OMINIOUS clouds gathering above the country thickened on Saturday night when the Independent National Electoral Commission, bowing to executive and security blackmail, postponed by six weeks the general election earlier scheduled to begin on February 14. To the dismay of Nigerians and the consternation of the international community, the military and the entire security community joined in the conspiratorial schemes of the Presidency and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party to frustrate the electoral process and push Nigeria once more to the brink.

But Nigerians should learn from our inglorious past and take a resolute decision to resist a fresh descent into contrived crises by a decadent cabal.

A collective gasp of disappointment greeted the announcement by a flustered Attahiru Jega, Chairman of INEC, shifting the presidential and National Assembly elections to March 28 and the state governorship and legislative polls to April 11. They had earlier been scheduled for February 14 and 28 respectively.

Jega’s anguish can only be imagined. While he had consistently said that the commission was ready for the polls, the security agencies, led by the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, and the service chiefs, forced his hand by writing to INEC to declare emphatically that troops and other security personnel would not be provided if the elections went on as planned. According to them, all military assets would be concentrated, for the next six weeks, on tackling the insurgency in the North-East zone. Though couched under security concerns, the military’s action was, in fact, nothing but mischief.

Everyone saw it coming since the conspirators lacked the subtlety to disguise their intentions. It was the ineffective NSA that first gave official voice to whispers of the sinister moves against the elections when, at a forum organised in London by Chatam House, he suggested the shifting of the polls. Then followed forceful calls for postponement from the PDP, rented crowds of protesters and some “briefcase” political parties. President Goodluck Jonathan revealed his soiled hands when Doyin Okupe, his Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, declared that it was “impossible” for security chiefs to guarantee security. Acting out the nefarious script, Edwin Clark, Femi Okurounmu, Chukwuemeka Ezeife and Alex Ekwueme, elders, acting in the name of the Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly, bizarrely urged the arrest of Jega.

Worried, American President, Barack Obama, dispatched his Secretary of State, John Kerry, to Jonathan to lend his weight to calls by the opposition and other Nigerians that the polling dates should stay. Hiding behind a finger, Jonathan only made a woolly statement to the American diplomat that the May 29 swearing-in date “is sacrosanct.” Nigerians, who have endlessly been treated to political chicanery in the past, from the subversion of the constitution in the defunct Western Region in the First Republic to the brazen rigging of the 1983 elections and the manoeuvring that culminated in the June 12, 1993 electoral debacle and the brutal Sani Abacha dictatorship that followed, are bracing for another round of crises. They are not deceived.

Insurgency has been raging in the North-East for five years. Under the watch of Sambo and the current service chiefs, our military have become the laughing stock of Africa. They have been taking beating after beating from Boko Haram terrorists in the three affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe. But Iraq, even at the height of its raging civil war, held several elections. Afghanistan, when Taliban insurgents controlled some of its territory, held elections back-to-back.

Syria, embroiled in a brutish civil war, successfully held a presidential poll in 2014. With the Crimean peninsula forcibly annexed by Russia and rebels controlling Donetsk and other regions, Ukraine still held, first, a presidential and, months later, parliamentary elections. Using the excuse of fighting insurgency in parts of three states to deny the 36 states of the federation and a federal territory elections as scheduled is fraudulent. In those countries cited, extraordinary security and massive deployment of troops were enough to guarantee credible polling.

In any case, Sambo and the Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, had earlier emphatically assured the nation of adequate security arrangements for the elections. Besides, when he first called for a postponement, Sambo not only re-echoed this assurance, he restricted himself to the need for more time to distribute the 68.83 million permanent voter cards. The security joker he and the service chiefs pulled is widely recognised as a mischievous afterthought. By February 5, said Jega, 45,839,808 PVCs had been collected – about 66.58 per cent of the total – while INEC had extended the collection window to February 13 and many states had declared holidays to enable voters to collect theirs. The Council of State – an advisory body – had also met and recommended sticking to the February 14 date.

