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Of Inconclusive Elections …My Fears For 2019

Published

10 years ago

August 22, 2016

When Walt Whitman once said, ‘I know nothing grander, better exercise, better digestion, more positive proof of the past, the triumphant result of faith in human kind, than a well-contested …. “election”, he was, among other variables, underscoring the completeness of a people’s right to decide who leads them.
Such a process must be dependable, free from partiality on the part of umpires and supervisors and above all else, it must enjoy the faith of the people. A process that lacks the people’s confidence, exudes partisanship and indeed betrayal of the voters’ trust cannot be the fascination Whitman extols.
Nigeria’s electoral processes in the recent past give little hope of delivering complete and conclusive results. From Kogi to Bayelsa and then Rivers, there is indeed little to hope for in 2019, because all the democratic gains that, for the first time, ushered an opposition party, in government appear to have frittered away like unwanted garbage.
What remains is outright partisanship of the supposed umpire, who now abuses the right to annul questionable poll results, to tilt the pendulum in favour of a friendly party. It is now, the easiest way to rig elections and shortchange the people.
Before now, attention was on the ballot box. So, to rig, a politician must have an army of well-trained thugs, as fit as rugby players, who would snatch the box and sprint as farther away to as possible, to a safe place, only as a Usain Bolt can. Thereafter, the stolen box is sneaked into the collation centre and counted in favour of the box robbers.
With time, ballot boxes became less attractive in preference for authentic poll results sheets. That was when election results got written in hotel rooms, long before the elections, and ballots stolen to march the concocted figures. Once such results get their way through a compromised electoral officer, through a reasonable cash reward, the elections are won and lost. In all such cases, the rigging politician must have accomplices within the electoral commission.
Today, with the awareness of the people and their new willingness to defend their vote, rigging is possible only if one ignites violence in areas he or she is less popular. For a local government with nine wards, may be unevenly shared between two contestants, with a ratio of five to four.
To win, the less popular candidate with four supporting wards only needs to secure votes of his four wards, concede defeat in three of his opponent’s three and create security breaches in the two remaining wards. With a friendly electoral officer in the commission, result of those two unfriendly wards would be cancelled and with four wards, the less popular becomes winner.
One of the easiest ways to create such security breach is to use uniformed and armed men to attempt drive some of the opposing politician’s many supporters away from the polling station, and with little resistance, some gun shots are fired into the air. Thereafter, a good make-up artiste is commissioned to create dead men and women for the social media and as evidence to the electoral body, confirming how insecure the opponent’s territory could be for free, fair and credible elections. And balm! Those elections are cancelled.
If that fails, apparently because of lack of in-roads made into the politician’s supposed safe zone; when cancelation of two wards alone could not guarantee victory, the electoral body would cancel many more and declare such elections inconclusive. Most elections declared inconclusive cannot be too distant from these reasons. And nothing an unfriendly politician can do, to sway the electoral umpire to his favour, especially if such an umpire is acting the devilish script of power from above.
From the little Nigerians have witnessed about inconclusive elections, very few have faith in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a free, fair and credible election in 2019. Apart from lacking the capacity, integrity and impartiality needed to do right, INEC’s apparent unwillingness to distance itself from partisan ends, makes it impossible for the supposed umpires to deliver a complete electoral end as envisaged by Whitman.
These fears were confirmed last week, when Chairman of the INEC, Prof. Mahmud Yakubu accepted that the commission cannot guarantee that the 2019 elections would be conclusive, saying, “inconclusive elections did not start with me”. He then blamed such shameful ends on insecurity, saying, if major players play according to the rules, INEC would have no choice other than to return conclusive results, but cannot be blamed for declaring inconclusive results if any form of insecurity is reported.
Insecurity of any kind is an indictment on the Federal Government whose responsibility it is to ensure security of lives and property. The ordinary Nigerian should not be punished for the incompetence of the centre to do right.
This is why the confession that INEC cannot guarantee that the 2019 general elections will be conclusive should worry many well-meaning Nigerians.
For a commission chairman, under whose watch, 50 percent of elections conducted have been declared inconclusive, even with, Bayelsa, with as few as eight local government areas, cannot be depended upon to conduct a conclusive national election. And with the confession by the Chief electoral officer himself, the country requires no better reason to overhaul the electoral process.
First, the INEC Chairman needs to disqualify himself. Second, the Federal Government must properly constitute the electoral body as required by law. Third, the government in power must give sufficient reason to Nigerians to believe that the people’s vote would count.
Prior to the emergence of the current INEC Chairman, many Nigerians had canvassed that the replacement for Prof Attahiru Jega, the former Chairman of INEC be sourced from the Southern part of Nigeria since the new President is from the North, and also, since under the Jonathan Presidency, the electoral umpire was of the Northern extraction. All President Buhari needed to do, was to choose from the many men and women of integrity in the South for a replacement for Jega. But it seemed, no Southerner earned the President’s thrust for the job and so settled for Prof. Yakubu.
Now that the umpire himself has confessed to his lack of capacity to guarantee conclusive elections, now perhaps is the right time to make the desired change and give Nigerians a reason to believe in INEC.
At a time when Nigerians expect the right template to make the people’s vote count, the current crop of INEC commissioners cannot be the required solution because, from all indications, they have become part of the problem.
Nigerians are no fools. The right change can only come when the people form an ample part of the process and team up with eventual victors to work towards such change.
Results declared by a partisan INEC cannot inspire patriotic following by the people. It can only breed discontent and even civil disobedience. With so much hunger and anger in the land, denial of the people’s right to choose their preferred representatives in government shall be counter-productive, criminal at worse.
Now therefore, is the time to restructure INEC to earn the trust and confidence of the ordinary Nigerian?
My Agony is that all the gains made of our democracy have all been allowed to fritter-away by politicians who fear a harsh verdict by the same people they have failed to provide positive change.

