Ekiti, Osun & 2015 Election Timetables

Ekiti, Osun & 2015 Election Timetables

Prof. Attahiru Jega

Let me say from the get-go that I found it awkward that the Independent National Electoral Commission lumped the timetables for Ekiti and Osun elections with the 2015 poll, which is more than seven months away. Why pack them together? Is there anything behind it that we don’t know? Why do I say this? The two elections are different. The tenures of the two governors of Ekiti and Osun (Kayode Fayemi and Rauf Aregbesola) will expire more than six months before that of President Jonathan in Abuja. As a matter of fact going by Section 30 (1) of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended on the conduct of election (governorship or presidential) not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days before the expiration of the term of office of the incumbent, which INEC advertised in the national dailies last Wednesday, the latest date for Ekiti governorship poll is September 15, 2014, that of Osun is October 26, 2014 while that of the president in Abuja is April 29. Why did n’t INEC announce the timetables for Ekiti and Osun governorship polls with that of the last November 16 election in Anambra? This is for the purpose of argument since INEC Chairman Attahiru Jega said during the recent Chattam House, London discussion that the commission wanted to take the national elections together, distinct from the state elections.

Now, talking about the timetable for the 2015 general election, there is no contesting INEC power to decide the order of election with it. The National Assembly had tried to remove that power from INEC but the lawmakers had lost out. Some people had argued that arranging for the presidential poll to come first before the governorship and state House of Assembly elections would give the ruling party an advantage and create a bandwagon effect. I disagree, though I really won’t say I know what informed the order of election and like the umpire that INEC is, I’m aware of the latitude the referee can exercise in a game like a premiership match. (By the way, is the declining fortune of the Man United in the English premiership partly due to the absence of Pa Ferguson, whom some referees fear to offend). But I think the bandwagon can work both ways. As opposed to the 2011 election, the Presidential and National Assembly polls will hold first and on the same day before other elections.

The 2011 general election had begun with only the National Assembly election.If the returns from the presidential/ National Assembly elections favour the president’s party, this can ginger more support for his party in subsequent polls just as a good return for the opposition in the first set of elections can also pump up the momentum in subsequent polls, just that the presidency may have been decided then. Seriously, I think that if the parties do their homework well, it wont matter whatsoever which election is taken first since all the parties and their candidates all have equal time to prepare. What is important is there should be a level-playing field. The authorities should n’t deploy state security forces to oppress the opposition in the election while the opposition too should nt resort to untoward practices.

Though the new election timetable did not benefit from consultations and deliberations with the political parties as INEC used to do in the past before releasing such programme of activities, nonetheless, on the whole, that INEC has set out on time like this can help early preparations and allow the commission to resolve all internal issues. It will also give the commission ample time to plough all the lapses observed in the last election-the November 16 Anambra governorship poll particularly. The 2015 polls are well spaced out. The commission gave itself a two-week interval as opposed to the one-week between the National Assembly and presidential elections in 2011 and the 10 days between the presidential and the governorship and state assembly elections at that time also.
This can further help INEC’s preparation and assist it conduct a good election.