A week ago, I wrote a passionate letter to all Nigerians in connection with the 2015 elections earlier scheduled for February 14 and 28 respectively. The letter was a product of a strict meditative process. I had intended to use it to redirect the consciousness of Nigerians to do what is proper in order to engender peace, mutual tolerance and, therefore, credible, free and fair elections. While we humans were busy thinking of the way forward to successful elections, little did anybody know, God was planning something else. God’s will prevailed and the elections were postponed.
Is anybody still in doubt that God is absolutely in control of affairs in our dear country? When men make their own plans God has the final way.
I wrote in this column in the beginning of the year that God had taken a special interest in Nigeria’s affairs and that he was going to do something marvelous in our eyes. Has that not started happening? The postponement of the elections is another way of God manifesting Himself to us and telling us not to worry too much about the future of this country.
Barely one week to the postponement rumour mill was agog with all kinds of stories, ranging from the preposterous to lugubrious. News started flying that the elections were going to be rescheduled. The media, civil society groups, political parties and other interest groups cried blue murder, warning INEC not to succumb to what many of them described as blackmail from the government of the day. The opposition was particularly loud about the threat of a reprisal action should the elections be postponed.
The meeting of the National Council of States had held a few days earlier to deliberate on the need for a possible shift, but did not arrive at any consensus. Rather it advised INEC to liaise with the security agencies before deciding finally on what to do. From the body language of the Council I knew right away that the elections were going to be postponed. Asking INEC to liaise with the security agencies was an indirect way of advising INEC to postpone the elections.
Who, in Nigeria, does not know that security has posed one of the hugest challenges to the Jonathan administration? Even though the Chief of Defence Staff a month ago had assured INEC of the readiness of his men to offer logistic support for the elections, the National Security Adviser had a different position. Speaking at the Chatham House in London two weeks ago the National Security Adviser had advised that the elections be moved to more realistic dates. He had cited the inability of many registered voters to collect their permanent voter’s card as the reason.
In my usual intuitive disposition I had already made up my mind that INEC was going to reschedule the dates of the elections, considering the fact that the Electoral Act (as amended) gave INEC some powers to shift the dates of the elections within the confines of the act. The Act states clearly that elections must hold at least 30 days to the handover date of May 29. By this provision INEC was not under any compulsion to hold the elections on February 14 and 28.
So, by shifting the dates of the polls to March 28 and April 11 INEC has done a great service to our nation and the electoral process. The reasons the Chairman of INEC adduced for the shift were as plausible as they were exigent. What would anybody have gained by INEC going ahead to conduct elections in which over 35 per cent of voters would have been disenfranchised and in which its ad hoc staff would have been insufficiently equipped?
The truth is that postponing the elections became inevitable when reports showed that the safety of voters, INEC staff and materials could not be guaranteed by the security agencies. The heightening insecurity in the north could not permit the security agencies to offer INEC such a guarantee. And this is understandable.
I find it, therefore, absurd when some people attribute the shift to other ulterior motives. What ulterior motives? Some even claimed the dates of the polls were shifted because Jonathan was going to lose if elections were held on the dates stipulated earlier.
Let me ask those who make such flimsy allusions a simple question: what difference would 6 weeks make in Jonathan winning or losing the elections? Absolutely nothing! Six weeks is like a drop of water in the ocean when you compare it to the gains INEC and the whole nation stand to make in the long run.
Some of the gains include: adequate time for INEC to distribute the PVCs, deploy the card-readers, and train its ad hoc staff on the use of the card readers and other logistics; and enough time for the security agencies to curtail insurgencies in different parts of the country to an appreciable level before the elections. Achieving these two critical objectives will make the chances of the elections being free, fair and credible brighter.
As I wrote this week’s column somebody sent an SMS to my mobile phone accusing the National Security Adviser, INEC and Director of Security Service of committing treason by postponing the elections. I find this ludicrous. What was treasonable in INEC exercising its constitutional duty? The Constitution expressly empowers INEC to fix dates for elections and, even, postpone the same if the need arises.
Instead of dissipating energy on issues that will not do us any good we should rather devote more attention to the effort being made by the government and INEC to deliver free, fair and incredible elections to Nigerians. Knowing the pedigree of the man Attahiru Jega there is no way anybody or institution can make him do what is antithetical to national development.
For the period Jega has held forte at INEC the commission has done its best to deepen our democracy by conducting elections to meet international standards. I do not therefore subscribe to the view that Jega buckled under threat by the security agencies to postpone the elections.
The wide consultations the commission made before the decision was finally taken to shift the dates of the polls would have been enough to convince even a doubting Thomas that the commission meant well for Nigeria.
