LABOUR and civil society groups involved in electoral matters yesterday unanimously sought the extension of the forthcoming elections from January to April 2011. They believe that with an extension, the electoral management body (EMB) would do a better job of the elections.
A similar suggestion came from a former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who at a colloquium organized by the Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reform (CODER) on Thursday in Abuja said the January date set by the National Assembly as reflected in the newly released Electoral Act was not realistic.
However, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) downplayed the impact of the message, saying it would play according to the constitutional provisions, in respect of the 2011 and other elections. Towards this end, it assured that if the joint National Assembly sitting ratified the new Electoral Act passed by the Senate on Thursday, INEC would make the best use of the remaining time to deliver a fairly credible election.
Speaking when a delegation of the Labour/Civil Society Coalition led by the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Abdulwaheed Ibrahim Omar visited Jega in his office in Abuja, they affirmed that the current January time line would not guarantee free, fair and credible elections.
Besides Omar, others who spoke at the forum included Dr. Ibrahim Jibo, the Executive Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD); Chairman of the Labour/Civil Society Coalition (LASCO), a former President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Dr. Dipo Fasina, as well as the National Coordinator of the National Association of Persons with Disabilities Dr. Danlami Basharu.
Omar believed the January date was too tight for any credible election to take place in the light of the massive distortions that took place before, especially during the 2007 elections. He advised Jega not to use the existing voter register, saying it would cost more in terms of time and resources to clean it up.
He pledged the support of the coalition to the INEC boss “so long as he remains the same Jega that we used to know over the years, both an activist and an academic.”
Jibo said the nation was in a state of emergency, noting that every effort must be made to ensure that it was salvaged through the conduct of a free, fair and credible election. This, he believed, would help in averting a national calamity and restore the faith of Nigerians in the democratic process.
His words: “Considering the importance of a fresh voter register to the conduct of free, fair and credible polls in Nigeria, the forthcoming elections should hold in April 2011. In this regard, we demand that the amended section 76 (1) and (2) of the constitution which now provides that elections hold between 120 to 150 days to the tenure of the incumbent political office holders should be deferred to take effect from 2015.
“We call on the National Assembly and State Legislators to do everything possible to make this happen in keeping with the demands of the electorate. As you are aware, Nigerians have lost faith in the existing voter register and this fact, you also confirmed during your press briefing.
“The legislature and the executive should immediately appropriate and disburse funds necessary for the conduct of credible, free and fair election beginning with the production of the new voters’ register.”
But Jega, who avoided making any reference to the proposals, however, said INEC was a creation of the law, saying that with necessary logistical support, it would be able to give Nigeria better and more credible elections.
Admitting that the task ahead was arduous, Jega promised that with the support of all stakeholders, including organized labour unions and other credible CSOs, the impact would be minimized.
He welcomed constructive dialogue and engagement from all, including foreign countries.
However, the Action Congress (AC) yesterday assured there was no need for Nigerians to be apprehensive over the order of the 2011general elections as passed by the Senate, saying what mattered was INEC’s ability to conduct fee and fair elections.
National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed told The Guardian in a telephone interview that what Nigerians wanted was for their votes to count, stressing that the order of the election was immaterial.
But, he maintained that given the level of preparations that would go into the next general elections, January 2011 fixed for the elections was not feasible.
He proposed April 2011 as the earliest date for the general elections, pointing out that from all indications, INEC and all the political parties who were expected to field candidates for the election were not yet fully ready.
Mohammed pointed out that the apprehension over the order of the election by Nigerians stemmed from the public perception of the national assembly members as lacking the necessary patriotism that would make them rise above selfish and partisan interest whenever they were dealing with national issues.
However, given the present situation in both INEC and the political parties, he advocated the invocation of the doctrine of necessity, which would allow for the suspension of sections of the constitution, which dealt with the number of days that election could take place before the May 29 hand-over date.
According to Mohammed, the postponement of the elections till April would allow for ample time to do fresh voters register that would aide free and fair elections next year.
“From my own view, we need an institutional frame work that can guarantee free and fair elections such as voters register, an efficient security outfit, announcement of poll result among others”, he said.
On his part, a former Minister of Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, described the Senate action as self-protection. He said before the recent amendment of the 1999 constitution by the National assembly, the power to do such lay with INEC under the electoral Act, but with the situation now, such power resides with them.
“There is nothing we can do now, but my worry is that all these things cannot guarantee free and fair election. We are too much in a hurry as a people,” Ogunlewe said.
Mr. Emma Ezeazu of Alliance For Credible Election (ACE) expressed concern that the National assembly is on the wrong side of the law. He said that INEC must surely respond to the development.
But Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu declared that elections can hold in January, and wondered why the INEC that had four years to prepare for the polls could not do so.
He told journalists in Abuja yesterday that he could not understand why civil society organizations (CSOs) that kept insisting, while the constitution review exercise was on, that the National Assembly should adopt the Justice Mohammed Uwais Electoral Reform Committee’s recommendation on the timing of the elections should now be asking for a postponement.
He remarked: “We do not want to be seen to be pushing for tenure elongation. If Nigerians want it, we want them to say it loudly. We do not want, as a National Assembly, to be seen to be taking the initiative to shift the election for any reason whatsoever. But what we have done is now to assist INEC because I do not see why they cannot hold election in December. They gave us their concern about the electoral act, the dates set out in which they will do certain things including voters registration which is their major constraint now.
“They are saying that under Section 10 of the 2006 electoral act, everything about voter registration needs to be concluded 120 days before election, so they made a request that we should reduce it to 60 days, so that they will have longer time frame to do registration of voters. We have done that in the Senate version, we are believing that when we go for conferencing that our House counterparts will be able to adopt that as well, so if that happens, they will now have sufficient time to deal with the issue of voter registration. So I do not see whatever roadblock that can stop them from doing election in January.”
“In terms of financing, we want to make it mandatory that they can get the money through the first line charge. All that needs to be done is that if they need money, they will go to the president, if the president sends us a bill, that is supplementary appropriation, we will be glad to pass it and then based on the constitutional provision, they will get it quite easily. So I do not see any reason why INEC cannot conduct a free and fair election in January 2011,” the deputy Senate President stressed.
On the position of Professor Ben Nwabueze that the work of the National and State Assemblies required the assent of President Goodluck Jonathan, Ekweremadu contended that the issue was not whether the respected constitutional professor was right or wrong but what the constitution stated.
He said: “What is important, for me I think the constitution is the answer and history is also a reference point. Now talking about our constitution, section 9 set out procedures for the amendment of the constitution. I say clearly that everything that needs to be done is in section 9 of the constitution. It is exhaustive of all the steps that need to be taken. So, if it had wanted presidential assent, it would have made it subject to section 58 or it would have said so explicitly.
“Let me also say that we borrow that section from the American conditions and then all the amendment spanning over 200 hundred years that were made in the American constitution, there was no time the American President signed the amendment to the constitution. So, if we are inspired by the American constitution, I do not think that we will be going out of step to follow their own example where their president does not sign.”
“And I explained to you why the president did not need to sign,” the deputy Senate President further explained. Sovereignty belongs to the people and since everybody cannot come to the parliament to legislate on behalf of everybody, so they elect their representatives, so if the constitution needs to be amended, it needs to go through the representatives. And if it has gone through their representatives at two levels, both at the federal and the state, I do not think that anybody will expect a president to start
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