Jonathan and the security chiefs are toying with Nigeria’s destiny. We regard the military interference as a deliberate plot hatched with the connivance of the Presidency and the PDP to frustrate the elections. There is a very dangerous convergence between the military and the partisan interests of Jonathan. The actions of the military are provocative and Badeh, the Chief of Army Staff, Kenneth Minimah and others are unwisely enmeshing the security forces in politics. The Army had already allowed itself to be dragged into the certificate affair where it did not mind being used to embarrass one of its own, a former commander-in-chief to boot, Muhammadu Buhari, as it bent to the partisan whims of the ruling party.

One grave implication of the military’s blackmail is that the sole authority invested in INEC by law to conduct elections at a time of its own choosing has been hijacked by the security forces and, by implication, the Presidency, to whom the service chiefs report. All it now takes for the military and the police to annul an election date is to refuse to provide security as they are legally bound to do.

Jonathan’s desperation is leading him to a dangerous zone that neither he nor those egging him on can predict the outcome.

Under him, impunity has become monstrous. We cannot ignore the conspiracy theories flying around if only because the blackmail against INEC has proved unerringly accurate, even to the last detail of the military denying INEC security cover. We strongly advise those plotting to subvert or manipulate the 1999 Constitution in order to rig elections, derail them or arrange tenure elongation as being alleged, to desist forthwith in the interest of this country.

Similar plots and subversion of the popular will by the trio of Ahmadu Bello, Tafawa Balewa and Ladoke Akintola (1965/66) in the old Western Region; Ibrahim Babangida (1993), using the infamous Association for Better Nigeria and the courts; and Sani Abacha (1993-1998), using five pseudo parties dismissed by the late Bola Ige as “five leprous fingers” ultimately failed, but plunged the country into prolonged crises, atrophying development and consuming hundreds of Nigerians in blood-soaked turmoil. Jonathan should, for once, demonstrate an awareness of history, avoid ignominy by pulling back from this dangerous track, and allow the electoral process to go on unhindered.

Can the military fix the Boko Haram insurgency in six weeks? What if they still refuse to provide security after this period? In a country where elections are warfare, police and military assistance is crucial, more so in the North-East where terrorists are reported to have captured 130 villages and towns.

Also worrisome is the implication of having elections close to the constitutional swearing-in date of May 29. The ingenuity of INEC and the parliament in fixing elections early to allow enough time for any hitches and litigation is now threatened. It returns us to the days when an election rigger could be sworn in and, thereafter, deployed state resources to defend the stolen mandate. Allegations of military partisanship in the recent Ekiti and Osun states governorship elections raise fresh fears of the abuse and misuse of the instruments of coercion.

Nigerians should not be deceived; we are in the grip of a ruthless, power-hungry and infinitely corrupt cabal that appears ready to do anything to have its way. The June 12 struggle may be a child’s play compared to the unfolding sinister manoeuvres. Jonathan is so enamoured of power that he fails to see the danger of excessive exposure to politics by a military that usurped power for 28 of the 55 years of Nigerian independence.

But in this modern world, the people are not helpless. The lessons from Tunisia, Egypt, Ukraine and Thailand are that citizens can peacefully assert their sovereignty and insist on having a say in how they are governed. We are paying a very high price for our complacency and impunity has run riot.

All stakeholders should raise their voices against the insidious military encroachment on INEC’s remit with the active connivance of the authorities that cannot weigh the consequences of their desperate ambitions. Civil society groups – those that have not been bought over – should wake up from their slumber, while every Nigerian should demand accountability, free and fair elections and a professional, non-partisan military.











http://www.punchng.com/editorials/poll-shift-averting-the-looming-darkness/

It could only be punch or Sahara desert.
There is no looming darkness, We are securing the country for a more credible election.
We are moving forward
Shame to the propagandists!
We don't need negative change, we need positive transformation.

SeverusSnape:
It could only be punch.

that can give a real punch.

itetemi:


that can give a real punch.

Yeah!...

In a way, it helped to reduce the tension and apprehension in the land. The tension was just too high sincerely especially praying for war.


God bless President GEJ. Politics should not be a do or die game. That we don't support one candidate should not make us enemy.

