Tomorrow, the governorship and state House of Assembly elections earlier scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 11, will be held across the country. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which postponed the polls after the Court of Appeal gave it permission to reconfigure the Bimodal Voter Accreditation Service (BVAS) machines used during the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections, hinged its action on the fact that it needed time to reconfigure the machines. In a statement by its National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, the commission noted that on March 3, the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal gave an ex-parte order allowing some political parties to inspect the materials used for the presidential election, including the over 176,000 BVAS used in the election. It added that it approached the tribunal to reconsider the order given that the BVAS systems were to be deployed for the governorship and state assembly elections and that the lack of a clearly defined timeframe for the inspection could disrupt the commission’s ability to conduct the outstanding elections.

It added that the BVAS could only be activated on the specific date and time of an election, and that though the presidential tribunal’s ruling enabled it to commence the preparation of the BVAS for the governorship and state assembly elections, it came far too late for the reconfiguration to be concluded. The postponement, it said, was to “to ensure that there is adequate time to back up the data stored on the over 176,000 BVAS machines from the presidential and National Assembly elections held on 25th February 2023 and then to reconfigure them for the governorship and state assembly elections.” This, it noted, “had been the practice for all elections, including the period when the commission was using the Smart Card Readers.”

It is important to note that as things stand now, the commission cannot confront Nigerians with another salad of excuses over the governorship and state assembly polls. It now holds both the proverbial yam and the knife. The postponement of the governorship and state assembly polls took place amid general discontent and despair by Nigerians affected by the naira redesign policy that heralded the polls and the feeling of betrayal by Nigerians who felt, rightly in our own view, that the February 25 exercise left much to be desired. However, like the vast majority of Nigerians, we hope that the postponement will be worth it afterall. To put it mildly, there is yet another opportunity for INEC to redeem itself. As pointed out by so many local and international organisations, the February 25 polls were marred by massive irregularities. Ahead of the polls, the INEC boss, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, had said it over and over again that there was a spare BVAS for each polling unit, meaning that if one malfunctioned, another would be used. But on election day, this pledge fell flat, and Nigerians were left scratching their heads over what actually transpired. It is regrettable that after the commitment of huge resources to the organisation of the elections, INEC was only able to deliver an exercise lacking in credibility and below the expectations of Nigerians.

Because the integrity of the electoral process is key, we hope that the subpar performance of the commission after highfalutin promises, as described and decried by a litany of local and international observers, will not be replicated during tomorrow’s polls. We expect the commission to put its house in order and organise a more credible exercise tomorrow. This would at least help to give some hope to Nigerians that it is not impossible to have credible elections in the country. We expect a hitch-free and credible exercise this time, especially after the benefit of the postponement. It is also our hope that Nigerians will not allow themselves to be discouraged by the shortcomings of the presidential and National Assembly elections, and that they will still troop out in numbers to take part in the governorship and state assembly elections. That is the only way to show that they know the true implications of elections and their importance for the proper organisation and reorganisation of the society.

Nigerians should ensure that they exercise their franchise wisely and intentionally, as elections really do have consequences.

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