The much-awaited general elections are finally here in Nigeria. Eligible voters across the country will, on Saturday, February 23, troop out in their numbers to elect a new President and members of the National Assembly to run the affairs of the country for the next four years. The elections are coming after an initial postponement of the first round of the exercise scheduled to have originally started last Saturday, February 16.
The country’s electoral umpire, Independent National Electoral Commission, had sent a shock wave into the spines of many Nigerians, when it announced a postponement of the Presidential and National Assembly Elections just some few hours to the commencement of the much-publicised exercise. The postponement, hinged on what INEC described as ‘logistics’ problems, was received with shock and disappointment in several quarters, with some people actually calling for the sack of the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
However, Nigerians appear to have shaken off the initial shock, anger and disappointment, with many now ready to perform their civic duties on Saturday. While we don’t want to join in condemning INEC for the initial ‘disappointment’, we want to state categorically, that INEC now has another opportunity to redeem its image and really convince Nigerians and the international community that it is ready and capable of delivering on its mandate.
Political parties, on their part, have also explored the postponement to step up their campaigns and mobilisation across the nooks and crannies of the country as campaigns for Saturday’s elections ended yesterday (Thursday). We want to commend the political parties for the maturity displayed so far, especially since the postponement was announced, though most of the parties did not fail to express their concerns and reservations over the matter, which, of course, is normal in a democracy.
We have no doubt that INEC will seize the opportunity of the first round of the general elections on Saturday to redeem its image and re-assure Nigerians and the international community of its full readiness and capability. There is no doubting the fact that the attention of the world is now on the country and the only way we can prove that we can really manage our affairs is to conduct a violence-free and credible election.
We commend the INEC Chairman, Yakubu, for his constant assurance and re-assurance over the readiness of the Commission for the task ahead. Only on Wednesday, Prof. Yakubu held a meeting with stakeholders, including international election observers, in Abuja where he stated with full assurance and uncommon confidence that his Commission was fully prepared and ready for Saturday’s elections. He also disclosed that all the logistics challenges had been adequately addressed and “only an act of God can stop Saturday’s elections.”
That was good news, no doubt, but Nigerians and the international community expect INEC to walk its talk this time around to ensure that we have free, fair and credible elections. Other stakeholders, especially the political parties, also have a great role to play in ensuring the overall success of the exercise. They have to caution their members and supporters against engaging in any anti-democratic action that may disrupt the exercise.
A red signal has already been given that anybody who tries to snatch ballot boxes would pay dearly for such actions. While not encouraging or supporting the disruption of the elections under any guise, we feel that those in positions of power and authority should also weigh the choice of their words as elections should not be seen as a do or die affair. We also implore the electorate to go all out to vote for the candidates of their choice on Saturday and in the subsequent elections while the contestants should also be ready to accept the results of the exercise.
We must all remember that there is surely life after the elections and that the continued survival of our great country, Nigeria, is very much important than the ambition of any individual. The security forces should also be decent and civil in their handling of election situations and must be reminded that they would be dealing with ‘bloody’ civilians. Therefore, they should not see their election assignment as another battle ground.
As we all go to vote on Saturday, we wish all Nigerians a peaceful election. Long live Nigeria!