SeverusSnape:
It could only be punch or Sahara desert.
There is no looming darkness, We are securing the country for a more credible election.
We are moving forward

Are you this jobless? You appear on every thread to spew hateful words and jargons? Take this life easy!

NgeneUkwenu:


Are you this jobless? You appear on every thread to spew hateful words and jargons? Take this life easy!

Wow!...SeverusSnape is now a nightmare to them.
I love the feeling.
BtW, Are you the woman on your Profile picture

Gej is wiser than all those calling him clueless

Beautiful and bold editorial from the punch.
This is no time for every right thinking Nigerian to sit on the fence.GEJ is hell bent on hanging on to power by all means and at whatever cost.
Its time Nigerians make him aware we are all aware of his schemes and won't stand for it.
As it even stands,GEJ cannot win any kind of legitimacy again because having shown his hands and cards early,if per any chance or scheming he is returned as winner in the election,rightly or wrongly, it wud be viewed as having been rigged and thus a blood letting worse than that of 2011.
There are 2 safe options for GEJ and Nigeria now:
-GEJ steps down from contesting the elections and thus restores any dignity he still has.
-The elections are made as transparently free and fair as possible and GEJ accepts the inevitable defeat that awaits him.
Otherwise,having miscalculated badly with this move, any outcome that sees GEJ being returned as the winner would be interpreted as a contrived outcome and thus unavoidable turmoil.

SeverusSnape:

Wow!...SeverusSnape is now a nightmare to them.
I love the feeling.
BtW, Are you the woman on your Profile picture

Sorry, You are just a divisive element from the evil party called PDP! The little meaningless jargon you type on every thread is always laced with hateful digs on other ethnic groups! They are many supporters of jonathan who made their comments here without resorting to abusing other groups who disagree with them!

You are killing yourself/brothers and sisters residing in other zones thinking you are working for the ogogoro drinker!

Tufiakwa! I so much hate you!

Kennywills7:
Gej is wiser than all those calling him clueless

He is just a useless man, who will NEvER end well!

Like play like play, our govt is engaging in a macabre dance and we the citizens are simply choosing sides. Our recent history ought to remind us that what affects the eyes will surely reflect on the nose but we have chosen to be forgetful.

I hope those who rode into power on the back of citizen action will remember the same citizens in their calculations and scheming to retain power at all cost. If anything, Jonathan has proved the long standing truth that

"Never you vouch for a man's character until you give him access to money and power"

The 'humble christian' man is showing he learnt very well from his mentors

NgeneUkwenu:


He is just a useless man, who will NEvER end well!

Calling ur president a useless man does not make u any better, however when pointing a finger remember d rest are pointing back at u
be careful of wot u say online

Kennywills7:

Calling ur president a useless man does not make u any better, however when pointing a finger remember d rest are pointing back at u
be careful of wot u say online

Comot for road joor!

NgeneUkwenu:


Comot for road joor!

Trait of Apc supporters
Am not surprise. carry on

NgeneUkwenu:


Sorry, You are just a divisive element from the evil party called PDP! The little meaningless jargon you type on every thread is always laced with hateful digs on other ethnic groups! They are many supporters of jonathan who made their comments here without resorting to abusing other groups who disagree with them!

You are killing yourself/brothers and sisters residing in other zones thinking you are working for the ogogoro drinker!

Tufiakwa! I so much hate you!

You sound pained, I must have touched a nerve. I'll keep on saying the truth whether you and your ilk likes it or not. The truth is bitter, but you must chew it
By the way, If you're the one on your profile, you look like a pig.(no offense)....SeverusSnape despises pigs!

SeverusSnape:

[s]You sound pained, I must have touched a nerve. I'll keep on saying the truth whether you and your ilk likes it or not. The truth is bitter, but you must chew it
By the way, If you're the one on your profile, you look like a pig.[/s](no offense)....SeverusSnape despises pigs!

Abeg shift you this little monkey!!! Who cares!

NgeneUkwenu:


Abeg shift you this little monkey!!! Who cares!

