Jega grabs the headlines

In the past 48 hours, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega has remained the most “popular” among teeming Nigerians.

The announcement he made on the cancellation of the National Assembly election, which was expected to kick-start the much-anticipated April general elections, gave him the “feat.” Indeed, no calculator, human or mechanical, can give the number of times the name, Jega has been mentioned in heated discussions since he made the unsettling announcement last Saturday afternoon. Yes, he has kept most lips busy in utter outrage.

Since then, there is hardly any mind-boggling name he has not been called – a disappointment, national shame, total failure and more!

Hitches, which many a Nigerian condemned as avoidable and inexplicable, marred the polls across the country. In most polling units, accreditation which was billed to start at 8 am did not begin until between 10am and 12.45pm when actual voting exercise should have begun. Culprit: Late arrival of INEC officials with voting materials.

Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon, a serving Senator from Lagos West who is also aspiring to return on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) found his name missing in the register. He was not alone with the headache and it remains a rude shock to many, how non-existent Action Congress (AC) found space on the ballot competing with ACN and it, reportedly logo – the broom.

The resultant hues and cries prompted Jega, who, apparently, had been inundated with head-splitting complaints across the land, to abort the exercise, thus announcing today for a repeat of the exercise. This has again changed after rounds of meetings paper and consultant.

In a fit of exasperation borne out of obvious disappointment, a voter told The Nation: “What Jega and his men have just committed is worse than murder. He has no excuse because the federal government gave him all the empowerment needed for INEC to midwife the elections desired to move the nation to the much-sought genuine gianthood.”

Although Jega owned up with unreserved apology over the mess, not a few believed that he had “murdered sleep” and hence, must quit. The Commonwealth and human rights community are among them.

Countless discerning Nigerians have expressed shock and disappointment over the unsavoury situation. Even President Goodluck Jonathan was not left out of the outbursts over the postponement of the National Assembly elections.

Jonathan spoke through the Director of Media and Publicity of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) in Abuja. Hear him: “We are at a loss as to why there were these kinds of avoidable lapses at the last minute. This act of negligence is capable of portraying INEC in bad light and many are likely to question its ability to conduct a credible election.”

“The PDP Presidential Campaign Council views with shock and consternation, the circumstances leading to the postponement of the National Assembly elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Given the enormous resources and logistic preparations that INEC claimed to have put in place, we are at a loss as to why there were these kinds of avoidable lapses at the last minute.”

The statement added that the turn of things “is really interesting that this unfortunate incident happened less than 24 hours after The INEC chairman Prof Attahiru Jega addressed the nation, and assured us of adequate preparations for the election.”

Indisputably, even the most implacable cynic was of the firm belief that Jega, whom many had seen as a veritable symbol of sincerity and naked epitome of integrity would deliver on his oft-repeated pledge of organising credible polls.

However, it has not been all knocks. Some Nigerians, both the prominent and the not so prominent, have praised him for the courage to own up.

One of them, Eseme Eyiboh, spokesman of the House of Representatives, pleaded for understanding by Nigerians.

Indeed, his die-hard admirers would dare all odds, spit out in the air and retrieve the saliva with their faces in absolute belief in his mush-touted unalloyed image as a specimen of straight-forwardness.

Sure, the reason for their readiness to die for him can’t be far-fetched. Long before the national assignment fell on his laps in August 2010, Jega had earned for himself a reputation as a rare breed of an unrepentant activist.

He was once the fiery National Chairman of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). For what he stood for and how he carried himself on the task Jega, to a good number of his admirers, was (and is still) seen as a radical, a non-conformist and a full-blooded progressive. Reason: The hard struggles he led against successive military governments without tainting his image. For all that, he commanded public trust, more so as to many, he had a name to protect.

However, many Nigerians, home and away, were quick to sound the word of caution that ASUU and INEC are different institutions with varied complexities. Those in the know argued that as a body of university egg-heads, ASUU could be run with an unbending authority that members might willingly align with, adding that ASUU politics had never been noted to be rooted in confounding deceits, intrigues and deadly antics.

It did not take eternity for the section of Nigerians to be proved somewhat right. Jega’s initial troubles came with his maiden task in office. He had to prosecute a voter registration for which he proposed a budget. But Nigerians cried foul. Why? The budget, to them, appeared overly outrageous for the exercise. Thus, his running battles with the National Assembly set in.

However, he put down his feet, insisting that he would not settle for anything less than a whopping N87 billion to conduct the exercise, which he said, included training of personnel. He won the battle, though with what seemed a subtle blackmail of the federal lawmakers. He won the battle because he made it apparently clear that any amount less than that would engender a poorly conducted 2011 elections.

So interesting was the fact that he had Nigerians behind him. As they would not settle for anything less than a credible exercise, Nigerians, with one voice, asked the federal government to give him “any amount” needed to ensure hitch-free elections.

Another battle was to erupt between him and the National Assembly shortly after when he presented a supplementary budget of about N10 billion. Again, the latter would not readily budge. But again, with public trust and sympathy behind him and his men, he had the last laugh.

Nigerians’ hope for the much-sought reliable polling system got heightened and they saw the cheering development, something to make a song and dance about. Though the National Assembly surrendered grudgingly, it got sweet words from the populace for being so patriotic.

At that point, to Nigerians, nothing under the sun should stand between the INEC boss and his promises as the body had got the exact amount of money it requested for preparations for the 2011 elections’

However, before one could say Jack, the public appeared at a loss with the performance so far on INEC preparations for the most crucial elections for the country. Public confidence in the body began to wane especially with the questionable manner it handled the procurement of equipment for the voter registration exercise.

Easily disposed to overlooking things, Nigerians still gave Jega and his men the benefit of doubts, believing that no matter what happened, Nigerians would heave a sigh of relief with a good laugh at the end of the exercise. But the Saturday’s widely acclaimed “show of national shame” has thrown most admirers of the “good” man off-balance.

Now, despite the gale of condemnations from all sections of the country, Jega has beaten his chest, iterating his pledge that no matter the odds, Nigeria would have the cause to clap for him and his men at the end of the April polls. Will he shame and send his critics into a bout of stupor after the whole show and put his name on the right page of the nation’s history? The turn of events in the next few days will decide!