BarRing last minute hitches, supplementary elections will hold tomorrow in six states across the country. The states are Adamawa, Bauchi, Kano, Sokoto, Benue and Plateau. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had at the end of the March 9 governorship election declared that the exercise was inclusive in the aforementioned states due to widespread disruption of the electoral process and other infractions.
According to INEC National Commissioner and Chairman Voter Education and Publicity, Mr. Festus Okoye, “the elections were declared inconclusive for a combination of reasons, mainly the discontinuation of use of the Smart Card Reader midway into the elections or the failure to deploy them, over-voting and widespread disruption in many polling units.”
Also, INEC relied on the provisions of Sections 26 and 53 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) and paragraph 41 (e) and 43 (b) of the INEC Regulations and Guidelines for the conduct of the elections, to order supplementary polls in the affected states because the outcome of the elections could not be determined based on the margin of lead principle.
We implore all eligible voters in the affected states to come out tomorrow and cast their votes. We call on the politicians and their supporters to ensure that the exercise is peaceful and transparent. They should not see politics as a ‘do or die’ affair. They should eschew violence, ballot box snatching, vote buying and other electoral offences.
We do not expect any Nigerian to die in the process of casting his or her ballot. Therefore, the Police and other security agencies deployed for election duties must provide adequate security before, during and after the elections. It is also commendable that the police have beefed up security in the states where the exercise will take place. The National Peace Committee led by former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar should be applauded for pleading with party leaders to give peace a chance and accept the outcome of the rerun polls.
We advise the electoral umpire to provide a level playing field for all the contestants. For the exercise to be free, fair and credible, it is expected that INEC and security agencies must not be partisan in the discharge of their duties. The elections should not be militarised.
Moreover, there is a subsisting Supreme Court’s ruling against the use of soldiers for election duties. For instance, in the case of M.D. Yusuf vs. Obasanjo, 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that: “It is up to the police to protect the nascent democracy and not the military otherwise the democracy might be wittingly or unwittingly militarized. This is not what the citizenry bargained for after wresting power from the military in 1999. Conscious step or steps should be taken to civilianize the polity and thereby ensure survival and sustenance of democracy.”
Since this law is still in force, the military should not be deployed for election duties. Therefore, the police must ensure discipline and security in the states where supplementary polls will hold.
However, it is laudable that the presidency has assured Nigerians that President Muhammadu Buhari would not influence the electoral umpire to change results in favour of any candidate in the supplementary polls. Also, INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has also promised that the supplementary poll will be free and fair.
Based on these promises, therefore, INEC must ensure that the exercise is not tainted. It is the electoral agency’s responsibility to ensure that the Smart Card Readers function effectively and that the votes of the electorate count. We urge the electoral agency to use tomorrow’s rerun polls to correct the foibles of the February 23 and March 9 elections.
This is the best way INEC can assure Nigerians that it has learnt enough lessons from the previous elections. All the same, let INEC ensure that the wishes of the electorate are respected.