As the clock chimes towards next month’s general elections, the recent redeployment of Resident Electoral Commissioners, REC, has sent chills down the spines of opposition parties in Enugu State.

By Francis Igata

ENUGU State has been a political flashpoint in the build up to next month’s general elections. Although the litigation dust raised from primaries of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is yet to settle, the least the electorates need at the twilight of the polls is a tainted electoral umpire.
The role of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, holds the Midas touch to a credible, free and fair elections nationwide. Premised on the foregoing, the INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, in bid to dislodge entrenched interests in the states, redeployed 37-RECs nationwide.

They were directed to, on or before December 31,2014,”conclude all handing and taking over formalities”. The statement redeploying the commissioners was signed by the Secretary of the commission, Mrs. Augusta C. Ogakwu.

The REC’s redeployment, sources said “is due to the level of hospitality and afro-centric packaging in volumes that sometimes surpasses the usual INEC’s remuneration to some of the RECs by their host governments.”

Indiscipline or sabotage

With the redeployment, Jega is sending a fresh signal to INEC officials that he would not condone any form of indiscipline or sabotage within the system as the electoral umpire prepares for next month’s potentially volatile general elections.

Most of the RECs were alleged to have very cozy relationship with their host governments thereby creating the impression that next month’s general election may be a mere formality in some states as the incumbents were to be retained via a convoluted electoral process.

Following the redeployment, Professor Chukwuemeka Onukaogu who hails from Abia State was posted to Enugu State as the new REC. He was posted from Anambra State.

Resentment: This move by Jega has been greeted with vehement resentment from opposition parties in Enugu State. The first salvo, repelling the redeployment came from the main opposition party, the All Progressives Congress, APC.
The state chapter Chairman, Mr. Ben Nwoye, said bile surged to his mouth when the news broke that Prof. Onukaogu was now the new REC in Enugu.

According to Nwoye: “it is bad for INEC to routinely switch the RECs few weeks before the general elections. It shows that INEC does not have trust and confidence in them.

Recipe for disaster
“These RECs must have built confidence between them and political stakeholders where they were serving. They must have known the geographical terrains, garnered knowledge of their states which will be wiped off because of the redeployment. It is a recipe for disaster.

“Enugu state do not have confidence that the new REC,Prof. Chukwuemeka Onukaogu will be able to conduct or supervise a free and fair election because of his antecedents in Anambra State. He supervised the conduct of the most unfair election in Anambra state which is subject of litigation. INEC Charman, Prof. Attahiru Jega admitted that the election he(Onukaogu) conduct in Anambra last year was floored.

Similarly, the National Chairman of United Progressives Party, UPP, Chief Chekwas Okorie, said the redeployment has nothing to do with the acceptability of election results. INEC should go beyond individuals and build a strong institution that is tamper proof and free from individual manipulations.

The UPP presidential candidate went on, “the redeployment has not helped in the past and will not help now. It will only create an avenue for the RECs to make new friends in the new areas where they are posted.”

PDP not moved by redeployment

However, the Publicity Secretary of PDP, Enugu state chapter,Mr. Okey Ezeh said,”PDP is not moved by any changes from INEC.
“We believe that INEC has the capacity to deliver a credible, free and fair elections in the state. We believe that INEC will deliver the desire of the people in the next month’s general elections.”

The political parties in Enugu state will do well to mount an aggressive campaign to sensitize voters on the imperatives to collect their Permanent Voters Cards, PVC. Empirical statistics depict that Enugu state is the least nationwide with 45 percent collection rate.