Feelers reaching me indicate INEC is already leveraging on the extension of the dates of the elections. It has intensified efforts to ensure that the PVCs get to their end-users on time. The training of its ad hoc staff has commenced in earnest and run till such a time the staff will have been adequately trained to handle the sensitive materials and equipment that would be placed under their care.
Let me place on record the general comportment of the various stakeholders in the face of the postponement. Contrary to the fears expressed by some people that there would be a breach of the peace should the postponement be announced, there has been an atmosphere of peace and calm. This is what should be expected. After all, the opposition and other stakeholders are Nigerians, live in Nigeria and know what is happening inside it.
Nigeria at present is going through trying times aggravated by insecurity, falling global oil prices and corruption. It has to be told today that Nigeria’s effort at conducting free and fair elections and stabilizing the economy come with a huge price. To deliver free and fair elections we need adequate preparations. To improve the economy we need to exterminate corruption and build institutions that will serve as stop-gaps in the war against graft.
It is auspicious at this point to state that I see the hand of God in the postponement. In the first place, the elections would not have been postponed if God had not sanctioned it. Is His ways not different from ours? He has the final say on any matter in heaven and on earth, and even beneath the earth. It may be safe therefore to claim that there is blessing in disguise in the action of INEC.
Mark my word: INEC will conduct the freest and fairest elections in the annals of our nation this time round. And whoever emerges winner from the 14 presidential candidates in the race will be accepted and sworn in as President without any crisis. Those who express fears over the handover date do so out of sheer greed and self-aggrandizement. There is nothing altruistic in their fears.
The reaction of President Goodluck Jonathan to these fears has been quite heartwarming. According to the president, the May 29 handover date is sacrosanct. What this simply means is the government is ready to work for the sustenance of our ongoing democracy, no matter the sacrifices it is expected to make. There is nothing anywhere to show that Jonathan would have lost if the elections had held on February 14. Nothing absolutely! In fact, opinion polls indicated the contrary. The support base of Jonathan grows by the day as people begin to appreciate the enormity of the work his administration has done to make Nigeria better.
There is no aspect of our national life that has not experienced transformation. Agriculture, rail transportation and employment-creation, in particular, have witnessed some boost under Jonathan. Critics of the administration should ask some questions such as where Nigeria was when Jonathan came and where it is now. From every indication there has been a quantum leap in service delivery, wealth creation opportunities and economic growth.
The critics of Jonathan are simply myopic, egocentric and green with envy. What this administration deserves is a pat in the back and not unwarranted criticisms as is being done by armchair critics and ethnic jingoists. If it were in other climes President Jonathan needn’t have gone through the rigours of campaigning. The citizenry would have ordinarily voted massively for him to continue the good works he is doing.
It is important for our politicians to change the way they reason and act for the overall interest of our democracy and nation. The idea of fanning the embers of hate and creating illusionary enemies among Nigerians is negative, counterproductive and sectional. Nigeria has grown into a nation that should no longer accommodate some of these retrogressive tendencies.
I have listened with consternation the hate messages being dished out through diverse media by the various contestants. These messages portend danger for our growing democracy. Politicians signed an undertaking a few weeks ago not to exhibit or condone violence during the elections. Regrettably, the same day the agreement was signed in Abuja was the day some of them chose to patronize the media and paint one another in dark light.
When will our politicians learn to demonstrate resilience, candour and tolerance in their politicking? There is no love lost among them. What do they hope to achieve by casting aspersion on one another and sowing the seed of discord?
The elections have been postponed and it is a reality all of us will have to live with. Creating unnecessary brouhaha over the postponement should be discouraged.
I am glad at the way the main opposition party, All Progressives’ Congress (APC), has accepted the postponement. I listened to the party’s deputy director-general, national campaign organization, Senator Olorunimbe Mamora, as he expressed the party’s position on the postponement of the elections; and he made some salient points. He said without any equivocation that his party had accepted the postponement in good faith and with equanimity. He however expressed apprehension that there could be a hidden agenda behind it.
Let me nonetheless assure the distinguished Senator that there are no other reasons for the postponement other than the ones already given by Jega. The new dates for the elections are realistic and tenable.
All INEC needs is the cooperation of all critical stakeholders to be able to deliver on its mandate. It does not deserve any distractions as some disgruntled elements have planned to do. Anybody that distracts INEC does not really mean well for this country.
INEC may have its faults, which is normal and expected. It should not be crucified as a result. With the extra six weeks the commission will be ready to conduct elections that will be globally acclaimed as the best Nigeria has ever conducted.
I urge Nigerians to go out and collect their PVCs. They should not wait until the eleventh hour before filing out to collect their cards. Those that have collected their voter’s cards should preserve them very carefully and ensure they use them judiciously on elections days.
