Nigerian elections conducted under the watch of the Professor Mahmood
Yakubu-led Commission are getting better and the votes are counting.
Addressing editors of print and broadcast media at the Sheraton Hotel, Lagos, last week, the INEC Chairman emphasized that the votes now counted unlike in the past. His words: “If you simply compare the outcome of previous elections with the elections we conducted recently, you can very clearly see how the elections are getting better and how the margin is becoming even smaller. Votes are also counting today more than ever before”.
He added that elections were now keenly contested with slim margins of victory, unlike in previous ones which were won with landslide margins.
“Across all the elections including the 2015 presidential election, the margin between the candidate who eventually won and the runner-up was 2.5m. This is the slimmest margin since 1999.”
The INEC chairman decried the spate of electoral violence which he said contributed to the inconclusiveness of elections in Nigeria. He referred to sections of the law that gave credence to the decision to halt some of the elections that had been termed inconclusive. “Section 26 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) says that in the event of a threat to peace and order, threat of violence and actual outbreak of violence or natural disaster, INEC has the power under the law to suspend the election and appoint another time when the situation is right to conduct elections”.
Yakubu regretted that the ‘do or die’ mentality of the political class had not changed as it affected the outcome of elections. “But because the elections have become competitive, the parties are also strong, the “do or die” mentality of the political class hasn’t changed and that is what has been affecting our elections,” he said.
The INEC chairman reassured that the Commission would continue to protect the lives of young men and women who assist in the conduct of elections. While admitting that INEC could not do it alone, he called on security agencies to swing into action as it was their responsibility to arrest electoral offenders. He said: “Election security cannot be the responsibility of the commission. Somebody has to secure the environment for us to deploy and that is the responsibility of the security agencies”.
Yakubu called for the support of the media in the area of voter education, enlightenment and mobilization. He pleaded: “We need your support in the area of Voter Education, in the area of Voter Enlightenment and we need your support in the area of Voter Mobilization.”