All eyes on INEC

It is doubtful whether Professor Jega has amassed any ill-gotten wealth. Did a section of the Nigerian media throw away professionalism in the bid to satisfy a narrow, pre-determined and self-serving purpose? In the absence of any concrete proof to back these unsavoury charges from a particular section of the media, it may well be […]

It is doubtful whether Professor Jega has amassed any ill-gotten wealth. Did a section of the Nigerian media throw away professionalism in the bid to satisfy a narrow, pre-determined and self-serving purpose? In the absence of any concrete proof to back these unsavoury charges from a particular section of the media, it may well be that those claims were made in order to intimidate INEC. Jega remains a calm, humble, simple and austere administrator lacking in any form of lavish or ostentatious life. He appears to remain focused on the delivery of this important national assignment.
Nevertheless, a number of unfolding befuddling developments in the country have begun to discourage Jega’s admirers. Number one, INEC has practically failed to call to order the illegal campaign activities of a group called Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), an overzealous pro-Jonathan group allegedly being funded by the state to orchestrate a widespread acceptance of President Goodluck Jonathan’s second or (third) coming in 2015. The consistent appearance of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Anyim Pius Anyim and serving government ministers at the TAN rallies presupposes that these jamborees are being held in close collaboration with officials of the ruling cabal. It was only after TAN had staged their last major rally for the North West in Kano that INEC woke up from its apparent slumber to quote from the law books, promising punishment for those violating political campaign rules; shutting the stable after the horse has bolted, you may say. For this reason, analysts have called to question the INEC chairman’s firmness, neutrality and impartiality.
Last month, INEC disclosed its plan to ease the hardship faced by voters all over the country by increasing the number of polling units to bring them to a manageable 500 voters per unit. No sooner had Professor Jega made that revelation than some ethnic champions called a press conference and savagely attacked the man, claiming that he intended to sabotage the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan and confer advantage on northern politicians. Since then, all attempts to explain the rationale for this necessary and important exercise has been disregarded. The arrowheads of this uncouth media attack on Jega are the former Vice President, His Excellency,  Dr Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme and the grand old man of Kiagbodo, the self-styled Ijaw leader and president’s godfather, Chief Edwin Akporode Clark. For these old men, the mere creation of additional polling units in the north practically translates into additional voters in the region. Accordingly, they’ve called for the resignation of Professor Jega or his dismissal by the government. If this blackmail and publicly expressed vitriol had come from an objective and rational group, one would have given it due consideration; but these are rather emotional political stunts from a rabid, ethnic champion intent on preserving himself in his new role of a presidential godfather.  This self-serving theatrical, this democreek logic, this bluster aims to also protect the current cumbersome arrangement that favours the so-called Ijaw “nation” but must receive a sprinkling of support from other personalities, like Ekwueme, Olu Falae, etc, in order to make impact.
The Senate has also waded in, with the Chairman of its Committee on Electoral Matters, Andy Uba, threatening that they would pass a resolution to block the implementation of the INEC polling units. You really don’t know what this Senate is up to. These Senators did nothing when Boko Haram captured some towns in Borno and Yobe states and declared Gwoza as the headquarters of their ‘caliphate’. This Senate did nothing when the Immigration Service employment interview was mismanaged and scores of young Nigerians were trampled to death. Up to now the Senate’s Committee on the Interior has failed to turn in the result of its investigation into those deaths. But now, the Senate under the spell of David Mark, the ultimate protector of the ruling party, wants to interfere with the workings of INEC by passing a resolution that hinders its operations.
Recall that Professor Jega has also recently been given a presidential directive to print ballot papers and other sensitive election materials at the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC) in order to “create jobs” for the boys. Has INEC become another government department devoted to job creation? Is it INEC’s function to create jobs or to organise free and fair elections? INEC is also being watched closely to see whether it will print these important documents where the president ordered it to, or do it where officials feel is secure enough. Keen observers are of the strong belief that the security of these documents would be compromised were they to be produced by NSPMC.
Right now all eyes are on Jega to see if these pro-Jonathan groups have frightened him enough to abandon the polling units’ adjustment exercise or whether he has retained the sufficient courage to carry it through. If Jega and his colleagues have thought through the entire INEC policies, then they have no reason to chicken out.