Rotimi Ige analyses the challenges ahead of the 2011 general elections, vis-a-vis the role of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other major stakeholders in ensuring the conduct of a credible and acceptable electoral exercise.

AS the nation prepares for yet another phase of electing politicians into the various public offices in 2011, the political terrain has, once again, come alive with frenetic activities, face-offs, wranglings and debacles, all in the bid to capture the exalted positions offered by democracy.

With the various political parties gearing up to do battle in the forthcoming 2011 general elections, all  eyes are on the statutory body charged with the responsibility of conducting elections in Nigeria, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), especially  with specific reference to its management and conduct. The success of any election occupies a significant and strategic position in the electoral process and, by implication, the consolidation of  democracy. Since  the INEC is responsible for organising elections , its actions and inaction and activities of stakeholders- politicians and the electorate could make or mar the electoral process.

In recent times, the INEC and its chairman, Professor Maurice Iwu, have come under heavy criticism, over allegations of  electoral malpractices, irregularities, manipulations, ballot snatching, harassment, intimidation, late arrival of electoral officers and voting materials, mix-ups in the voter’s registers and misallocation of polling booths, among others.  Even where the stakeholders were guity of various offences, the INEC, in most cases, usually carried the can. The 1999 and 2003 general elections were, for instance characterised, by violence and various degrees of malpracticesand were adjudged by local and international observers as being far from credible.

After the 2007 elections, President Umaru Yar’Adua, who was the greatest beneficiary of the alleged flawed election, declared that the general elections were not fair. The declaration by the president, of course,  sparked off a series of reactions. Aggrieved parties  had gone to court to challenge the legitimacy of the results of the election released by the INEC, different court trials and retrials, after which some results were upturned, while some were simply thrown out of court.

Critics of the INEC have continued to use the upturned elections as basis to discredit the electoral body, accusing it of of inepptitude and favouritism, among others.

The setting up of the Justice Muhammadu Uwais panel was a response to the strident calls for the reform of the electoral process. The report tendered by this panel has, however, not been implemented. In a  nation that has witnessed 11 elections since the colonial administration established the first electoral commission in Nigeria known as the Electoral Commission of Nigeria (ECN), debates have become strident  as to whether or not the INEC is capable of handling elections credibly in the country.

Political observers have opined, judging from the various elections handled by the INEC, that the electoral body is yet to be independent. Since the INEC is financed solely by  the government, they questioned the credibility of the commission in conducting free and fair elections. The recent annoncement by the INEC chairman that the election time-table would soon be released, followed by voters’ registration, has not pacified disenchanted Nigerians. Many politicians, especially those in the opposition parties, have been calling for the removal of Iwu.

At different forums, the INEC has come under severe criticism, following its perceived inability to curb the various allegations of electoral malpractice pervading the nation.

Recently, the INEC was the centre of focus at a forum organised in Ibadan, Oyo State, by the Centre for Public Policy Analysis (CPPA) in conjunction with Ceedee Resources International (CRI). Speaking on the theme, “INEC: Assessing the past and looking into the future”, various speakers at the event stressed the need for the involvement of all stakeholders in the bid to ensure a smooth and credible electoral process in 2011.

The chairman of the CPPA, Dr. Yemi Farounbi, decried the inability of the electoral body to promulgate the necessary electoral laws to be put in place early enough before the 2011 general elections and urged that the INEC be decentralised. He enjoined all stakeholders to be patriotic to their fatherland and practice politics without enmity.

Also, Comrade Mashood Erubami, chairman, Transition Monitory Group (TMG), expressed concern over “the INEC’s susceptibility to executive and political pressure, as well as its exbition of indifference to legal and constitutional safeguards that could guarantee its independence functioning.”

He, therefore enjoined the National Assembly to use the Uwais report as its “engagement document” and ensure that the INEC’s current status as an appendage of the ruling party  was changed, so that the commission could achieve genuine autonomy.

Other speakers at the event, however, spoke on the need for the media to differentiate and separate the INEC chairman from the institution as the media assaults were focused mainly on the chairman, thereby making it difficult to tackle the actual rot within the system. They also decried the way electoral positions were being “merchandised” within political parties to the highest bidder and urged them to shun money politics and embrace internal democracy.

In line with the view expressed by the latter speakers at the Ibadan forum, many other political analysts are often of the opinion that the electoral body should not be singled out for punishment in the face of the pervading flaws in the electoral process.

According to them, while the INEC remains the electoral umpire, charged with the responsibility of conducting elections, it is the general responsibility of all stakeholders, politicians and electorate, to ensure the all-round success of the exercise.

This school of thought further argued that, while the INEC can be crucified if it fails to perform its statutory duties namely, organising and conducting a credible election by coming up with the election time-table and providing the necessary election materials, the task of conducting an election devoid of malpractices, violent and rigging should not be left to the electoral body alone. It has since been discovered that it is neither Iwu nor the INEC staff that engaged in these electoral malpractices; the electoral body is also not often the cause of the delay or postponement of voting process; that many states across the country made recourse to rerun elections into most of the elective public offices, as witnessed in the aftermath of the 2007 general election, cannot be said to be the fault of the electoral body.

As the nation eagerly awaits the 2011 elections, the consensus is that the task of conducting a credible, peaceful and fair election is the responsibility of all, while the INEC should be seen as  as an unbiased umpire.