Blame not INEC, for the thriller is too captivating

Not long ago, an elderly friend, Tunde Adeniyi put up a piece on his Facebook wall, and at the end of it, he wrote: “Nigeria should be on Netflix”. Nigeria on Netflix…? I wondered what correlation! So, I never paid any serious attention to the message he was trying to pass, until recent events. The events have shown that Nigeria is really a very massive theatre (sometimes, of absurdity). The country has jesters among the operators of its government’s machinery, masquerading as politicians. The land is full of melodrama and, sometimes, tragicomedies. No time, recently, has this national prowess been showcased like the past couple of weeks when the ruling (party) All Progressives Congress (APC) conducted its presidential primary election. It was such, a thriller that, stuff from Nollywood or Hollywood, could not have beaten.

This was aided, greatly, by the deafening silence of the de facto leader of the party, President Muhammadu Buhari, who many people expected to have a massive influence in the determination of who succeeded him. What dramatises things is the fact that his silence is being capitalised on by the “cabal”, (call them “power interests”, if you like), to a selfish end. This time around, it misled members of the public or even members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) that a certain aspirant was the one anointed by the president.

The “thriller” got to its peak, at the Eagle Square, during the party’s presidential primary election on the evening of Tuesday, June 7, 2022, when the immediate past minister for Niger Delta Affairs, and one of the aspirants on the platform of the party, stepped down his own presidential ambition for the eventual winner, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This was after keeping the global audience in suspense, waxing lyrical about his achievements in Akwa-Ibom state where he once held sway for eight uninterrupted years. That opened the floodgate for torrents of stepping-downs and endorsements of Tinubu by co-contestants.

Every keen watcher became captivated by the thrills of the intermittent twists and turns of the event which culminated in the emergence of the Asiwaju of Lagos, as the APC’s presidential candidate for the 2023 general election. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was perhaps not left out. The Mahmoods, the Okoyes of this world got themselves thoroughly treated to the best of entertainment by the APC’s presidential dramatis personae, so much that, they forgot, that the outcome of the primaries was likely going to reawaken the slumbering “political consciousness” of Nigerians, especially the youths, who are yearning for a “change” of personnel, as far as the managers of our political destiny are concerned. They were, therefore, caught napping when the youths decided to take their destinies into their hands by getting their permanent voter’s card (PVC) and participate more effectively in the forthcoming process.

INEC and indeed every keen observer got the first taste of what is to come when a video clip of traders at Alaba International Market Lagos, who had closed their shops so as to be able to get registered before the June 30 deadline went viral. I learnt that the rush, witnessed in the video, degenerated into physical violence. It also reportedly happened, somewhere around the FESTAC area of Lagos, where the official (of the INEC) reportedly told the crowd that there was no machine available to attend to them. He was quoted to have told them that the available machines have been deployed to places across the city.

What provided the elixir seems to be the fact that the youth are tired of the same old politicians. The APC primary election threw up Tinubu, while that of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) produced Atiku Abubakar. Politicians like a former governor of Anambra state, Peter Obi, whose past involvement in politics is not so tainted with one allegation of corruption or the other, like those of the old warhorses, now appear to be preferable to the youths who have locked the social media down on their behalf. Peter Obi, especially, seems to be the rave of the moment. That enthusiasm is the reason behind the late rush for PVC. Unfortunate, however, INEC never saw it coming, let alone, prepared for it. They were caught off-guard. I won’t blame INEC either because, the thriller is captivating enough for a spectator to have forgotten, even, his residential address. But, as a reaction to the report of the overwhelming pressure from prospective registrants, the commission said it convened an urgent meeting with all the resident electoral commissioners (RECs) last week, Thursday, June 9, 2022, to review the situation to see to it that eligible Nigerians who wish to register can do so.

At an event, organised by the Independent National Electoral Commission, Yiaga Africa, and the European Union, tagged, “Youth Vote Count Mega Concert 2.0” at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos state, last Saturday, Yakubu said: “We have heard your requests loud and clear. You will soon hear from us on an extension of CVR registration. Please assure me that you will register, pick your PVCs and vote. I also assure you that your votes will count”.

Good enough, reports have it that INEC had deployed an additional 209 machines, mainly to the five South Eastern states; Lagos, and Kano where the pressure is most acute to further boost the registration exercise while considering extending the deadline to enable those who are just waking up to the importance of having their PVCs ahead of the 2023 elections, get registered.

As I said earlier, do not blame the electoral umpire because the thriller is so captivating that one should not expect anything different from this. After all, we have seen a situation whereby a centre referee in a football match, abandoned his core responsibilities of impartially applying the rules of the game, got carried away, assumed himself to be a part of the spectators at the stadium, and forgetfully, joined in jubilation when a goal was scored. It happened, sometime in the 2015/16 football season in the English Premier League, when one of the most popular football referees in Europe, Mike Dean, lost it. While on duty, referee Dean celebrated as a reaction to Moussa Dembele’s opening goal in Tottenham’s 3-1 win against Aston Villa. Although, he had, on several fora, tried to explain that he was neither a Spurs fan nor celebrating the goal, saying he was rather, merely celebrating, getting spot on, his decision to allow play to continue, as an advantage in the build-up to the goal. Whatever the reason for his jubilation, Aston Villa fans, by the way, have every genuine reason to believe that their team, in addition to playing against Tottenham, also were up against the centre referee and that is not a good thing as far as the integrity of the league is concerned. Safe for the vigilance of the assistant referees, if anything had happened while he was jubilating chances are that, he would not have seen it. Maybe, a player got involved in foul play like violent conduct. While I am not trying to rob the men in black of the right to be human, professionalism, signposted by indifference and dispassionate application of the laws of the game, should be the rule, rather than the exception.

So, Professor Mahmood Yakubu and the rest of his team of technocrats like Dr Festus Okoye and others should always endeavour to remain focused on strictly ensuring that they deliver the goal of conducting transparent, free, fair and credible elections. They should speak less grammar and must not allow themselves to be distracted by the shenanigans and melodramas of the politicians who would try every trick in the book to game the system. They would not mind disenfranchising voters in places that are perceived as strongholds for their opponents. It is up to INEC to keep its eyes on the ball, without blinking.

Abubakar writes from Ilorin. He can be reached via 08051388285 or [email protected]