2011: Crunch Time, Nigeria!

Read this article for an important, authoritative presentation of voting guidelines and instructions.

Punch

29 March 2011

2011: Crunch Time, Nigeria!

By Kayode R. Idowu, Chief Press Secretary of INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, OFR. 

 National honour is national property of the highest value.” – James Monroe (1758-1831), American Democratic Republican statesman and 5^th President of the United States.

 In a few days from now, we confront as Nigerians an acid test to reclaim our collective honour as a people in the civilized world.

This test of honour will play out in a series of elections to be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in 119,973 polling units nationwide. The first of these is the National Assembly (i.e. Senate and House of Representatives) elections on Saturday, April 2^nd; then, the Presidential election on Saturday, April 9^th; followed by the Governorship and State Assembly elections on Saturday, April 16^th.  

Make no mistake about it: this test of honour is inescapably a collective one for all Nigerians. It is our national honour at stake, and our relevance in the affairs of the modern world being redefined. By all means, the test isn’t INEC’s alone; the Election Management Body is only a midwife of the process and an umpire on the play turf.

 Ex-American public official and author, the late John William Gardner, said in his work titled No Easy Victories: “History never looks like history when you are living through it. It always looks confusing and messy, and it always feels uncomfortable.”  I would say nothing better articulates the time we are in presently in Nigeria. Every Nigerian who is eligible to vote in the imminent elections has a date with history; a partner in the duel to redeem this country’s unflattering image before the world. We can make that history through a new political culture that overrides old tendencies and foibles; but also through a voting system that may seem cumbersome, yet essential to secure the elections against past abuses that brought global odium upon the country.

The Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) stipulates the Open-Secret balloting system whereby voters indicate their choice of candidates/parties in secret, but cast their ballots in the open. Acting within its statutory powers, the Electoral Commission has come up with additional guidelines which prescribe simultaneous accreditation and voting in all the polling units nationwide on Election Day. This procedure is intended to obstruct unscrupulous persons who may seek to exploit a more relaxed voting procedure by going from one polling unit to the other to vote, if they could. By the Commission’s guidelines, the Election Day procedure for all the elections involves the following steps by eligible voters: