Issues on Edo election postponement

I concur with the statement of the Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose, that the postponement of the election into the office of the Governor of the state by INEC was just a ploy by the umpire body to rig the election for the All Progressives Change APC. It is regrettable that since the advent of […]

I concur with the statement of the Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose, that the postponement of the election into the office of the Governor of the state by INEC was just a ploy by the umpire body to rig the election for the All Progressives Change APC.
It is regrettable that since the advent of Buhari’s administration the INEC has never conducted a successful election in the country.
What was obtained in the elections conducted by INEC during the administration’s stay in office was inconclusive. The reason adduced as to why the election was postponed is flimsy in the sense that since the advent of insurgency there is no where especially in the South-East, South-West or South-South that such took place except in the North-East and some towns in the north.  Therefore it is a lame excuse in order to assist the ruling party in rigging the election.
Imagine during the 2015 presidential election, the same electoral body conducted the election in some towns within the Adamawa, Yobe and Borno axis which is the epicentre of the insurgency.
That election produced the Buhari administration and the APC as the ruling party. The election was acclaimed as the fairest one and was accepted world-wide. The party that promised change in the polity in all aspect of life in the country is the one sliding into doing things that are inimical to the survival of an enduring democracy.
This is a sad development and it portends grievous danger for the survival of Nigeria democracy. Even the Daily Trust newspaper captures via their on their editorial page of Friday, September 9, 2016”This time too, there is every reason to suspect that the Police and DSS are doing APC’s bidding because the ruling party is in danger of losing the Edo State”. After all the preparation of the election that reached almost 99% suddenly the INEC postponed the election following similar pattern of the then National Security Adviser who advised for the postponement of the elections of 2015. If this dangerous trend is allowed to continue, then the democracy is in severe danger. In fact, there is the need for the INEC to be independent in the conduct of election affairs as it is being done in advanced democracies the world over and not to be dictated by any organ of government. It is imperative for the present leadership of INEC not to allow itself to be used as a mere rubber stamp of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. The issue of postponement of going to the poll is a clearly pointer that the ruling party in conjunction with the security apparatus wants to truncate the good conduct of election in the country. Even in the dark days of the last administration in which the Peoples Democratic Party, the conduct of elections is not what is being done now.
There was a sense of commitment to show to the world, that the opposition is given the leverage to participate in elections. One needs to ponder over what is being done now under the present administration that propagates change as its main slogan but doing the opposite in the conduct of election. Let the umpire electoral body be fully in charge of conducting election in the country without any subtle move in trying to rig.
Usman Santuraki, a public affairs analyst, 2 Santuraki Close, Jimeta, Yola 08032333546 [email protected]