Furore over INEC redeployment of electoral commissioners Saturday, 10 January 2015 Few weeks to the 2015 general elections, the recent redeployment of the State Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has sparked fierce protests and tensions across some states. But INEC dismissed the protests, saying they were uncalled for. Weekly Trust reports: The Independent National Electoral Commission Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) are the heads of the commission’s offices in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). They play the same role INEC’s chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega plays at the national level. The Mrs. Ayoka Adebayo saga in the Ekiti State election led to jokes that the RECs were majorly out to ‘wreck’ the opposition for the ruling parties. When on December 29, 2014, INEC announced the deployment of its 37 RECs saying it was part of preparations for next month’s general elections, the reactions and counter-reactions were beyond what was expected of responses to such an exercise. The redeployment was contained in a letter dated December 24, 2014 and signed by INEC’s secretary, Augusta C. Ogakwu. The letter directed all the RECs to conclude handing and taking over formalities by December 31. Jega had before the Osun State August 9, 2014 governorship election told political parties at a meeting that INEC had made it part of its duties to change RECs ahead of elections to stem accusations of possible camaraderie with state governments. The first salvo came from the Coalition of Political Parties (CPP) in Oyo State protesting against the redeployment of Rufus Akeju to the state. Akeju, who was Osun REC, was forced to step aside for the governorship polls following protests by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). CPP members in large numbers stormed INEC premises in the state capital Oshogbo, carrying placards with various inscriptions, with some reading, ‘Akeju na APC man,’ ‘Oyo rejects Akeju’ and ‘Akeju will mar Oyo election.’ It was however, said that the protesters were people loyal to some political parties in the state, who believed that the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) would benefit from the elections with Akeju in charge. CPP coordinator, Moroof Akinwande, told journalists that Akeju’s record as INEC senior official inspired the protest: “An umpire can’t be partisan; the man Akeju has been alleged to be an ally of an APC leader; he is not fit to conduct election in any state in Nigeria. He should be kept in the cooler in INEC headquarters in Abuja if the body can’t sack him. Why should he be redeployed to Oyo State when he was asked to step aside in Osun State?” Outgoing Osun REC, Ayilara Ogunmmola, however described his successor as a man of integrity, whom the people of the state should allow and support to do the job assigned to him: “It is a normal thing (redeployment) which is expected of anybody in the system to comply with. The exercise is to protect the integrity of the commission, to ensure that the election is fair, transparent and credible and it is a must to have a sitting REC.” He appealed to the people not to think that Akeju would be partial or do anything that would undermine the process. Reacting to the protest, Akeju said the people had a right to express their feelings, but added that no one had the right to stop him from performing his duty even as he described as false the allegation that he was a card-carrying member of APC. On their part an interest group, Oyo Development Initiative (ODI) chided opposition parties in the state for their alleged unnecessary war against Akeju, maintaining that the campaign smacked of desperation towards the forthcoming general elections. ODI coordinator, Dr. Adesola Okanlawon, accused the opposition of plotting to get a replacement for Akeju who will rig the polls in their favour. He wondered why the hue and cry over the deployment of Akeju to Oyo State, saying that this was only a panicky measure due to the fear of imminent loss by the opposition. On another front, a former member of the House of Representatives and chieftain of the APC from Plateau State, Lumumba Ade, said INEC should revisit the deployment of its RECs in Benue and Plateau states so that it would not affect the outcome of the elections. Kwanga Godwin Mbatsavbee, an indigene of Benue, was redeployed to Plateau and Istifanus Ishaku Dafwang, who hails Plateau, moved to Benue State. This, the ex-lawmaker said was “suspicious, unacceptable and unhealthy,” leaving much to be desired among party members in the two states. Chairman of the APC in Enugu State, Ben Nwoye, said redeployment of RECs had almost become a routine, stressing that he recent exercise was a recipe for disaster. He added that the re-deployed RECs already appreciate the geographical terrain of their operations and had built confidence with the political stakeholders in their various states. “Enugu State does not have confidence that the new REC … will be able to conduct or supervise a free and fair election because of his antecedents in Anambra State. He supervised the conduct of the most unfair election in Anambra State which is subject of litigation. INEC Charman, Prof. Attahiru Jega admitted that the election he (Onukaogu) conducted in Anambra last year was flawed,” Nwoye said. Also, APC south-south zone rejected Mr. Sylvester Okey Ezeani as the new REC for Cross River, and urged INEC to redeploy him to another state in the interest of peace. The party’s national vice-chairman south-south, Mr. Hilliard Eta, told journalists in Calabar that Okey is a card-carrying member of the PDP. He said the APC does not have confidence in the credibility of the new REC because of his past. “Mr. Okey should be posted to Borno or Kebbi where he will go and contend with the progressive forces because we are not strong enough for the kind of rigging that Ezeani is known for, so we want him out of our state. We have competent Nigerians that can fill those positions in Cross River State. We would not accept any other thing,” Eta stressed. He also urged the National Judicial Council (NJC) to redeploy Justice Abdullahi Adamu of Court of Appeal Calabar, alleging that he subverted the course of justice against the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria in the state in 2012. However, reacting shortly after resuming in Calabar on Tuesday, Ezeani denied being a PDP member, saying the allegations were false: “The accusation is a fallacy. They do not even know who I am. That information was wrong and we have contacted Hilliard Eta to retract that accusation.” Chief Press Secretary to INEC chairman, Kayode Idowu, said that the redeployment was part of the steps to deliver credible elections in February, stressing that the RECs were expected to continue with their programmes towards a free, fair and credible election in their new postings and that there was no better time for the exercise than now. Idowu stressed the need to remove the RECs from their states of origin where they might have had some special attachments and sympathies for one party and candidate or the other. “Even though the commission did not effect the redeployment because it was suspecting any of the RECs, some of them having been in a particular state since after the last general elections in 2011, there could be some attachments which could exist between them and the states and this is what the commission aimed at avoiding, hence the decision to redeploy them to begin work in other states,” Idowu explained. “Even as we know that they cannot be posted to their states of origin, the commission has taken steps to ensure that the RECs are posted to states where they would have all the necessary facilities to operate easily and deliver the commissions’ mandate of a free, fair and credible election,” he added. Reacting to a protest by members of the Accord Party (AP) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Oyo State over the redeployment of Akeju, to Oyo, Idowu said the commission took the decision in good faith without any form of bias He however, informed that INEC has not received any official protest on the redeployments, stressing that all the RECs have handed over to their successors as well as settled down for the task ahead in their new postings. Responding to enquiries from Weekly Trust, Idowu said there was nothing sudden about the redeployment and that it was decided upon painstakingly over time and the RECs were actually taken into confidence. “I am not aware of any formal petition against the posting of any REC. A basic criteria used since 2011 is not to post them to their state of origin, but also not outside their cultural context so as to make adaptation easy; the commission’s decisions are not frivolously taken, they are well considered and in the best interest of the political process. If everyone protests the postings who will do the work?”
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 21:46:05 +0000