As several countries continue to announce the postponement of elections due to the coronavirus pandemic, the election umpire in Nigeria, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has decided to follow suit.
While general elections for offices at both federal, state and local government positions in Nigeria took place in 2019, the commission has come forward to announce the indefinite postponement of by-elections and local government elections across the country.
Senatorial By-Elections Postponed Indefinitely
The first major announcement by the Commission in Nigeria came on March 19th when it announced the postponement of by-elections for senatorial districts in Bayelsa, Imo, and Plateau states because of the coronavirus disease.
In a statement presented to members of the press, the INEC spokesperson, Festus Okoye explained that Section 26 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), gave the commission the power to postpone an election in the event of an emergency or national disaster.
“While the commission acknowledges the rights and desire of citizens for effective representation, there is an overriding public interest in ensuring the health, safety, and well-being of all stakeholders,” he said.
The senatorial seats in Bayelsa Central and Bayelsa West, which are the two Senatorial districts affected by the postponement, became vacant following the election of their former occupants into the governor and deputy governor seats of the state. Imo state’s North District and Plateau state’s South District, which were also affected, became vacant following the deaths of its Senators.
Local Government Elections Postponed
Similarly, elections scheduled to hold in Benue, Borno and Ondo states have been put on hold indefinitely, pending the containment of the coronavirus disease.
Speaking on behalf of the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission, Chairman Joseph Tersoo Loko said: “Human lives are very important and against this background, we shift the election for this Saturday indefinitely.”
He also added that if the elections took place as planned, a total of six political parties with large followings, and 11,000 ad hoc staff of the Commission would have been put at risk.
In its statement delivered by the Executive Chairman of the Commission, Abdu Usman, the Borno branch of the Commission announced that its Local Government polls set for June 13 this year, will unfortunately not hold as planned.
“The commission, taking into cognizance the fact that the next activity (party primaries) on the timetable will involve large gathering, which goes against the directive on the pandemic of coronavirus, the commission has decided to postpone all the remaining activities on the timetable indefinitely,” Usman said.
The Ondo State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) has also postponed the Local Government elections in the state indefinitely. While the Commission had kept mum about the polls as its April 18 date drew nearer, the Commission’s Chairman announced a postponement after consultations with the 10 political parties registered for the elections.
October Polls in Nigeria Still Stand
The Commission has, however, announced that the governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states, scheduled to hold in September and October this year, are not affected by the postponement.
This story is part of our new series on Nigeria where we analyse electoral reform in the country ahead of the next general elections in 2023.
