By Onyedika Agbedo

more than two years to the end of the life of the present administration, Nigerians already know the dates for the next general elections in the country. In an unprecedented move, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) penultimate Thursday announced that the 2019 Presidential and National Assembly elections would hold on Saturday, February 16, 2019, while the Governorship/State Assembly/Federal Capital Territory Area Council Elections would hold on Saturday, March 2, 2019. Nigerians now hold the dates firmly in their minds. They expect that the elections would be conducted as appointed and that it would be credible too. As such, they want the INEC to go beyond the announcement of dates and begin real preparations for the elections, so as to avoid the pitfalls that had marred past elections in the country.
The INEC National Commissioner (in charge of South-west), Prince Solomon Soyebi, who announced the election dates, did explain that the intention was to ensure certainty in the dates for general elections in the country and proper planning by the Commission and all stakeholders.
“Our democracy is maturing and the Commission believes that there should be certainty with regard to the timetable for elections. For instance, in the United States, general elections always hold on the second Tuesday of November in the election year. In Ghana, it’s the 7th of December of the election year, while in other places like Mexico, Norway, Sweden, Costa Rica and Switzerland, the dates are also known in advance.
“In Nigeria, the constitution provides for elections to hold not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days to the end of the incumbent’s tenure. In order to ensure certainty in our dates for elections, and to allow for proper planning by the Commission, political parties, security agencies, candidates and all stakeholders, the Commission has decided to fix the date for the National Elections for the third Saturday in February of the election year, followed by State elections two weeks later. To that extent, the 2019 Presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on Saturday, 16th February 2019, while the Governorship/State Assembly/Federal Capital Territory Area Council Elections will hold on Saturday 2nd March 2019,” Soyebi explained.
Against this backdrop, the Commission met with leaders of registered political parties in the country on Tuesday, March 14, to rub in the initiative. Sunday Sun gathered that representatives of the political parties at the meeting concurred with INEC on the initiative. But they also tasked the Commission on the need for early preparations on its own part in all ramifications to ensure the credibility of the polls.
In a communiqué read by the National Deputy Chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Dr Onwubuya Breakforth, at the end of the meeting, the parties acknowledged that the dates given by INEC were within the period stipulated by the constitution.
But they noted: “We also welcome the assurance by INEC to commence the nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in April 2017 at the local government level. IPAC also pledged to fully support the Commission in the registration of new voters and creating further public awareness in the distribution of uncollected Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs). As a step in this direction, the meeting agreed that uncollected PVCs should be distributed simultaneously with the nationwide CVR.”
The IPAC further urged the electoral umpire to further deepen the use of technology in elections and work with the National Assembly to remove all legal encumbrances to full deployment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in future polls.
National Chairman of the United Progressive Party (UPP) and former presidential candidate, Chief Chekwas Okorie, while speaking on the initiative, gave INEC a pat on the back.
Okorie told Sunday Sun in a telephone interview that the standardisation of election dates being proposed by INEC was good for the nation’s democracy. “It is a very positive development. I was in the consultative meeting INEC held with leaders of political parties in the country last Tuesday. At the meeting, the Commission rationalised that what they have done is not different from what happens in other democracies, including some African countries. In fact, they cited the United States of American and Ghana, where the dates of their general elections are known. Even in the next 100 years, one can say that the U.S. presidential election shall hold on a particular date and even when the president-elect would be sworn in. So, INEC explained that they just want our own elections to be in line with what is obtainable in other climes so that people will know in advance that the Presidential/National Assembly elections will hold on a certain date in February of every election year while the Governorship/State Assembly elections follows two weeks after. It’s that type of standardisation that they are proposing and I’m positively disposed to the proposal. So, it’s not that they have kick-started anything because they are still working based on the 2017 budget,” Okorie said.
He added: “Some people will see it as a signal to start preparing for 2019. But for us in the UPP, what is staring us in the face is the Anambra 2017 election. So, we are not losing sleep over 2019 elections at the moment. For INEC, it also means that they will now begin to look for funds for the elections. You know they are yet to be on first line charge, so they still rely on government for funding. If they are on first line charge, they don’t need to approach government for anything. They just need to get their budget approved and they get the funds released as and when due. Also, what the early announcement of dates means is that the controversy that led to the postponement of the 2015 elections for a couple of weeks will not arise again, because they have announced very well in advance the dates of the election. So, they need to begin to pursue all the logistics they require now so that the dates they have given to Nigerians as sacrosanct will remain sacrosanct.”
