2023 elections must hold

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) fears the February presidential and general elections may not hold, after all, because of prevalent general insecurity. Chairman Mahmood Yakubu, who spoke during validation of election security training in Abuja on Monday, said there was a real threat of poll cancellation if the security challenge did not improve. Yakubu, represented by the chairman, Board of Electoral Institute, Abdullahi Zuru, warned that “if the insecurity is not monitored and dealt with decisively, it could ultimately culminate in the cancellation and/ or postponement of elections in sufficient constituencies to hinder declaration of election results and precipitate a constitutional crisis.”

The INEC chairman, however, assured the nation that the commission would do everything possible to ensure the success of the elections. “We all appreciate the fact that election security is vital to democratic consolidation through provision of an enabling environment for the conduct of free, fair, credible and inclusive elections and thus strengthening the electoral process,” Mahmood noted. “Consequently, in preparing for the 2023 general elections, the commission is not leaving anything to chance in ensuring that intensive and extensive security is provided for election personnel, materials and processes.

“This is particularly significant to the commission given the current insecurity challenge in various parts of the country and the fact that the National Youth Service Corps members constitute the core of the polling unit election officials. This must not be allowed to happen and shall not be allowed to happen. Therefore, security personnel in particular and all election officials, in general, must be alert to unusual activities in their environment and must be fully equipped to deal with any challenges at all times.”

We are all too aware that insecurity is a serious challenge. But for the INEC to go public with its fears about a likely “cancellation/ postponement” of critical elections only a month away is highly disturbing. This in spite of assurances from President Muhammadu Buhari to make the polls succeed even if it is the only thing he will do before he leaves office in May this year. In his New Year’s message to Nigerians on Jan. 1, he pledged “my personal commitment and executive promise to ensure that the 2023 elections, which (will be) diligently conducted by INEC, are free and fair. The collective electoral will and the votes of Nigerians will be fulfilled, even in the twilight moments of my term.”

This pledge by the President, made on his personal integrity, should have allayed the concerns of professor Mahmood and his men and women at INEC but it didn’t, apparently. This explains why they cried out publicly, instead of going to the president to exact more assurances from him. Were they right?

The answer, a big No. The opposition has said repeatedly that Buhari and his All Progressives Congress (APC) would rig the elections in their favour or, at worse, scuttle them to cause a constitutional crisis. We fear that, even by hinting of a cancellation or suspension, the INEC has unwittingly handed the opposition a smoking gun. Which is dangerous. But damage control is possible. The government should move quickly ( because time is short) to address what lingering doubts the election ombudsman is entertaining. The president should call a meeting with INEC, security agencies and the state governors to sort out how best to secure next month’s elections. Because hold they must in the interest of the heath of our democracy.