….And the challenges to come

President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to,  announce, later this week,  the new chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.  But many believe that the announcement is not the main issue but the preparations for the  2011 general elections.  Whoever  the new INEC chairman  is  will  have to contend with some challenges which are presented in this report.

By Jide Ajani , Deputy Editor

Except, of course, there is a change of heart,     Sunday Vanguard can confirm that the fire-brand lawyer, Bukhari Bello, would be the next chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC

President Goodluck  Jonathan dropped the  hint in  far away Nice, France, last week that the final screening for a new INEC Chairman was concluded (penultimate) Saturday night, and would be unveiled for Nigerians on Tuesday (48 hours later) when the National Council of State, NCS, would be expected to ratify the nomination.

Jonathan also said though he had neither seen nor met the man all his life, but from the report of the screening, the new man could possess the needed energy and zeal to conduct credible elections that could stand the test of time.

President Jonathan  also made it clear that none of those being speculated by the Nigerian media came close to the identity of the man that would eventually emerge, noting that throughout his career as civil servant and politician he never met with  him.

Jonathan also narrated how the names of possible nominees (State Commissioners) proposed and submitted to him by some governors for consideration were jettisoned simply because of his desire to give the best to Nigerians.

But if Jonathan is desirous of credible elections, it does not start and end with the appointment of an energetic individual.

During the National Council of States, NCS, meeting inside Aso Rock Presidential Villa, the seat of government, in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, chairman of INEC, Professor Maurice Iwu, had made a presentation to the NCS.  Iwu told his audience, made up of the former President, Commander-in-Chief, Olusegun Obasanjo, past Heads of State who are statutory members of the NCS, Chief Justice of the Federation, state governors and a handful of other members that INEC was very ready.

After his presentation, a number of the members were taken on a tour of facilities of INEC, preparatory to the 2007 elections.  This  was meant to achieve a number of objectives.

Iwu's successor will be anounced Tuesday.

First was to let it be known to the whole world that INEC was indeed ready and prepared for the elections of 2007.

It was  also meant to provide a first hand assessment to this group of Nigerians whose views carried hefty weight. Arising from and in addition to the assessment, at the end of the tour, comments bothering on reservations or other such sentiments would be made with a view to assisting the electoral body conduct credible elections in 2007.

It was after the exercise that General Yakubu Gowon, a one-time military leader, showered INEC with effusive encomiums, saying the election management body was more than ready to conduct the 2007 elections successfully, at least based on what he had seen on ground.

But Gowon, a man of discernment, was quick to add a caveat:  That with all these elaborate designs of INEC at having free and fair elections, he hoped Nigerian politicians would not foul everything.

Indeed, General Gowon’s statement was to become prophetic when politicians turned the 2007 elections into a messy drama, the worst in the nation’s history.

At  the end, INEC was blamed for everything, and some would add, righteously so.

But in the 36 states of the federation, only the gubernatorial elections in Ondo and Edo States  were upturned by the election petition tribunals; and the gubernatorial election of Anambra State, declared as coming before it’s time by the Supreme Court on account of tenure of office of the incumbent, Peter Obi; and another round of fresh lections in Adamawa, Bayelsa and Cross River State; the tribunal also ordered bye-elections in Ekiti State.

Already, the acting chairman of INEC, Deji Soyebi has come out to complain that the  2011 elections are being jeopardised by lack of preparations.  He made it clear during a presentation to a senate committee, that the commission would require 120,000 polling units, for starters.

He also said some other materials for the elections were yet to be made available.  In addition, he raised the issue of the laws that would govern the conduct of election at a time when the National Assembly is yet to come up with its Electoral Act, 2010, which is going through it process of amendment.

Apart from the appointment of a chairman, there is the issue of members of the INEC board.
INEC today has created three Election Voting Centres, Sunday Vanguard can reveal. They are in Jigawa, Abia and Ogun State.  Sunday Vanguard learnt that this became necessary because “it would help decentralise Abuja”, an INEC source disclosed.

The major reason why the board has not been constituted, to have its statutory number of Federal Electoral Commissioners is because of the health and death of President Umaru Yar’Adua.  Sunday Vanguard learnt that Yar’Adua had actually got nominations for the board of INEC. It was also gathered that Yar’Adua might have retained Iwu who had organised a few elections since 2007 and these were adjudged far better than the 2007 polls.

Statutorily, the board is made up of 12 Federal Commissioners and the National Chairman of the Commission which makes the total number 13.

For quite a while now, the board of INEC has atrophied to just three, and with Iwu’s forced leave, has been reduced to just two members.

Sunday Vanguard understands that the NCS, is expected to ratify the nominees put forward by the President, whereupon the National Assembly will then confirm the persons ratified by the NCS. The snag, however, is that the NCS has not been convened in a long while now – since the third quarter of last year.

But the challenges that would confront the in-coming board of INEC are enormous. From one election to another, particularly in the last 10 years, nothing has changed in the attitudes and behaviours of politicians.

The average Nigerian politician in his quest for power has become more desperate, mindless and easily prone to subvert the electoral process. But INEC can not be excused. First is the rascality of Resident Electoral Commissioners, REC, who have become gods unto themselves.  This was evident during the Ekiti re-run election where the REC, Ayoka Adebayo, a septuagenarian almost wrecked the election.

There is also the visible intimidation of INEC officials by the President and the political party in power, which had made many to insist that the appointment of the chairman of the election management body should be taken away from the executive and handed to the judiciary.

The amended 1999 Constitution retains that power in the President. Politicians also continue to induce election managers with huge funds which are sometimes irresistible. Then there is the institutional inadequacies and bureaucratic bottlenecks which inhibit smooth conduct of elections. For the in-coming INEC chairman to succeed, he would need to tackle all these challenges and many more

LEADERSHIP OF THE NATIONAL ELECTORAL MANAGEMENT BODY SINCE INDEPENDENCE

1. Mr E. E. Esua (Chairman) Federal Electoral Commission (FEC)               1964-1966.
2. Chief Micheal Ani, CFR (Chairman)  “        “        “       “                                      1976-1979.
3. Justice Victor E. Ovie Whiskey  (Chairman) FEDECO                                   1980-1983.
4. Prof Eme O. Awa (Chairman) National Electoral Commission (NEC)     1987-1989.
5. Prof Humphrey Nwosu (Chairman) “      “            “            “                                1989-1993.
6. Amb. (Prof) Okon Edet Uya (Chairman) “             “             “                              1993-1993.
7. Chief S. Dagogo-Jack (Chairman) Nat. Elec Com of Nigeria (NECON)  1994-1998.
8. Hon Justice Ephraim O. I. Akpata (Chairman) INEC                                       1998-2000.
9. Sir (Dr) Abel Obude Guobadia (Chairman) “           “           “                               2000-2005.
10. Prof Maurice M. Iwu (Chairman)  “         “             “           “                                 2005- date.