by CHIDO ONUMAH
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These are perturbing times. On the eve of what promised to be Nigeria’s fiercest election, one that has set the country on edge, it is important that we sound alarm bells.
Even though we have seen it all before – whether we are talking about the 1964/65 elections (postponed for several weeks due to disagreements over the voters’ list) that precipitated the first military coup in January 1966 and the civil war the year after or the June 12, 1993 debacle and the Interim National Government (ING) contraption that followed – Nigeria today is in uncharted waters. We haven’t had an election this close with war raging in a part of the country.
The angst that followed the postponement, by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), of the presidential election scheduled for this weekend is therefore understandable. The speech by Prof. Attahiru Jega, Chairman of INEC, announcing the postponement, has been debated widely by Nigerians. Clearly, there are many questions begging for answers. But if we focus on Jega, his pronouncements and the “politics” surrounding the postponement, we miss the forest for the trees. And here, I am not addressing the party faithful who can’t see the big picture even if it is as large as the 400-metre monolith called Aso Rock.
Even though I have strong reservations about elections being held on the new dates announced by INEC (Presidential and National Assembly- 28 March; Governorship and State House of Assembly -11 April), I am inclined to give Prof. Jega and INEC the benefit of the doubt. I sincerely hope all eligible Nigerians get the opportunity to collect their Permanent Voters’ Card (PVC) and that the war on terror would have been won appreciably in the next six weeks to justify the postponement.
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