It is becoming a familiar trend. In fact, it is more or less
becoming a tradition. Every election conducted under President Muhammadu
Buhari’s watch has been inconclusive.
It happened first in Kogi State. The November 2015 governorship election in the north central state was declared inconclusive.
Prince Abubakar Audu of the All Progressives Congress scored 240,867
while Idris Wada of the Peoples Democratic Party garnered 199,514 votes.
But the exercise was cancelled in 91 polling units. Though the late
Audu was leading with 41, 535 votes, the electoral agency argued they
were less than the 49,953 votes left to be contested for.
Unfortunately, Audu died few hours after the poll was declared
inconclusive, leading to another rounds of controversies on his
replacement. Eventually, APC presented Yahaya Bello, who came second
behind Audu at the APC primary election. Bello went on to win the
supplementary poll despite protestations from James Faleke, who was
running mate to the late Audu.
The train moved on to Bayelsa State on December 5, 2015 for the governorship election. Two days later,
INEC declared the exercise inconclusive again. By then, the terminology
‘inconclusive’ was becoming a fad in the nation’s political lexicon.
The commission said the exercise was marred by violence,
ballot-snatching and intimidation of electoral officials. It said election in Southern Ijaw would hold at a later date. PDP’s Seriake Dickson was leading Timipre Sylva of the APC.
By January 9, almost a month later, the supplementary held in
Southern Ijaw. It took almost two days for the commission to declare
Dickson winner of the poll with 134,998votes to Sylva’s 86,852. By then,
the state had become a theatre of war with voters harassed and
electoral officials overstretched.
Last Saturday, the commission conducted the rerun polls for state and national legislative seats in Rivers. The trend continued. The exercise was also declared inconclusive. The
commission could only successfully conclude the exercise in 11 State
Assembly and one Federal constituency seats.
The exercise in the remaining state and federal constituencies was
marred by irregularities, violence and killing. Over 10 persons lost
their lives with several others injured in the tension-soaked exercise.
The volatile oil-rich state was practically grounded with political
thugs and gunmen having a field day. Many electoral officials were
abducted and forced to release results under duress.
The commission has since called off the exercise, saying the
atmosphere was unsafe for its ad hoc staff and field workers. The latest
case is a further dent to electoral conduct under the new INEC’s boss
Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu.
But it is even a bigger slap on President Buhari whose administration
has never been able to pull off a successful electoral exercise without
a supplementary poll. Observers are worried that inconclusive polls
might have become permanent features under the new administration.
Chika Eze, a political scientist, wonders how Buhari will cope at the
2019 general elections if INEC under his watch could not conduct
successful polls in few constituencies. “If INEC cannot handle elections
in just a few polling units so far, how will it cope with the general
elections in 2019? It shows clearly that the commission was never
prepared for the elections. It is a big dent on the much-touted
integrity of President Buhari,” he stressed.
Come September 10 and November 26,
Edo and Ondo States will elect new governors. Will it be harvests of
inconclusive polls again? Will INEC spend more resources and manpower to
conduct an exercise that should not ordinarily take more than 48 hours?
Will gladiators be accorded more time and desperation to wreck havoc
and precipitate violence with the declaration of supplementary polls?
So far, it’s been so bad for INEC. For Buhari, it’s been a harvest of
inconclusive polls. Will this be the legacy he will pass on for the
nation?
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