Why we postponed elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission shed light on what led to the postponement of the 2019 general elections few hours before commencement of voting.

The Chairman of the electoral body, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, while addressing stakeholders at a meeting in Abuja on Saturday, pointed at fire incidents that ravaged it offices in Abia, Anambra and Plateau States as one of the reasons the elections were postponed.

Prof Yakubu also blamed some late court judgments that altered its preparation for the elections, adding that the judgments ordered the commission to add some parties on ballot papers that were already printed.

According to him, the commission was able to address some of the unforeseen challenges but they had a negative effect on the overall planning of the polls.

“In this regard, the commission has been sued or joined in over 640 court cases arising from the nomination of candidates. As of today, there are 40 different court orders against the commission on whether to add or drop candidates.

“The net effect of these is that there is usually roughly a one-month window for the commission to print ballot papers and result sheets and either fly or transport them to several destinations until they finally get to each polling unit.

“Apart from these logistical challenges, we also faced what may well be attempts to sabotage our preparations. In a space of two weeks, we had to deal with serious fire incidents in three of our offices in Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area of Abia State, Qu’an Pan Local Government Area of Plateau State and our Anambra State Office at Awka.

“In all three cases, serious disruptions were occasioned by the fire, further diverting our attention from regular preparations to recovery from the impact of the incidents. In Isiala Ngwa South, hundreds of PVCs were burnt, necessitating the recompiling of the affected cards and reprinting in time to ensure that the affected voters are not disenfranchised. I am glad that all the cards were quickly reprinted and made available for collection by their owners.

“Perhaps the most serious was the fire incident in our Anambra State Office at Awka, which destroyed over 4,600 Smart Card Readers being prepared for the elections. These Card Readers take at least six months to procure. Despite this setback, we have practically recovered from this by mopping up every available card reader.”