No To Polls Shift

For the past few months, the Nige
rian polity has been awash with hic
cups trailing the collection of the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs). This has, however, prompted calls for the postponement of the February, 2015 general elections from some quarters.
The calls were not, however, taken seriously until the National Security Adviser lent his voice to the polls shift. The NSA, while speaking at a London think-thank, the Chatham House, London, United Kingdom on Thursday, January 22, premised his call on the need for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to allow more time for the distribution of the over 30 million outstanding PVCs to registered voters.
Dasuki told participants at the London talk that although INEC had assured that the outstanding PVCs would be given out to registered voters before the February polls, it would make more sense to shift the election since the law provided a 90-day window during which elections could legally take place.
Although the electoral body has reassured Nigerians that the postponement of the next month’s elections was not its contemplation and that it would stick to its timetable for the polls, The Tide wants to lend its voice to the rejection of the polls shift.
It sounds curious to us that the calls for the postponement of the polls were coming barely two weeks to the February polls, more so when the electoral umpire that is saddled with the responsibilities of conducting the elections has not asked for postponement.
While we share the concerns advanced for the polls shift, we are, however, of the opinion that the non-distribution of the remaining PVCs which according to INEC, is less than 25 per cent of the printed PVCs cannot hurt nor invalidate elections.
Already, reports from INEC as at Wednesday shows clearly that all the 68.8 million PVCs have been printed.
We believe that this latest information from INEC is not only an indication that all the PVCs are ready for collection by would – be voters, but also confirms INEC’s readiness to conduct elections next month.
Apart from the fact that more registered voters had collected their PVCs after the last statistics was released by the electoral umpire, there also appears to be voter apathy among Nigerians.
Just as it is practically impossible for all registered voters to vote hundred per cent on the election day, it is also not unexpected that not all registered voters would make themselves available for collection of their voter cards, either as a result of death, ill health, relocation to another country or state or even due to busy schedule. It goes to say therefore, that even if the elections are shifted by three months as permitted by the law, there is no guarantee that all registered voters would collect their PVCs or vote on the Election Day.
It is in view of these obvious reasons that we believe the postponement of the February polls will not serve the nation any useful purpose. Besides amounting to a waste of time, the postponement will only help in heating up the already heated polity, incurring more election expenses and may even threaten our hard-earned democracy.
Rather than postpone the election dates, we urge the Federal Government to declare a public holiday, between now and February 6 to enable registered voters collect their PVCs.