ELECTION POSTPONEMENT AS AN ALBASTROS
Election Postponement: Blame successive governments and NASS – SERAP
Ballot boxes used to illustrate the story.
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked Nigerians to blame successive governments from 1999 and the National Assembly for the postponement of the 2019 general elections.
The polls were to open on Saturday with the presidential and parliamentary elections until the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced a shift at about 2:45 a.m. According to the chairman of the electoral body, Mahmood Yakubu, the presidential election will now hold on Saturday, February 23 while the state elections will also hold a week later on March 9.
But SERAP said it would not allow the matter of the postponement go even after the elections.
“Giving the increasing tendency to postpone elections and the cumulative failures and corruption over the years, SERAP would, after the elections, pursue appropriate legal action against the government in power and the National Assembly leadership for the catalogue of breaches of constitutional and international obligations, and seek effective remedies for the citizens,” the civil society organisation said.
It spoke through a statement on Sunday by its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare.
“The postponement of Nigeria’s elections since 2007 shows a systemic failure of leadership at the highest level of government, and suggests that our electoral process is deliberately skewed in favour of politicians’ interests, who continue to profit from the corruption and impunity that have characterized the process since 1999, and against those of the citizens.
“Calling for the resignation of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, rather than addressing the root causes of persistent postponement of elections is a blatant attempt by politicians to scapegoat the electoral commission.
“While the INEC leadership ought to proactively push for reform of the electoral system, successive governments and leadership of the National Assembly that have the legal responsibility but have remained largely impervious to revolutionary change of the electoral system should be held to account for this fundamental breach of public trust.
“Rather than prioritising genuine and comprehensive reforms of the electoral system that would upgrade and modernize our voting processes, successive governments and leadership of the National Assembly would seem to prefer the status quo, presumably to undermine citizens’ right to participation and to continue to profit from the corruption and impunity that the current system and processes breed.
“It is clear that the current electoral process is vulnerable to corruption but politicians would seem to have little incentive to comprehensively reform, upgrade and modernise it. It is unlikely that either the federal government or the National Assembly would take the steps necessary to sort out our electoral system and improve transparency, accountability and integrity of the electoral process.
“We urge Nigerians to take a more active role in the fight against corruption, including by putting pressure on the authorities at the federal and state levels and the National Assembly to comprehensively reform, upgrade and modernize our electoral system and processes. Otherwise, citizens’ right to participate in the governance system will remain a ‘hollow right’.
“It is time to push for revolutionary changes in how Nigeria conducts its elections. The changes should effectively deploy modern technology, which has been successfully used in the business and other sectors in the country. Such changes may include the introduction of a national system of Internet voting, to innovative ideas on how to adapt the election systems to facilitate participation by different sectors of the population, to conform with twenty-first-century elections.
“SERAP would also deploy the Freedom of Information Act to seek information on details of spending by INEC since 1999, as part of our initiatives to improve transparency and accountability of governmental operations and promote respect for citizens’ right to participate in the processes of government and governance in the country.
“SERAP notes that postponement of general elections has become a recurring feature of the country’s electoral process. For example, the 2007 general elections witnessed late arrival of election materials from South Africa in April of that year, contributing to denying millions of voters their right to political participation.”
“SERAP also notes that the 2011 general election suffered the same organizational lapses, with the elections postponed for two days after it had commenced. In 2015, the government of former president Goodluck Jonathan postponed the election for six weeks on the pretext that it needed time to reclaim the local governments reportedly taken over by the Boko Haram terrorist group.”
The polls were to open on Saturday with the presidential and parliamentary elections until the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced a shift at about 2:45 a.m. According to the chairman of the electoral body, Mahmood Yakubu, the presidential election will now hold on Saturday, February 23 while the state elections will also hold a week later on March 9.
But SERAP said it would not allow the matter of the postponement go even after the elections.
“Giving the increasing tendency to postpone elections and the cumulative failures and corruption over the years, SERAP would, after the elections, pursue appropriate legal action against the government in power and the National Assembly leadership for the catalogue of breaches of constitutional and international obligations, and seek effective remedies for the citizens,” the civil society organisation said.
It spoke through a statement on Sunday by its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare.
“The postponement of Nigeria’s elections since 2007 shows a systemic failure of leadership at the highest level of government, and suggests that our electoral process is deliberately skewed in favour of politicians’ interests, who continue to profit from the corruption and impunity that have characterized the process since 1999, and against those of the citizens.
“While the INEC leadership ought to proactively push for reform of the electoral system, successive governments and leadership of the National Assembly that have the legal responsibility but have remained largely impervious to revolutionary change of the electoral system should be held to account for this fundamental breach of public trust.
“Rather than prioritising genuine and comprehensive reforms of the electoral system that would upgrade and modernize our voting processes, successive governments and leadership of the National Assembly would seem to prefer the status quo, presumably to undermine citizens’ right to participation and to continue to profit from the corruption and impunity that the current system and processes breed.
“It is clear that the current electoral process is vulnerable to corruption but politicians would seem to have little incentive to comprehensively reform, upgrade and modernise it. It is unlikely that either the federal government or the National Assembly would take the steps necessary to sort out our electoral system and improve transparency, accountability and integrity of the electoral process.
“We urge Nigerians to take a more active role in the fight against corruption, including by putting pressure on the authorities at the federal and state levels and the National Assembly to comprehensively reform, upgrade and modernize our electoral system and processes. Otherwise, citizens’ right to participate in the governance system will remain a ‘hollow right’.
“It is time to push for revolutionary changes in how Nigeria conducts its elections. The changes should effectively deploy modern technology, which has been successfully used in the business and other sectors in the country. Such changes may include the introduction of a national system of Internet voting, to innovative ideas on how to adapt the election systems to facilitate participation by different sectors of the population, to conform with twenty-first-century elections.
“SERAP would also deploy the Freedom of Information Act to seek information on details of spending by INEC since 1999, as part of our initiatives to improve transparency and accountability of governmental operations and promote respect for citizens’ right to participate in the processes of government and governance in the country.
“SERAP also notes that the 2011 general election suffered the same organizational lapses, with the elections postponed for two days after it had commenced. In 2015, the government of former president Goodluck Jonathan postponed the election for six weeks on the pretext that it needed time to reclaim the local governments reportedly taken over by the Boko Haram terrorist group.”
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