The Independent National Electoral
Commission saturday lamented the heavy cost of the Edo State
governorship election postponement in money and energy. The Deputy
Director of Voter Education and Publicity Department at INEC, Mr. Nick
Dazang, said the poll shift announced on Thursday by the commission
would cost it a lot in terms of material procurement, training, and
allowances for staff.
The governorship election earlier
scheduled for September 10 was moved to September 28 following security
concerns raised by the Nigeria Police and the Department of State
Services.
Though, Dazang did not mention any
specific amount, he said the commission would incur enormous costs in
extra spending as a result of the election shift, which has also put a
severe strain on the finances of the political parties.
Dazang told THISDAY by telephone
yesterday that apart from the huge amount involved in the payment of
allowances to staff already deployed for the election, the commission
will have to undertake procurement of fresh sensitive and non-sensitive
materials for the exercise.
“The financial loss incurred could be
put at millions of Naira. For instance, INEC is now duty bound to pay
the over 19,000 staff recruited and deployed for the Edo governorship
election twice due to the sudden postponement,” he said.
Dazang stated that by the time the
request for postponement of the election was made the commission had
already gone far with preparations and deployment of men and materials
for the election.
He said, “We had already mobilised the
nearly 19, 000 staff that we needed to conduct the election. We had
already recruited and trained them and the people had started moving to
their duty posts at the local government areas.
“We also moved the non-sensitive
materials to various locations. In fact, that Wednesday was the day we
were are supposed take the custody of the sensitive materials from the
CBN vault and take them to the local government areas under security
escort and cover.
“If you look at the statement we issued
on Wednesday, when we were addressing the stakeholders forum, we said
that out of the 14 items in the timetable and schedule of activities for
the Edo governorship election, we had already implemented 12. In fact,
the last decisive one that was outstanding was just the conduct of the
election, because the two items outstanding were the end of the
campaigns and the conduct of the election. The end of the campaigns did
not affect us at INEC, it affected the political parties. So that was
the point at which we had mobilised.
“Of course, you are aware that we have
already accredited all the observer groups, foreign and domestic, that
were to observe the election and almost all of them were on ground. TMG
was on ground, the convener of the Situation Room, Mr. Clement Nwankwo,
was on ground, too, as well as the convener of the Election Monitoring
Group. All these observer groups were on ground with us in Benin. At the
same time, all the journalists that were to cover the election were
even being accredited at our headquarters in Benin before the election
was called off.
“So we had reached a high level of
mobilisation and preparation for the conduct of the Edo State
governorship election and the last major engagement before the election,
the stakeholders’ forum, was what we were holding when the news of
request for postponement started trending.
“That is why we are saying that to
demobilise is going to cost us a lot because all these people we have
recruited and trained and we have sent out, we have to pay them their
allowances. In the same vein, when you are calling them back you have to
pay them allowances again and we will have to devote a day or two to
train and refresh their memories.”
On the issue of insecurity, which was
the main reason given by the security agencies when they requested the
postponement, the INEC spokesman said the election management body had
as a matter of routine concluded its risk assessment and security
mapping. From all indications, he said, all was well for the conduct of
the election.
The public relations officer at the
commission’s headquarters in Edo State, Mrs Priscilla Imoudu Sule,
commented in a similar vein. Sule said INEC had spent huge sums to move
staff and materials to the 18 local government areas and 192 wards in
the state, stressing that demobilising them would cost it dearly. The
political parties have also been counting the cost of the postponement.
The chairman of APC in the state, Mr.
Anslem Ojezua, said the poll shift was announced without due
consultation with the critical stakeholders, including his party. “Such
an important decision as postponement of gubernatorial election, which
had involved several months of active campaigning, would be done after
extensive consultation with all the relevant stakeholders, as was done
on the 7th of September 2016 when we all agreed that the election should
go ahead; admittedly without knowledge of the very strong reservations
expressed by the security agencies,” Ojezua said. “We believe that the
timing and mode of communication by the security agencies could have
been better handled, having regards to the very hard work and huge
resources deployed towards the election by all concerned.”
According to Ojezua, “When a process has
gathered momentum and all of a sudden there is a reversal, it is
painful. We cannot quantify that in monetary value.”
The governorship candidate of APC, Mr.
Godwin Obaseki, added that the postponement was not convenient, “But
that is where we have found ourselves, we are okay with it if that is
going to protect lives and property. We have to live with that no matter
the inconvenience.”
The main opposition party in Edo State,
the Peoples Democratic Party, described the shift in the date of the
poll as a punishment. The PDP state chairman, Chief Dan Orbih, put the
blame at the doorstep of the APC-led government in Edo State. Orbih
said, “The cost is quite enormous, taking into consideration our lean
resources because it is like starting all over again. But we have been
assured by the people that if the election is postponed 10 times, they
will vote PDP because they are tired of APC.”
The PDP national publicity secretary,
Prince Dayo Adeyeye, said the postponement had put a heavy financial
burden on the party. Adeyeye told THISDAY, “We have lost enormous
resources due to the last minute shift in the date of the election, no
doubt about that. But we count on the support of the good people of Edo
State to remain steadfast in backing us till the election is won.
“We intend to go on with our campaigns
and to encourage the Edo electorate, which have resolved to vote out the
APC government in the state, to come out on the new date to cast their
votes.”
On its part, the All Progressives Grand
Alliance described the postponement as unfair and suspicious. The
national chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Oye, said at the weekend that
the postponement showed how unprepared the country was about democracy.
Oye said, “Our worry is that many of the
youths that form the large chunk of our supporters will be involved in
the GCE examination. So we are appalled that INEC and WAEC allowed both
national activities to clash. “Again, the postponement tells a simple
story about our unpreparedness about democracy. How could the elections
be postponed three days to the D-Day? The entire thing smacks of
indecency, unfairness and hidden agenda. There is need for all of us to
sit up.”
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