Soye Wilson Jamabo

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Fubara Reads Riot Act To New SSG, CoS …Warns Against Unauthorized Meetings

Published

5 days ago

February 27, 2026

The Tide

Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has charged the newly appointed Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and Chief of Staff (CoS) to carry out their duties with discipline, loyalty and a firm commitment to the success of the administration and the wellbeing of the people of Rivers State.

The governor warned that any involvement in unauthorised nocturnal meetings or any conduct capable of embarrassing the government will attract immediate dismissal.

Fubara gave the warning yesterday shortly after the newly appointed Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr Dagogo S.A. Wokoma and the new Chief of Staff (CoS), Barrister Sunny Ewule, were sworn in at the Executive Council Chambers of Government House, Port Harcourt.

As part of the ceremony, the Chief Registrar of the State High Court, David Ihua-Maduenyi administered the Oath of Allegiance and Oath of Office on the duo before the governor gave his charge.

Addressing the appointees, Fubara reminded them that their elevation to the new positions was a call to service and not a platform for political grandstanding or the pursuit of personal ambition.

He stressed that their foremost responsibility should be to themselves and to the people of Rivers State, stressing that their conduct must always reflect integrity, restraint and dedication to public good.

Speaking directly to Dr. Wokoma, whom he described as an accomplished academic and mathematician, the governor expressed confidence in his intellectual depth and capacity to deliver on the new assignment.

The office of the Secretary to the State Government, Fubara stressed, demands thoroughness, discipline and a deep sense of responsibility. He charged the SSG to represent the State with honour at all times.

“Your duty includes representing the state government. You need to represent us in a way and manner that will bring honour to us.

“What is important to this administration is to see that the good works that we started and the ones that we met, are concluded in a way that will bring progress and development to our dear state,” he stated.

Turning to the new Chief of Staff, the governor explained that he is expected to ensure smooth administrative coordination, managing official engagements effectively and safeguarding the image of the Government House.

He underscored the sensitive and personal nature of the role and emphasised that the position operates strictly under the authority of the governor.

Fubara stressed that the role does not permit independent political engagements or private strategy meetings without his knowledge and consent.

“Let me sound it here very clearly. Your duty is to make sure that you handle the administrative duties and image making roles perfectly well, liaising with whoever is coming for any official assignment here.

“If you involve yourself in nocturnal meetings and all those things, I will sack you. I’m very serious. What is important to me today is peace, progress and prosperity of this state. I’m not going to compromise anything for it,” he said.

The governor cautioned that involvement of the new appointees in any action capable of bringing the government or his office to disrepute would attract appropriate sanctions.

While congratulating the new appointees, Fubara expressed optimism that they would justify the confidence reposed in them.

He called on all public officials to work together in unity, observing that collective success is stronger and more enduring than individual achievement.

The governor who also addressed the Permanent Secretaries present at the ceremony, directed those of them who have reached retirement age to start preparing their handover notes without delay.

The notice, he said, was not intended to scare anybody but to prepare their minds towards the inevitability of exiting the service one day and to pave way for an orderly transition.

