what we have seen, it is going to be a battle ground. Some aggrieved politicians would want to show their power and flex their muscles. INEC must be transparent and seen to be so. It must display that independent character. For me, I have since lost confidence in the INEC; I am expecting them to prove me wrong,” Onos said.
In Edo State, the two major political parties have already elected their gubernatorial candidates. Whereas the incumbent Governor Godwin Obaseki is flying the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) flag to which he recently defected, Osagie Ize-iyamu is the standard bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Recall that the refusal of the national leadership of the APC to clear Obaseki for the primary election forced him out of the party.
In Ondo State, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of the APC is also in attrition war to get the ticket of his party. Akeredolu recently visited President Muhammadu Buhari; a move that was interpreted as targeted at lobbying for second term ticket ahead of the October 10, 2020 governorship election in the state.
With the armada of opposition swelling around him from within the party trying to send him out of Alagbaka Government House in Akure, nothing is sacrosanct for him.
But despite the internal wrangling, pundits say that “everything rises and falls” at the foot of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Since the return of Nigeria to civil rule in 1999, elections have moved from bad to worse. It was so bad in 2007 that Human Rights Watch in its report on the election observed violence and intimidation in Gombe and Katsina states in an electoral process that denied large numbers of voters the opportunity to cast their votes.
According to the report, where voting did occur, it was marred by the late opening of polls, a severe shortage of ballot papers, the widespread intimidation of voters, the seizure of ballot boxes by gangs of thugs, vote buying and other irregularities.
“Instead of guaranteeing citizens’ basic right to vote freely, Nigerian government and electoral officials actively colluded in the fraud and violence that marred the presidential polls in some areas,” said Peter Takirambudde, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “In other areas, officials closed their eyes to human rights abuses committed by supporters of the ruling party and others.”
Observers say that the situation has since degenerated. The INEC has always been verbally insulted and assaulted by aggrieved parties, politicians and supporters whenever things do not go in their (such stakeholders) favour during elections.
Instances abound where some politicians, who, at the commencement of an election, tongue-lashed INEC officials, accusing them of carrying out some sinister motives, eventually turned round to heap encomium on the Commission for a job well done, after they, the politicians, eventually emerged victorious in the same election.
The Commission has continued to lose people’s confidence. The conduct and outcome of some of the recent elections have eroded the confidence of many in the Commission.
For instance, INEC’S rating, observers say, has been on free fall since the off-season gubernatorial election in Osun State in September 2018. It was believed by analysts that the election was not as transparent as it should be.
The situation worsened in the 2019 general election, which has severally been adjudged by various organisations, as the worst in the history of Nigeria.
INEC watched helplessly as all manner of electoral malfeasance took place under its nose. Some officials of the Commission were accused of colluding with politicians to perpetrate fraud. Voters were chased away from polling units by armed thugs in army and police uniform; ballot boxes burnt or carted away, many voters injured and a few were killed.
There were many problems with the 2019 general election as the reports of local and international election observers reveal. In summary, there were logistical problems. INEC could not efficiently distribute election materials across the country resulting in the postponement of the elections from February 16th to February 23rd, 2019.
Even after the postponement, INEC did not get election materials to some polling booths in the country until midday of the election. The card reader machines used to authenticate registered voters failed to work in many parts of the country disenfranchising thousands of eligible voters. The voting and collation procedure for the general elections was slow and cumbersome.
INEC did not collate and announce election results in real time. This created tension and a lot of anxiety. The 91 registered political parties did not show any remarkable improvement in electoral penetration.
In the Kogi and Bayelsa gubernatorial elections on November 16, last year, the situation got worse. Against the call for cancellation of the charade that took place in some parts of the state, INEC pointedly told one of the contestants, the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Kogi State, Natasha Akpoti, that “it was too late to cancel Kogi election.”
Nigerians have continued to watch helplessly as unpopular candidates emerge victorious by sheer brute force as voters are chased away from polling centres.
Refuting the allegation that INEC has always danced to the tune of some pay masters, Festus Okoye, national commissioner and chairman, information and voter education, INEC, said it was not true.
“We are not pandering to anybody; we are doing our work to the best of our knowledge and in the interest of our people and our country, Nigeria. The only thing we are interested in doing is to conduct free, fair and transparent elections. But we will insist that political parties that are registered in Nigeria must obey the constitution and also the law. If you fall outside the radar, we will apply the law the way we understand it,” Okoye said.