Reminded that critics of the proposal argue that the announcement came too early in the day given that the present administration has not clocked two years in office, which might stimulate electioneering to the detriment of governance, Okorie noted: “I have a different viewpoint. The government in Nigeria today especially the Federal Government has not lived up to the expectation of Nigerians. So, now that INEC is reminding every stakeholder that 2019 is around the corner, the government might begin to do that which may change the views of the electorate with regards to its performance in office. The government is not expected to abandon governance and face politicking. If they do that, the so far unimpressive performance of the administration will worsen. So, I see it the other way round; I believe that it will ginger government to start implementing the developmental policies it promised Nigerians. Doing that will enable them to have something to tell the people should they still wish to come back to them to seek their votes, as we know they would wish.”
He also argued that INEC did not need to wait for the completion of the ongoing amendment of the 1999 Constitution before beginning preparation for the next general elections. “What informed the dates INEC announced was the provision of the 1999 Constitution, which said that elections must hold within a number of days before the inauguration of a new administration. So, they counted backwards to arrive at those dates. So, if the Electoral Act now increases or reduces the number of days, then INEC will have to comply and Nigerians will know why INEC is changing dates. INEC cannot go outside the provisions of the Constitution. But until the constitution is amended, the Commission will have to be seen to be complying with extant laws, which is what they have done,” he noted.
A former presidential candidate of Citizens Popular Party (CPP), Chief Maxi Okwu, also commended INEC for the initiative.
Okwu said: “It is the duty of INEC to set the date and time for elections under guidelines provided in the Constitution and the Electoral Act. So, what INEC has done is not out of order. In fact, I would like to commend them for being proactive by giving early notice on the 2019 elections; early notice enables politicians and political parties to prepare better. I don’t think that anything is gained by hoarding the information. Nothing is gained and nothing is lost if they give early warning and information. So, I commend INEC for that initiative and I hope that they continue in that line.”
Okwu also urged the Commission to ensure that the early notification of the election dates translates to better planning and conduct of the elections.
Okwu said: “INEC had severally been plagued by what they call logistical problems such as late printing and delivery of electoral materials. They have to look into it and correct it once and for all. We cannot continue to experience the same problems every year. I also urge government to release funds appropriated to INEC in time. It is one thing to appropriate fund and another thing to release it. But given the sensitive nature of the electoral management body, the Federal Government should release funds appropriated to the commission as and when due.”
He continued: “We see what is happening in many states of the federation where the state governors operate like emperors and would just declare that they don’t have money to conduct local council elections and nothing happens. When they give their nod to the conduct of the election, they stay in the Government House and write the result. That is why you see that the party that controls the state wins 100 per cent. This happens across party lines in the country and that is not democracy. So, we must tackle the problem of election management seriously, and until we do so, our democracy is a joke. So, funds should be released in good time. INEC is expected to do better in 2019 given the early notice. It is expected to start addressing some of the critical areas of concern like the Card Reader from now. The Card Reader has been very useful to our electoral process and should work optimally; failure should be very minimal. So, INEC should go beyond announcement of dates and put its house in order. It should be proactive all round,” Okwu said.
However, founder of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) and chieftain of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), Dr. Fredrick Fasehun, sees the action of INEC as a bad omen for the 2019 general elections.
Fasehun told Sunday Sun: “It’s premature and will create room for misbehaviour during the elections. Why are we in a hurry? The present government still has almost two and a half years to go. So, why is INEC in a hurry? What they have done will predispose the election to rigging. However, we will be ready anytime. Even if they want to go to the polls tomorrow, we will go with them.”
Nevertheless, the Commission has continued to mobilise critical stakeholders in the polity to endorse the proposal and own it. It met with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on Wednesday, March 15 and the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) on Friday, March 17. It will be meeting with media organisations tomorrow, March 20. From every indication, the Commission has started well in its preparations for the 2019 election. But whether its present initiative will lead to better conduct of elections in the country would be seen in two years time.

