Northern elders and some civil society groups have urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct all elections into various political offices on the same day in 2015.
The Northern Elders Forum, through its spokesman Professor Ango Abdullahi, said yesterday in Bauchi that holding all elections same day could help curb malpractices and save costs.
INEC released the elections timetable last month, scheduling the presidential and National Assembly elections for February 14, 2015 while the governorship and state legislative elections would hold two weeks later.
Abdullahi faulted the timetable, saying the sequence of polls could give room for manipulation.
The Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, also urged for same-day elections, despite the likely challenges of doing that.
“It is good we hold all elections in one day. It would reduce the cost associated with having elections in days. This would also reduce electoral manipulations and rigging,” he told Daily Trust in Abuja yesterday.
For his part, General Secretary of the Alliance for Credible Election (ACE -Nigeria), Mr Emma Ezeazu, said despite the likely problems, holding elections on the same day was the best option as that would reduce electoral manipulation.
“Holding elections in one day is desirable as it would make elections free and fair. It would lead to one man, one vote,” he said.
“If INEC can improve on logistics and prove it to Nigerians, they would be supported. But people might be weary due to the lack of confidence they lack in INEC due to previous experiences.”
In his reaction to the calls for same-day elections, the Executive Director of Human Rights Monitor, Barrister Festus Okoye, said while it is cost effective to hold elections in a day, INEC had already said it does not have capacity to do that.
Speaking to Daily Trust in Kaduna, Okoye said: “Ordinarily, it is more cost effective to conduct all elections in one day. It will also free the nation from the security, logistics and personnel challenges that will attend the staggering of elections.
“Unfortunately, INEC says it does not have the capacity to conduct all elections in one day and insisting on that is a recipe for disaster. The drawback to the staggering of the elections and fixing Presidential elections first is the high possibility of bandwagon effect affecting Governorship and State Assembly elections.”
He added: “We must therefore insist on having clean elections conducted by an impartial electoral umpire. While Nigeria should aspire to the conduct of all elections in one day, insisting that INEC must conduct all elections in one day when it says it does not have the capacity is a recipe for disaster and failure.”
But two civil society groups contacted by Daily Trust yesterday sharply disagreed with proponents of same-day elections.
The Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) chairman, Mr Zikirullahi Ibrahim, said he does not believe in holding all elections in one day due to the enormity and tediousness of such exercise. He said same-day elections could compound problems witnessed during polls.
“While we are still battling with improving on our electoral processes and on past elections, we should not do things that would worsen the situation,” he said.
“It does not matter how many days, what matters is the credibility of the elections. It has to be free, fair and credible. The recently released election timetable is therefore alright.”
President of the Nigeria Voters Assembly (VOTAS), Comrade Mashood Erubami, said though it would be good to have all the elections on the same day, INEC was not matured enough to handle such enormous exercise.
“Given the nature of Nigeria’s election, I don’t think we are ripe for holding all elections in one day,” he said.
“With perennial problems of logistics and distribution of election materials it is not feasible at least for now. Even holding one election in one state was a problem for INEC, how does one think that they can now handle all national elections in one day? I don’t think we are ripe for that.”
Meanwhile, the Senate yesterday endorsed the INEC timetable.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja, Senate spokesman Eyinnaya Abaribe (PDP Abia) said the commission acted in accordance with the existing electoral laws in coming out with the timetable.
Abaribe said the 2010 Electoral Act empowers the commission to set election timetable.
“That is the law in place and until there is any amendment to it, INEC is bound to use it. There is no contradiction at all,” said Abaribe.
Source: Daily Trust
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