I commend Jega and his commissioners for the courage they demonstrated by agreeing to shift the elections. By that singular decision they have succeeded in giving our democracy a new life and the electoral process the impetus to grow and flourish.
Is anybody still in doubt that God is absolutely in control of affairs in our dear country? When men make their own plans God has the final way.
I wrote in this column in the beginning of the year that God had taken a special interest in Nigeria’s affairs and that he was going to do something marvelous in our eyes. Has that not started happening? The postponement of the elections is another way of God manifesting Himself to us and telling us not to worry too much about the future of this country.
Barely one week to the postponement rumour mill was agog with all kinds of stories, ranging from the preposterous to lugubrious. News started flying that the elections were going to be rescheduled. The media, civil society groups, political parties and other interest groups cried blue murder, warning INEC not to succumb to what many of them described as blackmail from the government of the day. The opposition was particularly loud about the threat of a reprisal action should the elections be postponed.
The meeting of the National Council of States had held a few days earlier to deliberate on the need for a possible shift, but did not arrive at any consensus. Rather it advised INEC to liaise with the security agencies before deciding finally on what to do. From the body language of the Council I knew right away that the elections were going to be postponed. Asking INEC to liaise with the security agencies was an indirect way of advising INEC to postpone the elections.
Who, in Nigeria, does not know that security has posed one of the hugest challenges to the Jonathan administration? Even though the Chief of Defence Staff a month ago had assured INEC of the readiness of his men to offer logistic support for the elections, the National Security Adviser had a different position. Speaking at the Chatham House in London two weeks ago the National Security Adviser had advised that the elections be moved to more realistic dates. He had cited the inability of many registered voters to collect their permanent voter’s card as the reason.
In my usual intuitive disposition I had already made up my mind that INEC was going to reschedule the dates of the elections, considering the fact that the Electoral Act (as amended) gave INEC some powers to shift the dates of the elections within the confines of the act. The Act states clearly that elections must hold at least 30 days to the handover date of May 29. By this provision INEC was not under any compulsion to hold the elections on February 14 and 28.
So, by shifting the dates of the polls to March 28 and April 11 INEC has done a great service to our nation and the electoral process. The reasons the Chairman of INEC adduced for the shift were as plausible as they were exigent. What would anybody have gained by INEC going ahead to conduct elections in which over 35 per cent of voters would have been disenfranchised and in which its ad hoc staff would have been insufficiently equipped?
The truth is that postponing the elections became inevitable when reports showed that the safety of voters, INEC staff and materials could not be guaranteed by the security agencies. The heightening insecurity in the north could not permit the security agencies to offer INEC such a guarantee. And this is understandable.
I find it, therefore, absurd when some people attribute the shift to other ulterior motives. What ulterior motives? Some even claimed the dates of the polls were shifted because Jonathan was going to lose if elections were held on the dates stipulated earlier.
Let me ask those who make such flimsy allusions a simple question: what difference would 6 weeks make in Jonathan winning or losing the elections? Absolutely nothing! Six weeks is like a drop of water in the ocean when you compare it to the gains INEC and the whole nation stand to make in the long run.
Some of the gains include: adequate time for INEC to distribute the PVCs, deploy the card-readers, and train its ad hoc staff on the use of the card readers and other logistics; and enough time for the security agencies to curtail insurgencies in different parts of the country to an appreciable level before the elections. Achieving these two critical objectives will make the chances of the elections being free, fair and credible brighter.
As I wrote this week’s column somebody sent an SMS to my mobile phone accusing the National Security Adviser, INEC and Director of Security Service of committing treason by postponing the elections. I find this ludicrous. What was treasonable in INEC exercising its constitutional duty? The Constitution expressly empowers INEC to fix dates for elections and, even, postpone the same if the need arises.
Instead of dissipating energy on issues that will not do us any good we should rather devote more attention to the effort being made by the government and INEC to deliver free, fair and incredible elections to Nigerians. Knowing the pedigree of the man Attahiru Jega there is no way anybody or institution can make him do what is antithetical to national development.
For the period Jega has held forte at INEC the commission has done its best to deepen our democracy by conducting elections to meet international standards. I do not therefore subscribe to the view that Jega buckled under threat by the security agencies to postpone the elections.
The wide consultations the commission made before the decision was finally taken to shift the dates of the polls would have been enough to convince even a doubting Thomas that the commission meant well for Nigeria.
Feelers reaching me indicate INEC is already leveraging on the extension of the dates of the elections. It has intensified efforts to ensure that the PVCs get to their end-users on time. The training of its ad hoc staff has commenced in earnest and run till such a time the staff will have been adequately trained to handle the sensitive materials and equipment that would be placed under their care.