He warned against any attempt to engage in financial misconduct or last-minute irregularities, stressing that he was closely monitoring the system to ensure strict enforcement of accountability rules.

Featured

Fubara Dissolves Rivers Executive Council

Published

3 weeks ago

February 13, 2026

The Tide

Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminialayi Fubara, has dissolved the State Executive Council.

The governor announced the cabinet dissolution yesterday in a statement titled ‘Government Special Announcement’, signed by his new Chief Press Secretary, Onwuka Nzeshi.

Governor Fubara directed all Commissioners and Special Advisers to hand over to the Permanent Secretaries or the most Senior officers in their Ministries with immediate effect.

He thanked the outgoing members of the State Executive Council for their service and wished them the best in their future endeavours.

The three-paragraph special announcement read, “His Excellency, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, GSSRS, Governor of Rivers State, has dissolved the State Executive Council.

“His Excellency, the Governor, has therefore directed all Commissioners and Special Advisers to hand over to the Permanent Secretaries or the most Senior officers in their Ministries with immediate effect.

“His Excellency further expresses his deepest appreciation to the outgoing members of the Executive Council wishing them the best in their future endeavours.”

Featured

INEC Proposes N873.78bn For 2027 Elections, N171bn For 2026 Operations

Published

3 weeks ago

February 13, 2026

The Tide

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday told the National Assembly that it requires N873.78bn to conduct the 2027 general elections, even as it seeks N171bn to fund its operations in the 2026 fiscal year.

INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan, made the disclosure while presenting the commission’s 2026 budget proposal and the projected cost for the 2027 general elections before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Electoral Matters in Abuja.

According to Amupitan, the N873.78bn election budget covers the full conduct of national polls in 2027.

An additional N171bn is needed to support INEC’s routine activities in 2026, including bye-elections and off-season elections, the commission stated.

The INEC boss said the proposed election budget does not include a fresh request from the National Youth Service Corps seeking increased allowances for corps members engaged as ad-hoc staff during elections.

He explained that, although the details of specific line items were not exhaustively presented, the almost N1tn election budget is structured across five major components.

“N379.75bn is for operational costs, N92.32bn for administrative costs, N209.21bn for technological costs, N154.91bn for election capital costs and N42.61bn for miscellaneous expenses,” Amupitan said.

The INEC chief noted that the budget was prepared “in line with Section 3(3) of the Electoral Act 2022, which mandates the Commission to prepare its election budget at least one year before the general election.”

On the 2026 fiscal year, Amupitan disclosed that the Ministry of Finance provided an envelope of N140bn, stressing, however, that “INEC is proposing a total expenditure of N171bn.”

The breakdown includes N109bn for personnel costs, N18.7bn for overheads, N42.63bn for election-related activities and N1.4bn for capital expenditure.

He argued that the envelope budgeting system is not suitable for the Commission’s operations, noting that INEC’s activities often require urgent and flexible funding.

Amupitan also identified the lack of a dedicated communications network as a major operational challenge, adding that if the commission develops its own network infrastructure, Nigerians would be in a better position to hold it accountable for any technical glitches.

Speaking at the session, Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North) said external agencies should not dictate the budgeting framework for INEC, given the unique and sensitive nature of its mandate.

He advocated that the envelope budgeting model should be set aside.

He urged the National Assembly to work with INEC’s financial proposal to avoid future instances of possible underfunding.

In the same vein, a member of the House of Representatives from Edo State, Billy Osawaru, called for INEC’s budget to be placed on first-line charge as provided in the Constitution, with funds released in full and on time to enable the Commission to plan early enough for the 2027 general election.

The Joint Committee approved a motion recommending the one-time release of the Commission’s annual budget.

The committee also said it would consider the NYSC’s request for about N32bn to increase allowances for corps members to N125,000 each when engaged for election duties.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on INEC, Senator Simon Along, assured that the National Assembly would work closely with the Commission to ensure it receives the necessary support for the successful conduct of the 2027 general elections.

Similarly, the Chairman of the House Committee on Electoral Matters, Bayo Balogun, also pledged legislative support, warning INEC to be careful about promises it might be unable to keep.

He recalled that during the 2023 general election, INEC made strong assurances about uploading results to the INEC Result Viewing portal, creating the impression that results could be monitored in real time.

“iREV was not even in the Electoral Act; it was only in INEC regulations. So, be careful how you make promises,” Balogun warned.

The N873.78bn proposed by INEC for next year’s general election is a significant increase from the N313.4bn released to the Commission by the Federal Government for the conduct of the 2023 general election.