2-IN-1 STORY: Edo 2016: Why INEC Fixed Poll For Sept 28; Edo: INEC To Meet DSS, Police, Others

INEC chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu

• Concern over chair’s links with S/South gov.

Desire of the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to honour   an international invitation  may have informed the decision to reschedule  the Edo State  governorship poll for Wednesday, September 28, a work day.

The Nation report continues:

INEC had first cited security advice from the police and the Department of State Security (DSS) for moving the election from Saturday, September 10 to the new date.

The 18-day postponement came as a surprise to the leading candidates and stakeholders who argued that a week would have been better in view of the huge logistics burden on them.

The shift also necessitated the rescheduling of the coronation of Crown Prince Ehenede Erediauwa as new Oba of Benin from September 26 to October 28.

An investigation revealed that the INEC chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, preferred September 28 to earlier dates suggested by some of his commissioners to enable him honour an invitation by the German electoral body to be part of a team of observers for the state elections in the country scheduled for today (September 18).

At a stakeholders meeting held in Benin penultimate Wednesday, the INEC boss said that the original September 10 was immutable only to make a volte face 24 hours later following security concerns raised by the Police and the DSS that Boko Haram planned to strike during the Sallah holiday in a number of locations across the country including Edo State.

The INEC chairman jetted out of the country last week ahead of Germany’s municipal elections held last Sunday, September 11.

Meanwhile, INEC’s decision to fix the rescheduled poll for a work day has drawn fresh protests from parents whose wards are billed to sit for Alternative to Physics, Food and Nutrition and Building and Construction on September 28 in the ongoing General Certification of Education (GCE) examinations.

It was also gathered that the Presidency is in possession of intelligence reports revealing “a more than causal relationship” between the INEC boss and Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.

Professor Yakubu served as Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), an agency under the Federal Ministry of Education when Wike was Supervisory minister in charge.

The relationship between them is said to be “very, very close.”

The Rivers governor is one of the arrow-heads of Peoples Democratic Party’s battle to wrest Edo from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“Honestly, this sort of affiliation is a source of concern for anyone desirous of a free and fair election,” said a source yesterday.

Until INEC decided to shift the September 10 date, parents in Edo had similarly protested against holding the polls when their wards were scheduled to sit for Mathematics.

Speaking at the weekend, the Lagos Head of Public Affairs of the West African Examination Council, Mr. Demianus Ojijeogu, said that INEC did not consult it before fixing the new date.

But he said the council would go ahead with the September 28 examinations.

Said Ojijeogu, “We were not consulted before the new date was fixed, I do not know why. But candidates will sit for the examination in Edo State because their population is small.

“Only candidates who missed the first examination would sit for the Alternative to Physics. Both Food and Nutrition and Building and Construction are not general courses. So, only a few candidates will sit for the papers.

“It is a work day but the government will declare it work-free.”

A senior official of the Edo State Government at the weekend spoke in the same vein, saying: “The way the INEC chairman has been running the affairs of the elections leaves much to be desired. It came as a surprise to us when we heard a Wednesday had been fixed as the new date for the election. Why not September 17 or 24?

“How can you just go ahead and declare that election will now hold on a work day without having consulted with the state government or securing its buy-in since you would want that day declared a holiday.

“In fact, not only Wednesday will be declared holiday Tuesday will also have to be made holiday, just as Thursday will also likely be observed unofficially as holiday. Again, no one seems to also care about the implication of fixing election on a work day for road-users transiting through Edo as a major gateway between the South-west, South-east and the North.”

But when contacted, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, who is the Chief Press Secretary to INEC chairman, said the postponement was a collective decision of INEC management.

He said the poll shift was not a personal decision of the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Yakubu.

Oyekanmi said: “It is very wicked for anybody to insinuate that the chairman of INEC is working in tandem with one governor to postpone the Edo Governorship Election.

“As you may be aware, the law gives INEC the power to fix dates for election. The commission is independent.

“Edo governorship election would have been held and concluded on September 10 but for the advisory that came from security agencies asking INEC to postpone the election due to security reasons.

“In picking a new date, a number of things were considered. The first is the provision in the law that says election must be concluded clear 30 days before the expiration of the tenure of the incumbent governor.

“We were also advised by the Bini Traditional Council about the initial date set for the coronation of the Oba of Benin to avoid any clash.

“The issue of whether or not Germany was going to hold election was not part of the reasons for postponing the election.”

He insisted that the decision to shift the election and the new date agreed upon was a collective one by INEC management.

He added: “The INEC chairman was in Benin with four National Commissioners who formed a quorum to take the decision because as at then INEC had only six National Commissioners.

“The poll shift was a collective decision. That date was jointly arrived at as a decision of the commission and not that of the chairman.”
Edo: INEC To Meet DSS, Police, Others

The Punch reports that the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission is planning to have a meeting with the leadership of all security agencies on the Edo State governorship election.

The meeting, it was gathered, would be held before the commission would meet with stakeholders in the state before the election, which is scheduled to hold on September 28.

Specifically, the meeting with the security agencies will involve the Department of State Services, the police, the Nigeria Civil Defence Corps, the army, navy and others.

The commission had shifted the date of the election which was originally scheduled to hold on September 10 to the new date due to security advice from the DSS and the police.

The two security agencies had claimed that there were plans by those they referred to as extremists and insurgents to disrupt the election and also caused mayhem across the country between September 12 and 13.

To avoid bloodshed and crisis-ridden election, they called on the commission to consider the possibility of shifting the election to enable them to deal with the security challenge.

Though the commission initially said it was going ahead with the election, it later cancelled the plan and shifted the date of the election.

Our correspondent gathered then that the commission decided to shelve its desire to go ahead with the election when security agents refused to escort its officials to their different destinations for distribution of materials.

Apart from this, the commission was later served an official notice of the decision by the security agencies on the danger involved in going ahead with the election.

It was learnt on Sunday that the meeting with the security agencies would afford the commission to know how far they (the DSS, Police, etc) have gone to deal with the projected security problems in the state.

INEC’s Deputy Director, Publicity and Voter Education, Mr. Nick Dazang, confirmed the proposed meeting with the security agencies in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Sunday.

He said, “It is true that we are planning to meet with security agencies such as the Police, the DSS and others before the date we fixed for the election.

“The meeting will enable us to evaluate what all the parties have done as the day for the election draws nearer.

“We cannot afford to fail because the election, like every other one, is very important to us as a commission and to Nigerians generally.

“We will meet with the security agencies so that we can compare notes. We need to know what has happened between when we shifted the election and now.”

Dazang also confirmed that another round of meeting would be held with stakeholders in the state.

While saying that the meeting would hold after the one with the security agencies, he however said      the meeting with stakeholders would not be elaborate.

He said, “We are also going to have another stakeholders’ meeting in Benin. The meeting will come after our meeting with the security agencies.

“But unlike the one we held before postponing the election, this meeting will just be attended by some of our national commissioners and the state Resident Electoral Commissioner.

“The chairman and others might not be there. In all, we are getting ready for the election and we are also banking on the cooperation of the electorates and the people of the state.”