NEWS ANALYSIS Postponement of Guber/State Houses of Assembly polls: A blessing or curse?

By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

Since the last Wednesday’s Court of Appeal’s approval of the request of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC’s) to reconfigure the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) ahead of the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections, it was apparent/obvious that the postponement of the two polls was inevitable.

Hours before the formal confirmation of the postponement, by one week, of the two elections came ,there had been loads of speculations over same.

The online media were awashed with the report of the shift, even when there hadn’t been official confirmation of same by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

The social media too did not lag behind in the speculation. The rumour mill was agog.

The two elections were initially scheduled to hold on Saturday, March 11, this year, two weeks after the conduct of the presidential and National Assembly elections.

Speculations had been rife over the likelihood of the postponement of the two elections, long before their eventual rescheduling.

One of the things that fueled that speculation was the issue of configuration of the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) machines that were used for the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had on Monday, approached the Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, praying it (the court) for approval to reconfigure the BVAS machines.

The moment the approval was given on Wednesday, 8th March, 2023, it was almost certain that the elections will be rescheduled.

Reason is that it will take few days for the machines to be reconfigured to be in sync with the conduct of the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.

Shortly after the INEC approached the Court of Appeal for the approval to reconfigure the BVAS machines, it will be recalled that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had raised the alarm that the move was a ploy to destroy and erase evidence of its rigging of the February 25, 2023 Presidential election.

The PDP, at a press conference addressed by its National Publicity Secretary, Hon Debo Ologunagba in Abuja, specifically frowned at a motion filed by INEC at the court of Appeal requesting that it (the commission) be allowed to reconfigure the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) machines with a view to wiping out relevant information that “our party and candidate require to prosecute our case at the Presidential Election Tribunal”.

The party noted with regrets that the action of INEC was intended to frustrate the desire of Nigerians to get redress through the court, describing it as “a clear recipe for crisis and a deliberate design by the Commission to derail the democracy and trigger anarchy in the country”.

The action by INEC, according to the party, was vexatious, provocative and only points to the impunity and culpability of the Commission with regards to the reported manipulations and alteration of results “to deny our party and its candidate their victory at the Presidential election”.

The party stressed that the move by INEC further validated the fact that PDP and it’s presidential candidate won the February 25, 2023 Presidential election, based on the actual votes cast at the Polling Units.

According to Ologunagba, “Late Monday at 10: 10 pm, INEC, in a desperate move to prevent our party and candidate from obtaining necessary evidence as ordered by the court, filed a motion requesting that it be allowed to reconfigure the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) machines and wipe out relevant information that our party and candidate require to prosecute our case at the Presidential Election Tribunal.

“This reprehensible action by INEC to frustrate the desire of Nigerians to get redress through the court is a clear recipe for crisis and a deliberate design by the Commission to derail our democracy and trigger anarchy in the country” he said.

However, on Wednesday night, the Professor Mahmood Yakubu+led INEC announced the postponement of the governorship and State Houses of Assembly by one week.

The elections, earlier scheduled to hold next Saturday, March 11 will now take place next week Saturday, March 18.

In a statement signed by one of its National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Barrister Festus Okoye in Abuja, INEC explained that the decision was taken to ensure that there is adequate time to back up the data stored on the over 176,000 BVAS machines from the Presidential and National Assembly elections held on 25th February 2023 and then to reconfigure them for the Governorship and State Assembly elections.

The statement by Okoye reads, “Following today’s ruling by the Presidential Election

Petition Tribunal (EPT) on the reconfiguration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) used for the Presidential election held on 25th February 2023, the Commission met to assess its impact on the Commission’s preparations for the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections scheduled for Saturday, 11th March 2023.

“Nigerians would recall that on 3rd March 2023, the Presidential EPT (Election Petition Tribunal) had given an ex- parte order for some political parties to inspect materials used for the Presidential election, including the forensic inspection of over 176,000 BVAS used in the election which are located in INEC LGA offices across the country.

“The Commission approached the Tribunal to reconsider the order, given that the BVAS Systems were to be deployed for the Governorship and State Assembly elections and that the lack of a clearly defined timeframe for the inspection could disrupt the Commission’s ability to conduct the outstanding elections.

“For instance, the BVAS can only be activated on the specific date and time of an election. Having been used for the Presidential and National Assembly elections on 25th February 2023, it is necessary to reconfigure the BVAS for activation on the date of the Governorship and State Assembly elections.

“While the ruling of the Tribunal makes it possible for the Commission to commence the preparation of the BVAS for the Governorship and State Assembly elections, it has come far too late for the reconfiguration to be concluded.

“Consequently, the Commission has taken the difficult but necessary decision to reschedule the Governorship and State Assembly elections which will now take place on Saturday 18th March 2023.

“By this decision, campaigns will continue until midnight of Thursday 16th March 2023 i.e. 24 hours before the new date for the election.

“This decision has not been taken lightly but it is necessary to ensure that there is adequate time to back up the data stored on the over 176,000 BVAS machines from the Presidential and National Assembly elections held on 25th February 2023 and then to reconfigure them for the Governorship and State Assembly elections.

“This has been the practice for all elections, including the period when the Commission was using the Smart Card Readers.

“However, we wish to reiterate that the Commission is not against litigants inspecting election materials. Consequently, it will continue to grant all litigants access to the materials they require to pursue their cases in court.

“We wish to reassure all political parties and candidates that the data from the Presidential and National Assembly elections will be backed up and available in INEC cloud facilities, including the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV). Political parties can apply for Certified True Copies of the backend data of the BVAS. Also, the results on the BVAS will continue to be available on the IReV for interested parties to access.

“We thank Nigerians and friends of Nigeria for their understanding as we continue to deal with these difficult issues and navigate these challenging times”, the statement concluded.

While the rescheduling of the two elections may be a blessing in disguise for the various governorship and State Houses of Assembly candidates to continue their campaigns for an additional one week, some believe that the shift would amount to an additional expenses on their parts.

Whichever way the postponement of the two elections is looked at, the only way the move can be deemed to be justified and worthy is for INEC to give Nigerians free, fair, credible, transparent and generally acceptable elections that would be devoid of acrimony, hues and cries as currently being witnessed under the presidential election.

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