Let me place on record the general comportment of the various stakeholders in the face of the postponement. Contrary to the fears expressed by some people that there would be a breach of the peace should the postponement be announced, there has been an atmosphere of peace and calm. This is what should be expected. After all, the opposition and other stakeholders are Nigerians, live in Nigeria and know what is happening inside it.
Nigeria at present is going through trying times aggravated by insecurity, falling global oil prices and corruption. It has to be told today that Nigeria’s effort at conducting free and fair elections and stabilizing the economy come with a huge price. To deliver free and fair elections we need adequate preparations. To improve the economy we need to exterminate corruption and build institutions that will serve as stop-gaps in the war against graft.
It is auspicious at this point to state that I see the hand of God in the postponement. In the first place, the elections would not have been postponed if God had not sanctioned it. Is His ways not different from ours? He has the final say on any matter in heaven and on earth, and even beneath the earth. It may be safe therefore to claim that there is blessing in disguise in the action of INEC.
Mark my word: INEC will conduct the freest and fairest elections in the annals of our nation this time round. And whoever emerges winner from the 14 presidential candidates in the race will be accepted and sworn in as President without any crisis. Those who express fears over the handover date do so out of sheer greed and self-aggrandizement. There is nothing altruistic in their fears.
The reaction of President Goodluck Jonathan to these fears has been quite heartwarming. According to the president, the May 29 handover date is sacrosanct. What this simply means is the government is ready to work for the sustenance of our ongoing democracy, no matter the sacrifices it is expected to make. There is nothing anywhere to show that Jonathan would have lost if the elections had held on February 14. Nothing absolutely! In fact, opinion polls indicated the contrary. The support base of Jonathan grows by the day as people begin to appreciate the enormity of the work his administration has done to make Nigeria better.
There is no aspect of our national life that has not experienced transformation. Agriculture, rail transportation and employment-creation, in particular, have witnessed some boost under Jonathan. Critics of the administration should ask some questions such as where Nigeria was when Jonathan came and where it is now. From every indication there has been a quantum leap in service delivery, wealth creation opportunities and economic growth.
The critics of Jonathan are simply myopic, egocentric and green with envy. What this administration deserves is a pat in the back and not unwarranted criticisms as is being done by armchair critics and ethnic jingoists. If it were in other climes President Jonathan needn’t have gone through the rigours of campaigning. The citizenry would have ordinarily voted massively for him to continue the good works he is doing.
It is important for our politicians to change the way they reason and act for the overall interest of our democracy and nation. The idea of fanning the embers of hate and creating illusionary enemies among Nigerians is negative, counterproductive and sectional. Nigeria has grown into a nation that should no longer accommodate some of these retrogressive tendencies.
I have listened with consternation the hate messages being dished out through diverse media by the various contestants. These messages portend danger for our growing democracy. Politicians signed an undertaking a few weeks ago not to exhibit or condone violence during the elections. Regrettably, the same day the agreement was signed in Abuja was the day some of them chose to patronize the media and paint one another in dark light.
When will our politicians learn to demonstrate resilience, candour and tolerance in their politicking? There is no love lost among them. What do they hope to achieve by casting aspersion on one another and sowing the seed of discord?
The elections have been postponed and it is a reality all of us will have to live with. Creating unnecessary brouhaha over the postponement should be discouraged.
I am glad at the way the main opposition party, All Progressives’ Congress (APC), has accepted the postponement. I listened to the party’s deputy director-general, national campaign organization, Senator Olorunimbe Mamora, as he expressed the party’s position on the postponement of the elections; and he made some salient points. He said without any equivocation that his party had accepted the postponement in good faith and with equanimity. He however expressed apprehension that there could be a hidden agenda behind it.
Let me nonetheless assure the distinguished Senator that there are no other reasons for the postponement other than the ones already given by Jega. The new dates for the elections are realistic and tenable.
All INEC needs is the cooperation of all critical stakeholders to be able to deliver on its mandate. It does not deserve any distractions as some disgruntled elements have planned to do. Anybody that distracts INEC does not really mean well for this country.
INEC may have its faults, which is normal and expected. It should not be crucified as a result. With the extra six weeks the commission will be ready to conduct elections that will be globally acclaimed as the best Nigeria has ever conducted.
I urge Nigerians to go out and collect their PVCs. They should not wait until the eleventh hour before filing out to collect their cards. Those that have collected their voter’s cards should preserve them very carefully and ensure they use them judiciously on elections days.
I commend Jega and his commissioners for the courage they demonstrated by agreeing to shift the elections. By that singular decision they have succeeded in giving our democracy a new life and the electoral process the impetus to grow and flourish.
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