Election Postponement “A Setback For Nigeria,” Says Rights Group

Benin City Nigeria – Civil Empowerment & Rule of Law Support Initiative (CERLSI) has said that the February 16 election postponement decision by INEC “is an ill-wind that has set Nigeria back to the June 12 epoch,” asking that INEC use the period of the postponement to put its act and house together.

CERLSI Deputy Executive Director, Bob MajiriOghene Etemiku made the remarks last Saturday, following INEC announcement, postponing the February 16 2019 presidential elections.

Etemiku said that INEC has made nonsense of all the funds and manpower at its disposal within the four-year period it had to prepare for the elections.

“On many occasions, CERLSI has said that what the problem is with Nigeria is not with throwing monies at systems but in making sure that these systems operate under the rule of law. If systems and institutions run on the rule of law, democracies run as if on auto-pilot and dividends of democracy are felt quicker and surer,” Mr. Etemiku said.

Nigerians across board, he recalled had expressed reservations on the ability and preparedness of INEC to handle the elections, prior to the postponement of the electoral exercise.

In the statement, the organization further said:

Apart from certain lopsided appointments and a shoddy voter education & enlightenment programme, INEC and allied institutions were allocated huge funds by the National Assembly. INEC requested for and received the sum of N189billion as against the N143billion it wanted from the National Assembly to prosecute the elections it just postponed.

Of that amount, INEC received N143.51billion, office of the NSA got a princely N3.86billion and the DSS received nearly N3billon. Nigeria’s key security systems like the Civil Defense corps, the Police the Immigration service received N1.85billion, N11.46billion and N530.1million respectively.

What did these institutions do with these monies? Are they going to be held and made to account for these large sums of monies expended only for the February 16 presidential election to be postponed?

Like the presidential election of June 12, 1993 which was cancelled after Nigeria mobilized men and materials, together with the postponement of the 2015, this postponement is one too many and eloquently identifies Nigeria as a country without strong systems which can withstand the vagaries and idiosyncrasies of an emerging democracy.

The postponement makes nonsense of INEC’s ability to conduct a free, fair, and credible election.  CERLSI therefore wants INEC to be re-organised based on the rule of law.