N’Assembly poll: How feasible is Monday?

In order to maintain the integrity of the elections, the Commission (Independent National Electoral Commission) has taken the difficult but necessary decision to postpone the National Assembly elections to Monday, April 4, 2011.” With that statement, the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, about mid-day on Saturday, announced the embarrassing shift in the Senatorial and House of Representatives elections as scheduled.

Already, there are fears over the feasibility of the new date for the National Assembly poll which is to be the first in the much-publicised April elections.

As a prelude to the decision to shift the elections, Jega said his Commission had experienced “late arrival of result sheets in many parts of the country,” hence, many of the electoral officers and operatives did not report at the polling units.

He said the Commission could have gone ahead with the exercise in few states like Lagos, Kaduna, Kebbi, Delta, Zamfara and Enugu but that such would not augur well for the integrity of the exercise to which the country had invested over N120bn.

Jega who took responsibility for the postponement and apologised to Nigerians, and sought continued understanding of international observers and INEC’s development partners.

Expectedly, shock and outrage by Nigerians greeted the postponent which all agreed came too late in the day. As at the time Jega was announcing the postponement of the election in Abuja, the electorate in all parts of the country had been on the accreditation queues for over four hours. Indeed, the accreditation period was already over while many had cast their ballot before the postponement came.

While Nigerians grapple with their pains and disappointments as a result of the postponement, the question that had equally arisen was the feasibility of Monday (tomorrow) for the postponed election.

Beyond the disruptions to the national economy and individual’s livelihood that another holiday or day of restrictions would entail, many had queried the ability of INEC to overcome whatever shortcomings that necessitated the postponement from Saturday within about 48 hours.

Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola, in his immediate reaction to the shifted election, called for caution and suggested that INEC picked next Saturday.

Fashola who confirmed that he had already voted before the postponement of the exercise, apart from doubting that the electoral body would have overcome its difficulties by Monday, raised fears about the implication of Monday on the life of the citizens, especially students who are billed to write their examinations.

By Jega’s admission, the materials needed by INEC to conduct the elections arrived Lagos at 9.00am on Saturday. While many commentators would want to take Jega’s words as the truth, there are doubts that the distribution to all states and polling centres would be completed for a smooth poll to take place on Monday.

Besides, the INEC boss, while announcing the postponement, promised that the Commission would confer with the political parties, perhaps to seek their understanding for the postponement and approval for the new date. But how feasible is it for the electoral body to hold conclusive consultation with political parties before Monday amidst attending to logistical arrangement for the poll?

Also, others have raised the fear over the situation in places where election had taken place. Though INEC had said that it would keep the records but given that the materials deployed in the affected centres were security documents, perhaps numbered. Will INEC be capable of providing replacements to kick-start a fresh exercise in those areas on Monday? An unconfirmed report said the materials at a unit in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, were burnt following the postponement on Saturday. Will INEC be sufficiently composed to provide new materials to such units by Monday?

By hurriedly fixing Monday for the postponed National Assembly election, is INEC not laying the foundation for another round of exercise to be characterised by shortage and unavailability of materials? These are questions on which Jega and his Commission needs to reassure Nigerians, the political parties, candidates, observers and other stakeholders if it insists on conducting election into federal legislative seats tomorrow.