Okoye is wrong on state electoral commissions

While I equally assert some aspects of the position of Mr Okoye on how to make elections in Nigeria credible, free and fair, I found most other parts of the position taken by the human rights activist very contradicting, sweeping and unsubstantiated generalities. For instance, let me quote the position of the activist on Borno […]

While I equally assert some aspects of the position of Mr Okoye on how to make elections in Nigeria credible, free and fair, I found most other parts of the position taken by the human rights activist very contradicting, sweeping and unsubstantiated generalities. For instance, let me quote the position of the activist on Borno and Anambra states in his write up of 4th August verbatim.
 “What in the first place are the pedigrees of the states where no local government elections have been conducted since 1999?” He reflected Borno as one of them. This statement is absolutely not correct, while I cannot speak for Anambra, I know I have provided the empirical evidence that elections were conducted in Borno in 2004 and 2008, and there are evidences of results and scores of candidate provided. It is really unfortunate that a human rights activist of Okoye’s calibre will go to the press and make a sweeping and wrong deduction without complying with one of the basic tenets of human rights agitation, which is fair hearing.
I believe that had Okoye taken his precious time to go to Anambra and Borno to actually find out about elections, he couldn’t have made the mistake he made.
Having said that, I must, however, emphasize on the need for free, fair and credible elections at the grassroots level. A successful participatory democracy at this level will ensure credible elections at the higher levels.
In the same submission of 4th August, Okoye further submitted that all elections in the states are won by the parties in control. If that is the true basis of his querying the capacity of State Independent Electoral Commissions, I would like to submit that while he is advocating that the Independent National Electoral Commission should take over the job of local government elections, it is glaring to note that the latter is even more guilty than the former, if flawed elections are being discussed.
I would want him to tell Nigerians where an incumbent president has ever failed to succeed himself in any election in this country. It is natural to assume (though not one hundred per cent) that a party that produces a governor in a particular state, must be strong enough and will have structures on ground to win other elections. Simply put, because a particular party is strong and is able to garner its support to win all elections should not be a basis of saying that the role of State Independent Electoral Commissions should be subsumed by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
In the same token, it is not the business of State Independent Electoral Commissions to ensure that popular and strong candidates with followers and structures are made to lose election simply because the commissions want members of the public to believe they are fair and objective.
Mr Okoye also accused the State Independent Electoral Commissions of using adhoc staff to conduct elections and he forgot that the Independent National Electoral Commission uses the same type of people for its election as well! The writer also failed to consider the implication of further saddling INEC with the job of conducting local government elections.
It is trite that INEC as of today is grappling with its inability to conduct acceptable general elections with all the funds that were released to it through first line charge and it is still crying for more funds.
If Mr Okoye had taken his time to cross check his facts, he would have discovered that the Borno State Government and the State Independent Electoral Commission were enmeshed in serious litigation that was why elections were not held. Also, when the new commission was appointed in 2011, the former governor, Senator Dr Ali Sheriff, said we must conduct local government election when we went to him on a courtesy visit and I told him it was not possible. When he insisted, I told him that under the Electoral Act we must issue a three-month notice and by that time he barely had 50 days to vacate office. He was not happy that he would not conduct elections before leaving office.
When the new Governor Alhaji Kashim Shettima took over, he made his stance clear that local government election ought to be conducted. He demonstrated his commitment during our courtesy visit to him when he reiterated the fact that elections should be conducted and manifested the same commitment in his budget speech announcing that all sensitive and non-sensitive materials for conducting election by Borno State Independent Electoral Commission were on ground.
The election process was at its final stages when the security situation became exacerbated and subsequently the state of emergency was imposed.
I believe the greatest job to have ever been done to electoral reform in Nigeria by Muhammad Lawal Uwais Committee on Electoral Reforms, and the key to free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria lies in adopting all the recommendations made this committee.
It will amount to turning the hands of the clock back at this stage of our national development to scrap State Independent Electoral Commissions. The Nigerian government should instead ensure that these commissions are funded from the first line charge, just like their elder sister, INEC.

Musa (Esq) is the Permanent Commissioner, Borno Indepen-dent Electoral Commission.