Related News

By Onyedika Agbedo

more than two years to the end of the life of the present administration, Nigerians already know the dates for the next general elections in the country. In an unprecedented move, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) penultimate Thursday announced that the 2019 Presidential and National Assembly elections would hold on Saturday, February 16, 2019, while the Governorship/State Assembly/Federal Capital Territory Area Council Elections would hold on Saturday, March 2, 2019. Nigerians now hold the dates firmly in their minds. They expect that the elections would be conducted as appointed and that it would be credible too. As such, they want the INEC to go beyond the announcement of dates and begin real preparations for the elections, so as to avoid the pitfalls that had marred past elections in the country.
The INEC National Commissioner (in charge of South-west), Prince Solomon Soyebi, who announced the election dates, did explain that the intention was to ensure certainty in the dates for general elections in the country and proper planning by the Commission and all stakeholders.
“Our democracy is maturing and the Commission believes that there should be certainty with regard to the timetable for elections. For instance, in the United States, general elections always hold on the second Tuesday of November in the election year. In Ghana, it’s the 7th of December of the election year, while in other places like Mexico, Norway, Sweden, Costa Rica and Switzerland, the dates are also known in advance.
“In Nigeria, the constitution provides for elections to hold not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days to the end of the incumbent’s tenure. In order to ensure certainty in our dates for elections, and to allow for proper planning by the Commission, political parties, security agencies, candidates and all stakeholders, the Commission has decided to fix the date for the National Elections for the third Saturday in February of the election year, followed by State elections two weeks later. To that extent, the 2019 Presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on Saturday, 16th February 2019, while the Governorship/State Assembly/Federal Capital Territory Area Council Elections will hold on Saturday 2nd March 2019,” Soyebi explained.
Against this backdrop, the Commission met with leaders of registered political parties in the country on Tuesday, March 14, to rub in the initiative. Sunday Sun gathered that representatives of the political parties at the meeting concurred with INEC on the initiative. But they also tasked the Commission on the need for early preparations on its own part in all ramifications to ensure the credibility of the polls.
In a communiqué read by the National Deputy Chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Dr Onwubuya Breakforth, at the end of the meeting, the parties acknowledged that the dates given by INEC were within the period stipulated by the constitution.
But they noted: “We also welcome the assurance by INEC to commence the nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in April 2017 at the local government level. IPAC also pledged to fully support the Commission in the registration of new voters and creating further public awareness in the distribution of uncollected Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs). As a step in this direction, the meeting agreed that uncollected PVCs should be distributed simultaneously with the nationwide CVR.”
The IPAC further urged the electoral umpire to further deepen the use of technology in elections and work with the National Assembly to remove all legal encumbrances to full deployment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in future polls.
National Chairman of the United Progressive Party (UPP) and former presidential candidate, Chief Chekwas Okorie, while speaking on the initiative, gave INEC a pat on the back.
Okorie told Sunday Sun in a telephone interview that the standardisation of election dates being proposed by INEC was good for the nation’s democracy. “It is a very positive development. I was in the consultative meeting INEC held with leaders of political parties in the country last Tuesday. At the meeting, the Commission rationalised that what they have done is not different from what happens in other democracies, including some African countries. In fact, they cited the United States of American and Ghana, where the dates of their general elections are known. Even in the next 100 years, one can say that the U.S. presidential election shall hold on a particular date and even when the president-elect would be sworn in. So, INEC explained that they just want our own elections to be in line with what is obtainable in other climes so that people will know in advance that the Presidential/National Assembly elections will hold on a certain date in February of every election year while the Governorship/State Assembly elections follows two weeks after. It’s that type of standardisation that they are proposing and I’m positively disposed to the proposal. So, it’s not that they have kick-started anything because they are still working based on the 2017 budget,” Okorie said.
He added: “Some people will see it as a signal to start preparing for 2019. But for us in the UPP, what is staring us in the face is the Anambra 2017 election. So, we are not losing sleep over 2019 elections at the moment. For INEC, it also means that they will now begin to look for funds for the elections. You know they are yet to be on first line charge, so they still rely on government for funding. If they are on first line charge, they don’t need to approach government for anything. They just need to get their budget approved and they get the funds released as and when due. Also, what the early announcement of dates means is that the controversy that led to the postponement of the 2015 elections for a couple of weeks will not arise again, because they have announced very well in advance the dates of the election. So, they need to begin to pursue all the logistics they require now so that the dates they have given to Nigerians as sacrosanct will remain sacrosanct.”
