IN THE  rough -and -tumble business of politics, perhaps no state in the country today can be compared to Rivers State. Since the All Progressives Congress(APC) lost the governorship polls last year , the party has refused to give up. Time and time again, it has used every plot, cheap shots, high and low blows which have poisoned the political atmosphere and a rancid prejudice against the governor .

The result is what we have seen in over one year now : the endless delay by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in concluding outstanding legislative elections. The APC knowing that its chances of winning the rerun elections are iffy,  anything that will stall the completion of the process may  not be a bad idea after all.

But things  took a new twist in the Senate last Wednesday. The Upper legislative chamber passed a resolution to suspend plenary sessions if the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) fails to conduct the remaining elections in Rivers State by December 10,2016. The resolution was the outcome of the adoption of a motion sponsored by the Deputy President of the Senate ,Ike Ekweremadu and the Senate Majority Leader, Ali Ndume.

The motion strongly condemned the spate of inconclusive elections across the country. The case of Rivers state was singled out as abnormal. The Senate resolution came  a day after the House of Representatives asked INEC to conclude all postponed rerun elections in the country, particularly in Rivers State.

The House had observed ,rather sadly, that Rivers State and its citizens have been denied adequate representation in governance. The motion which was moved by the House Minority Leader, Leo Ogor, was unanimously adopted. It also received ,even  the support of the House Majority leader Femi Gbajabiamila. The voices  in the Senate were even more urgent. There was a total denunciation of INEC’s  inconclusive rerun in Rivers state . Buoyed by a bipartisan support, Sen. Ekweremadu  said :”in spite of a resolution passed by the Senate since September 2016,calling on INEC to immediately conclude all pending rerun elections in the country, the commission has failed, refused, and or neglected to conclude rerun elections in Rivers State into the Senate, House of Representatives and State House of Assembly”.

However, INEC has agreed with the December 10  deadline. The new date was announced last Thursday by the  Secretary of the commission , Mrs Augusta Ogakwu.  A statement by Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman of the commission, Rotimi Oyekanmi claimed that insecurity in Rivers state poses a present danger to the peaceful conduct of elections as well as to the lives of its staff. He also blamed the situation on the  “volatile relationship of the two leading political parties in the state, the PDP and the APC.

Do you trust INEC to meet the deadline of December 10 and conduct a fair and credible legislative elections ? I doubt.   How organised, how prepared ,how realistic is the commission in safeguarding its sensitive materials for the elections? If truth be told, the fact that Rivers State has become a political battleground of sort owes largely to the fact that INEC has not corrected its defaults. The commission is still not asserting its  Independence. Many people still believe that Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu -led INEC is  still pandering to external forces.

Has INEC learned any useful lesson from all the avalanche of criticism of the past week? I don’t think so.  This is its last chance to get it right in Rivers State. Let’s not forget that few months ago,Gov. Nyesom Wike cried loud that INEC chairman was hobnobbing with key members  of the opposition APC in the state.

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Two days ago ,Wike again accused INEC, the Police, of colluding with the APC to rig the December 10 legislative elections. Besides, the governor alleges that the police are trying to destroy evidence of the illegal printing of INEC’s sensitive materials and failing to prosecute those allegedly involved . He appeals to President Buhari to intervene and ensure that the perpetrators are prosecuted.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Nandi  Omoni confirmed that indeed “some persons were arrested in connection with alleged printing of INEC sensitive material”, but the printer of the fake election materials has made statement to the state police command. He was shown on television. The Police spokesman did not disclose the names of the other persons arrested. Expectedly, APC has denied all the allegations. Recall that few months ago ,Wike had alleged that some police officers who were transferred out of the state for  alleged involvement in electoral malpractice have suddenly been sent back to the state. These are genuine complaints that must be properly investigated before the December 10   rerun polls.

Just last week, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Rivers State, Aniedi Ikoiwak said many court cases stand in the way of outstanding legislative elections in the state. He  called on politicians in the state to withdraw  court all cases against the rerun elections in the state.

The argument about insecurity as a factor in the delay has become a tired, recycled and indeed scare tactic by INEC. It  is no longer acceptable .

In fact, any further delay to conduct the remaining Legislative polls in Rivers State will amount to a complete disrespect to democracy and the rights of  the people to have representation at the National Assembly and State legislature.

The case of Rivers State has become even more disheartening because at the three levels of parliament – the State House of Assembly, the Senate and House of Representatives – the people of the state are not represented. This is in clear breach of Sections 14(2c), 48,49 and 91, of the 1999 Constitution. These sections enjoin the participation of every part of the country in governance . The December 10 deadline given by the Senate  is in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act and Section 76 of the 1999 Constitution.  That politics in Rivers state continues to hug the headlines is understandable. It is beyond security concerns .

The truth is that if INEC could conduct elections in the North East in 2015 ,the hotbed of Boko Haram insurgency, it stands logic on its head  when INEC  continues to stonewall on concluding the elections in Rivers State on the ground of  insecurity.

Overall, the Dec.10  deadline given by the Senate  should be seen as a clarion call to all concerned, the security agencies, political actors in Rivers, and the INEC to quickly remove all the challenges that hamper hitch-free conduct  of outstanding elections  so that Rivers State will have the required representation at the three legislative levels of governance. Nothing less will do. It’s time for INEC to redeem its image.