The just concluded 2019 general elections has come and gone, but the furore generated by its outcome is yet to simmer down as eight States got their result delayed until supplementary elections were held. KEHINDE OSASONA writes.
Cause for concern
The General Secretary of Alliance for Credible Elections, Ms Mma Odi, said the rate of inconclusive elections in the country was becoming a cause for concern.
“Inconclusive elections have now become the new trend rather than the exception as witnessed in some of the states like Kogi, Bayelsa, Osun FCT, Imo and Nasarawa,’’ she said.
Odi said that development, based on the margin of lead, violence and security threat was fast becoming “a threat to our hard won democracy’’.
According to her, the phenomenon of inconclusive election, if not checked by the government now will lead to loss of confidence on INEC and the disempowerment of the voters, among others.
She cited the disputed Imo North senatorial re-run election, and the postponement of River senatorial re-run election as signs that “all is not well’’ as far as inconclusive election was concerned in the country.
The NGO, therefore, called on INEC to do everything within its power to end inconclusive elections, plan, implement and ensure free, fair and credible election in the remaining re-run polls in Edo.
Weapon for manipulation of results and violence
Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room has urged Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to put an end to supplementary elections in the country.
The convener of the coalition of 70 civil society groups, Mr Clement Nwankwo, made the call in Abuja when he spoke on observation of the elections.
Nwankwo said the call to end supplementary elections became imperative because it appeared that the process was now a manipulation tool to circumvent the will of the electorate.
He said the group deployed observers for the supplementary governorship elections in Bauchi, Benue, Kano, Plateau and Sokoto states and noticed some ills.
He said some flaws observed were recurrent in Nigeria’s elections and as a country, they ought to be condemned, especially the voters’ intimidation and insecurity that resulted in the shooting of a returning officer in Benue.
“The widespread incidents of violence, thuggery and abuse of the electoral process, especially as reported in Gama ward of Kano must be addressed by INEC.
“Situation Room believes that the level of abuse recorded in Gama ward is of such monumental proportions as to necessitate INEC expunging the outcome of the supposed voting results from the final collation.
“Safety of election day workers, INEC and ad-hoc staff, observers is not guaranteed and portends great danger for future elections in Nigeria.”
“Actions of political parties and their supporters continue to undermine the confidence in our electoral process as well as the rights of citizens to participate fully in the election and cast their votes without fear.”
The kano example
Nwankwo said that incidences of violence were recorded in some local government areas in Bauchi, Kano and Benue where thugs threw stones at voters.
He said that some reports received showed instances of over-deployment of security personnel such as in Plateau. He said that the group was puzzled by the situation in Kano where the deployment of senior police officers could not stem the incidents of political thuggery and intimidation.
Nwankwo said that reports showed that instances where security personnel, most especially the police and civil defence, with challenging situations were met with inaction.
He said that the Situation Room was concerned that abuses of electoral process occurred in spite of the deployment of top-level police officials, including a Deputy Inspector-General and three assistant inspector general and commissioners.
Nwankwo said that in the previous elections, a state commissioner of police took charge and there was less violence so it was ironic to see this quantum of violence in spite of heavy deployment.
He said that there were reports of widespread vote buying in Kano and Bauchi states and under-aged voting was also recorded in Plateau and Sokoto states.
He said that observers were denied access to the collation centre contrary to INEC regulations and guidelines. Nwankwo said that the Situation Room would continue to reiterate that elections could be conducted devoid of violence.
INEC’s reason
INEC chairman’s Chief Press Secretary, Lawrence Oyekanmi, said whatever decision the commission took in declaring some governorship polls inconclusive is grounded in law and logic. Oyekanmi said INEC relied on the Electoral Act 2010, as amended to conduct the 2019 general elections.
Further, he stated that inconclusive election in some states was due to the position of the law, since according to him, the commission remains committed to a transparent electoral process.
Yet, citing the relevant sections of INEC Electoral Guidelines to back the decision he said “In page 17 paragraph C, the Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections on the margin of lead principle, states that where the margin of lead between the two leading candidates in an election is not in excess of the total number of voters registered in polling units, where elections are not counted or voided, in line with Section 26 and 53 of Electoral Act, the Returning Officer shall decline to make a return until votes have taken place in the affected polling units and the results collated into the relevant forms for declaration and return.
“This is the margin of lead principle and shall apply wherever necessary in making returns in all elections to which these Regulations and Guidelines apply. And, therefore, I declare this exercise inconclusive.”