Reminded that critics of the proposal argue that the announcement came too early in the day given that the present administration has not clocked two years in office, which might stimulate electioneering to the detriment of governance, Okorie noted: “I have a different viewpoint. The government in Nigeria today especially the Federal Government has not lived up to the expectation of Nigerians. So, now that INEC is reminding every stakeholder that 2019 is around the corner, the government might begin to do that which may change the views of the electorate with regards to its performance in office. The government is not expected to abandon governance and face politicking. If they do that, the so far unimpressive performance of the administration will worsen. So, I see it the other way round; I believe that it will ginger government to start implementing the developmental policies it promised Nigerians. Doing that will enable them to have something to tell the people should they still wish to come back to them to seek their votes, as we know they would wish.”
He also argued that INEC did not need to wait for the completion of the ongoing amendment of the 1999 Constitution before beginning preparation for the next general elections. “What informed the dates INEC announced was the provision of the 1999 Constitution, which said that elections must hold within a number of days before the inauguration of a new administration. So, they counted backwards to arrive at those dates. So, if the Electoral Act now increases or reduces the number of days, then INEC will have to comply and Nigerians will know why INEC is changing dates. INEC cannot go outside the provisions of the Constitution. But until the constitution is amended, the Commission will have to be seen to be complying with extant laws, which is what they have done,” he noted.
A former presidential candidate of Citizens Popular Party (CPP), Chief Maxi Okwu, also commended INEC for the initiative.
Okwu said: “It is the duty of INEC to set the date and time for elections under guidelines provided in the Constitution and the Electoral Act. So, what INEC has done is not out of order. In fact, I would like to commend them for being proactive by giving early notice on the 2019 elections; early notice enables politicians and political parties to prepare better. I don’t think that anything is gained by hoarding the information. Nothing is gained and nothing is lost if they give early warning and information. So, I commend INEC for that initiative and I hope that they continue in that line.”
Okwu also urged the Commission to ensure that the early notification of the election dates translates to better planning and conduct of the elections.
Okwu said: “INEC had severally been plagued by what they call logistical problems such as late printing and delivery of electoral materials. They have to look into it and correct it once and for all. We cannot continue to experience the same problems every year. I also urge government to release funds appropriated to INEC in time. It is one thing to appropriate fund and another thing to release it. But given the sensitive nature of the electoral management body, the Federal Government should release funds appropriated to the commission as and when due.”
He continued: “We see what is happening in many states of the federation where the state governors operate like emperors and would just declare that they don’t have money to conduct local council elections and nothing happens. When they give their nod to the conduct of the election, they stay in the Government House and write the result. That is why you see that the party that controls the state wins 100 per cent. This happens across party lines in the country and that is not democracy. So, we must tackle the problem of election management seriously, and until we do so, our democracy is a joke. So, funds should be released in good time. INEC is expected to do better in 2019 given the early notice. It is expected to start addressing some of the critical areas of concern like the Card Reader from now. The Card Reader has been very useful to our electoral process and should work optimally; failure should be very minimal. So, INEC should go beyond announcement of dates and put its house in order. It should be proactive all round,” Okwu said.
However, founder of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) and chieftain of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), Dr. Fredrick Fasehun, sees the action of INEC as a bad omen for the 2019 general elections.
Fasehun told Sunday Sun: “It’s premature and will create room for misbehaviour during the elections. Why are we in a hurry? The present government still has almost two and a half years to go. So, why is INEC in a hurry? What they have done will predispose the election to rigging. However, we will be ready anytime. Even if they want to go to the polls tomorrow, we will go with them.”
Nevertheless, the Commission has continued to mobilise critical stakeholders in the polity to endorse the proposal and own it. It met with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on Wednesday, March 15 and the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) on Friday, March 17. It will be meeting with media organisations tomorrow, March 20. From every indication, the Commission has started well in its preparations for the 2019 election. But whether its present initiative will lead to better conduct of elections in the country would be seen in two years time.