{"id":368147,"date":"2011-04-04T23:52:00","date_gmt":"2011-04-04T23:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/04\/04\/poll-shift-candidates-count-cost\/"},"modified":"2011-04-04T23:52:00","modified_gmt":"2011-04-04T23:52:00","slug":"poll-shift-candidates-count-cost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/04\/poll-shift-candidates-count-cost\/","title":{"rendered":"Poll shift: Candidates count cost"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

THE bombshell dropped by Professor\u00a0Attahiru Jega, last Saturday, was least\u00a0expected.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Owing to obvious hitches, especially late arrival of voting materials for the National Assembly scheduled to hold on that day, the bespectacled professor told Nigerians: Leave the sun, go back home; you will vote on another day!<\/span><\/p>\n

It was numbing. Spontaneously, it came with both ecstasy and disillusionment. Most voters were not happy that they would, have to undergo the rigour of queuing up under the scorching sun for another exercise. But quite many other voters, especially the pauperized, who often see such an exercise as a grand opportunity to get their own share of the national cake from contestants, jumped for joy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of them could not hide their feelings at the moment in Mushin area of Lagos State where this reporter covered. But as they were obviously smiling, their preys (the candidates) were bleeding in their hearts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not a few around shook their heads in pity for Hon. Dauda Abayomi Kako Are who represents Mushin Constituency 1 in the House of Representatives. Kako who is re-contesting for the seat on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) seethed with indignation when he was informed on telephone that Jega had announced the cancellation of the election. \u201cNo, doubt, INEC has sentenced us to another round of spending because people have to be mobilised at all costs,\u201d the Rep member said. But someone said whether he spent more or not, he remained people\u2019s choice.<\/span><\/p>\n

So it was for Senator Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon, an ACN re-election candidate who is representing Lagos West at the Senate. He was specifically asked if the postponement (then till Monday before the final date was announced on Sunday) would be of pecuniary disadvantage for him. His response: \u201cIt is certain and there is no denying the fact. As I stand before you, I have already exhausted all I had on me. Unfortunately, even if you have money in any bank, none will open for operations until Tuesday. Now, how will one get money to prosecute a few things one cannot run away from despite one\u2019s wide acceptance?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Like ACN leader and current chairman of Odi-Olowo Local Government Development Area, Aremo Adeyemi Alli and former chairman, Kosofe Local Government, Barrister Tunde Buraimoh, politicians cannot run away from such rounds of expenditure. Though they both believe that the burden would be less on ACN candidates because of their unrivalled acceptability in almost all the states in the country, they believed they would still cough up something, \u201ceven if it\u2019s a kobo, to mobilise people, especially party agents.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Buraimoh further expressed anger: \u201cWhat INEC has achieved by that cancellation is the grandmother of all failures. I feel astonished, sad, embarrassed and stupefied. It is a shame. As a person, I have lost confidence in Jega. He has no excuse for this colossal failure. Like my leaders, I have lost sleep for days even as we spent money on logistics; it is bad that we now have to start all over again ti next Saturday.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not funny, but not a few chuckled when what passed for a painful drama occurred moments after the announcement of the election postponement. In the midst of the drama was a House of Representatives candidate of one of the \u201cstruggling\u201d parties.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHonourable \u2026 Honourable, the election has been cancelled and postponed till Monday!\u201d A supporter of the Lagos-based candidate who just got the rattling news from the radio exclaimed. Shell-shocked, the candidate stood speechless.<\/span><\/p>\n

Apparently, he had just disbursed some money to grease the palms of some voters. He got up to his toes, clutching his phone set and thundered to the hearing of another man at the other end: \u201cHello\u2026hello! Nibo l\u2019owa? (Where are you?) Please be smart o. Don\u2019t give them until Monday o. Listen to the radio; the election has been cancelled and postponed till Monday. Please o!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh God, this means another round of spending spree for candidates o!\u201d This reporter cut in. Looking straight into the reporter\u2019s eyes, the already fidgeting candidate replied: \u201cMy brother, it is a big, fresh challenge. I know how much I\u2019ve spent today alone and one cannot run away from it. Where do I got and look for money now? It is a burdensome development and that is the truth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A report in one of the national dailies revealed on Monday that the demand for dollars in the financial market has soared. \u201cHuge spending by politicians to mobilise the electorate for the election has caused scarcity of the naira in Bureau de Change and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Among the candidates who share in the inherent burden of the shift in the election dates is Chief Rotimi Makinde, ACN House of Representatives candidate for Ife Federal Constituency of Osun State. Sounding emphatic, he told The Nation yesterday: \u201cOf course, we cannot run away from the fact that we need huge money to mobilise people, handle logistics, notably, party agents. It is really a big burden on our neck. It could be easier for those who have access to public money; it differs in our own case. However, the only solace I have is the overwhelming support of my people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking further on the postponement, he said: \u201cIt\u2019s painful that what happened had to happen, but I doff my hat for Jega for his appreciable sense of honour and responsibility. Someone else would have closed his eyes and allow the poll to continue while at the end of it all, the courts would have had cases to settle. But I wish the government could take note of where election had already taken place and stop the people of the area from voting again.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Though the National Chairman of the Social Democratic Mega Party (SDMP), Chief Olu Falae, described the postponement of the election as an act of courage and patriotism on the part of the INEC boss, the former Secretary to the Federal Government called on INEC to compensate political parties for the financial losses they had incurred as a result of the postponement.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, in my party, the SDMP, we have paid nothing less than N5 million to party agents across the country. INEC should therefore find a rate to pay all political parties, because they cannot quantify their loss individually,\u201d Falae said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Former governor of the old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa too shared in the worry. He told The Nation in a telephone chat yesterday: \u201cCertainly, the postponement is an added burden on candidates. Of course we need money on logistics especially taking care of party agents. But postponement or not, money has become the most deciding factor in our own politics and unfortunately, the PDP has access to money than most of us. But then, it is good that the poll was cancelled and postponed because despite the irregularities, the PDP would have declared itself winner.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He added: \u201cYou will agree with me that what candidates will now spend additional money on preparing themselves for the polls won\u2019t compare with what they would have spent on electoral litigations that would have trailed a flawed election if not cancelled.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

See the original post:
\nPoll shift: Candidates count cost<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE bombshell dropped by Professor\u00a0Attahiru Jega, last Saturday, was least\u00a0expected.\u00a0 Owing to obvious hitches, especially late arrival of voting materials for the National Assembly scheduled to hold on that day, the bespectacled professor told Nigerians: Leave the sun, go back home; you will vote on another day! It was numbing. Spontaneously, it came with both ecstasy and disillusionment. Most voters were not happy that they would, have to undergo the rigour of queuing up under the scorching sun for another exercise. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-368147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nPoll shift: Candidates count cost - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/04\/poll-shift-candidates-count-cost\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Poll shift: Candidates count cost - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"THE bombshell dropped by Professor\u00a0Attahiru Jega, last Saturday, was least\u00a0expected.\u00a0 Owing to obvious hitches, especially late arrival of voting materials for the National Assembly scheduled to hold on that day, the bespectacled professor told Nigerians: Leave the sun, go back home; you will vote on another day! 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