APC kicks
Shortly before the supplementary elections in Adamawa state, the All Progressives Congress (APC) threatened to ditch the exercise if the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) insists on conducting it on a particular Thursday.
The statement came after the vacation of an interim injunction stopping the conduct of the supplementary election on March 23, 2019, was issued by the Organising Secretary of APC, Alhaji Ahmed Lawan.
According to Lawan, “the party has rejected the Thursday date and communicated its position to the electoral body”.
He said, “We are not going to participate in the election if INEC is going to conduct it on Thursday. I don’t know why INEC is rushing, as conducting this election on Thursday will disenfranchise many voters, particularly workers and students who need to go to work and schools,” he added.
PDP counters
But countering the ruling party stance before tabvle turned in Adamawa, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) through its chairman, Tahir Shebi, said it was ready for the polls.
In the same vein, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), INEC Adamawa State, Kassim Gaidam towed the same line when it insisted that despite the ruling party stance, the commission would hold the supplementary election as scheduled.
Has inconclusive poll suddenly become a tradition?
As at the last counts, elections were announced inconclusive in six States of Kano, Bauchi, Benue, Adamawa, Plateau and Sokoto states. Reasons adduced varied from failure to use the smart card readers, violence, over-voting and other irregularities.
Reacting on the developments, an Abuja-based public commentator cum political analyst, Dan Ejike, was quoted as having said, “If inconclusive poll is not quickly checked, it would in less than no time become part of our political tradition and, will end up puncturing the process each time success is just a meter away.
According to him, the enormity of past inconclusive polls and the recent six states declared inconclusive by INEC after the 2019 polls was a bad signal for the country’s nascent democracy.
He said, “I think it would be better for our government to tame every scourge of violence and irregularities that usually associate with elections in the country so that there won’t be need for a re-run at all,”
INEC advances reasons
Justifying reasons the Returning Officers of the affected states declared the governorship polls as inconclusive, INEC in a statement that was released at the end of a meeting of the commission said the elections were declared inconclusive for a number of reasons, one of which include the discontinuation of the use of smart card readers during the elections.
The statement partly reads, “The Commission met today, 12th March 2019 and reviewed the conduct of the 29 Governorship and 991 State constituency elections held on 9th March 2019. In all, the Commission declared winners in the Governorship elections in 22 states.
“The elections were declared inconclusive for a combination of reasons, mainly the discontinuation of the use of Smart Card Readers midway into the elections or the failure to deploy them, over-voting and widespread disruption in many polling units.”
Section 179 (2) of the constitution, provides that “a candidate for an election to the office of governor of a state shall be deemed to have been duly elected where, there being two or more candidates has the highest number of votes cast at the election; and has less than one-quarter of all the votes cast in each of at least two-thirds of all the local government areas in the state.”
Before now, pundits in the political firmament had accused INEC of hiding under Section 26 of the Electoral Act to declare polls inconclusive, saying many candidates who met the requirements were not returned as winners, just as re-run election had to be conducted in some areas and after which winners were declared.
Lawyer speaks
But while speaking to Blueprint on the issue, a legal practitioner, Barrister Anayo Okereke expressed regrets that inconclusive elections have become a common place in our electoral system.
He said, “As it were, the issue at hand is a product of both legislative and administrative enactment. The operational electoral Act which made provision for INEC to declare somebody an outright winner takes the number of cancelled votes into recognition, to the extent that if the margin between the winner and the runner-up is less than the number of cancelled votes, then INEC stands advantage to declare anybody winner.
Okereke continued, “INEC in giving effect to these provisions went ahead to make rules that into effects. So, that is the legal basis of the supplementary election that has suddenly become part of our electoral system.
On the way forward, Okereke added, “Government should strive to curtail a situation where politicians tends to disrupts election where they are not popular so that election would not hold there and then maintain peace in the area of their strongholds in order to emerge victorious.
ADC proffers solution
“Nigerians must reject what has now been tagged the ‘Osun template’, which is the fragmentation of elections, or what is now a popular vocabulary of both the ruling government and the INEC-inconclusive polls.
“We must stand firm against this practice, which has virtually reduced our elections to nothing”, the party said in a release Tuesday.
Further, the ADC party called for the review of the electoral process with particular reference to supplementary election, adding it would enhance the growth of democracy in the country.
“We, therefore, call for the review of the electoral process, and redesign of the democratic architecture, to give protection to all arms and tiers of government to be more effective and grow our country.”
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