INEC: Kogi, Bayelsa beckon

On Saturday, November 21, 2015, Mahmood Yakubu, the new chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), supervised an off-season gubernatorial election in Kogi State, which was declared inconclusive owing to certain hitches, particularly because, as explained by Emmanuel Kucha, a professor and chief returning officer for the election, the total number of cancelled votes exceeded the difference in vote between the two major candidates.

What appears to be a macabre dance in the Kogi election is the nod given by INEC to the All Progressives Congress (APC) to change a goal post in the middle of a game, as it were. Contrary to the views espoused by many legal practitioners that there should have been a fresh and not a supplementary election, the commission has since recognised Yahaya Bello, who came second in the August gubernatorial primary of the APC.

For instance, as stated by Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, a legal practitioner and human rights activist, “Under Section 181 (2) of the 1999 Constitution, when it is impossible for the winner of an election to enjoy the benefit of his mandate, the proper position is to conduct fresh elections.” According to him, the constitution does not recognise a situation whereby votes are preserved in memory of a dead candidate and subsequently transferred to a new candidate.

It is our view that INEC should not have allowed itself to be embroiled in the needless controversy over the appropriate thing to do. What we think INEC should have done was to seek interpretation from the relevant quarters on how to handle the impasse since it has been established that the constitution never envisaged it. In any case, we await court pronouncement on the matter today.

It is also our considered opinion that the Yakubu-led INEC must be seen to be neutral in the conduct of the gubernatorial election in Bayelsa State. Already, there are insinuations that the commission and security agencies could be compromised to do the bidding of the party at the centre.

INEC must show commitment, in all its ramifications, to ensure a hitch-free exercise. Bayelsa is a violence-prone state, particularly as a result of the interests at play. While the PDP would like to retain the state as a show of its supremacy in the home state of former President Goodluck Jonathan, the APC on the other hand would try to make a statement by dislodging the incumbent and hoisting its flag there. In all of this, INEC and all arms of the security apparatus must discharge their duties professionally.

For the new INEC chairman particularly, what he makes of the two elections tomorrow will determine the perception of his person in the eyes of the right-thinking members of the Nigerian society, nay, the outside world.

Mahmood Yakubu may currently be facing the greatest challenge in his career. Until his appointment as INEC chairman recently, he had not taken responsibility for a general election as he worked under superiors who also took responsibility for the failure or success of elections organised under their watch. As we said in an earlier editorial, he must continue in his predecessor’s footsteps. Delivering on the elections tomorrow will shore up the integrity of the new man at the helm of affairs at INEC; on the contrary, he would be setting his career on a downward slope if he fails. The ball is in his court.