Shift you this FAT PIG. You're blocking my view.

doctokwus:
Beautiful and bold editorial from the punch.
This is no time for every right thinking Nigerian to sit on the fence.GEJ is hell bent on hanging on to power by all means and at whatever cost.
Its time Nigerians make him aware we are all aware of his schemes and won't stand for it.
As it even stands,GEJ cannot win any kind of legitimacy again because having shown his hands and cards early,if per any chance or scheming he is returned as winner in the election,rightly or wrongly, it wud be viewed as having been rigged and thus a blood letting worse than that of 2011.
There are 2 safe options for GEJ and Nigeria now:
-GEJ steps down from contesting the elections and thus restores any dignity he still has.
-The elections are made as transparently free and fair as possible and GEJ accepts the inevitable defeat that awaits him.
Otherwise,having miscalculated badly with this move, any outcome that sees GEJ being returned as the winner would be interpreted as a contrived outcome and thus unavoidable turmoil.

The elections would surely hold and GEJ would be returned as winner after that you may decide to commit suicide

Do not threaten us with violence as no one has a monopoly over violence. If southerners are killed in the north, expect reprisals down south.

Words of wisdom from Punch, GEJ needs to remember there are forces far greater than his clueless brain can comprehend, this vain attempt at destroying the little peace we have shall fail, like the article said, Nigeria is here today because we, Nigerians, have continued to act as if it is none of our business, kermit the frog the style.

chukwudi44:

The elections would surely hold and GEJ would be returned as winner after that you may decide to commit suicide
Do not threaten us with violence as no one has a monopoly over violence. If southerners are killed in the north, expect reprisals down south.

Perception counts a lot in the affairs of men.
You must admit GEJ and the service chiefs made a very wrong move when they clearly showed their hands.The punch editorial only asserted the perception on the minds and lips of all sane Nigerians; that its a calculated attempt to perpetuate gej in power one way or the other.
If u were to be honest and forgetting your sycophancy and banter here;if gej is to be returned as winner,would people not read meaning into it.
By using this mischief,gej has clearly shown his intentions,the damage has been done by his team,there is no way of turning back the clock that he can never ever have any kind of legitimacy again.The supporters that egged him on caused all this and now the only legitimate and acceptable outcome wud be a buhari victory.Its no call to violence,but a dispassionate analysis of what the shift in date has caused and the editorial affirms same.Q.E.D

Sambo Dasuki is not fit to advise a market association. Under his watch, Bokoharam has intensified its blood curdling activities in the North East of the country, suicide and car bombing are on the rise, our highways are controlled by robbers ,kidnappers brazenly carry out their act and the Niger delta is "hemorrhaging" crude oil for sale on the high seas.

Foisting GEJ on the people via electoral fraud will take us back to the days of NADECO and Abacha only that this time , Bokoharam,and the even bigger Notherners disaffection,will loom larger on our political screen. 1966 all over,again?
Goodluck Jonathan should go study some history. There might be no Arab Spring type revolution in Nigeria but the people have a way of fighting back, and win.

The criminal himself who call himself a president is gradually plunging this country into darkness and should be held responsible for what will befall this country after the elections if his evil plans finally clicks and he somehow wins. The ICC and UN should monitor he and his swine of illiterate followers where they are heading to and where they plan to take this country to.
Say no to Jonathan, say no to tyranny and dictatorship.
What can be stopped must be stopped now.

[size=18pt]#VoteforChange[/size] that you may smile again.
Vote Buhari
Vote wisely, the choice is yours Nigerians.

ok

.

Jonathan’s desperation is leading him to a
dangerous zone that neither he nor those egging
him on can predict the outcome.
This is so on point

Hmmm!

All is well that ends well.... i stil hope for a better end, if them like make them shift am till oct 1st... what will be will be!

hmmm

Bla Bla Bla Bla

Whatever

He's no longer Clueless Jonathan ba??

Nansense.


The Most Important Thing Is That Jonathan Must Win This Election And Rule Till 2019.

Lobatan O Jarey.

Mi O Le Pariwo.