See How INEC Has Been Postponing Election Since 2011

As disappointing as the postponement of the 2019 general election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in less than 10 hours to the voting process commencement is, it should be noted that this is not the first time the commission is pulling a stunt like this on Nigerians.

In 2011, the election was moved by two days, after the INEC cited “logistics and operational“problems. The worse part was that voting had actually started in some parts of the country when INEC announced the postponement.

The national assembly elections were scheduled for April 2, 2011, and had commenced smoothly in states such as Lagos, Kaduna, Kebbi, Delta, Zamfara and Enugu when Attahiru Jega, a professor and INEC chairman, announced the postponement.

The reason was that INEC had sent election materials meant for the governorship polls scheduled for April 16 to some states instead of those for the legislative election. It was an embarrassing logistics failure by INEC.

What about this? in 2015, exactly four years later, Jega moved the elections again, after been pressurised by security chiefs who said they needed time to “diminish Boko Haram”.

A little digging of the archive for Jega’s text of the speech gave on April 2, 2011, announcing the shift in dates is below.

‘WHAT IS WORTH DOING IS WORTH DOING WELL’

Dear Compatriots, since this Commission started work in July 2010, I have repeatedly promised Nigerians that in carrying out our duties we shall always be sincere and truthful with Nigerians. I have always said that this INEC will be upfront with Nigerians, telling you exactly how things are – sharing both our successes and difficulties with you.

This is one such occasion. Indeed, it is an emergency. As you know the National Assembly (House of Representatives and Senate) elections are supposed to be taking place as I speak. You would also have noticed that things have not proceeded smoothly as expected with the elections. The reason for this is the unanticipated emergency we have experienced with late arrival of result sheets in many parts of the country. The result sheets are central to the elections and their integrity. Accordingly, in many places, our officials have not reported at the polling units, making it now difficult to implement the Modified Open Ballot Procedure that we have adopted. Not only do we have to enter the results in the sheets, the number of accredited voters is also to be entered in the result sheet. While we could have proceeded with the elections in a few States of the country, where all the materials are available, such as Lagos, Kaduna, Kebbi, Delta, Zamfara and Enugu, among others, in order to maintain the integrity of the elections and retain effective overall control of the process, the Commission has taken the difficult but necessary decision to postpone the National Assembly elections to Monday, April 4, 2011.

I appeal to all Nigerians for their understanding in this difficult situation. We as a Commission appreciate the profound sacrifice that you have all made not just in turning out today, but also throughout this election season. We are greatly encouraged by you and our appeal is that you remain steadfast in this last lap of this electoral process in the interest of all Nigerians and in the cause of democracy.

The Commission will immediately be contacting all political parties, as major stakeholders to explain the situation. I appeal for their support in explaining the situation to their members and supporters.

May I also appeal to all other stakeholders, particularly national and international observers and our development partners for continued understanding. I realize that they have committed enormous resources to this process, especially in deploying observers in the field. However, we think that what is worth doing is worth doing well.

Finally, while we deeply regret this situation and apologise to Nigerians for the hardship this may have created, I would like to reiterate that we are fully committed to conducting free, fair and credible elections for Nigerians. The decision the Commission has taken is weighty, but it is also a very important step in further ensuring the credibility of the elections.