Notes from Nigeria's election campaigns (2)

• Published date: 01 February 2023
• Publication title: Nigeria - The Nation

Barring something that triggers the declaration of a force majeure, Nigerians will elect a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari this month. The date is set: February 25. Preparations by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are continuing apace. Although, that has never stopped a sudden postponement in the recent past.

Early in February 2015, then electoral commission boss, Professor Attahiru Jega, announced a six-week shift of polls that had been scheduled for the 18th of that month. His explanation was that troops who should police the vote were bogged down trying to push back Boko Haram insurgents in the Northeast, so that some semblance of elections could hold in the region. The then opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) complained about the 'provocative' action it alleged was designed to help the incumbent Goodluck Jonathan.

Four years later, Jega's successor, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, pulled off another stunning last-minute change in polling date. In the dead of night - at about 2.30am on February 16 - just hours before voters were to begin casting ballots nationwide, he announced a one-week adjustment of the schedule. He blamed it on logistics challenges that if not addressed could harm the quality of the elections.

With such a history it's no surprise that the specter of postponement has hovered somewhere in the horizon over the past few months. Those fears were fanned when certain INEC official raised the alarm about the potential impact of attacks on its facilities in the Southeast and other incidents of insecurity around the country.

But Yakubu has been quick to stamp out any such notion, doing so most recently during his outing at Chatham House in London.

Having slogged through what has been one of the longest campaign seasons in recent history, I doubt whether Nigerians - especially the majority who are not interested in intrigues and manipulation - would countenance any sort of adjustment in dates. They just want the elections done so they can move on with their lives.

Still, no one can ignore the crisis over fuel scarcity and the bungled naira swap. Disruptions in petrol supply have become a regular feature of national life. They are annoying occurrences that often manifest towards year end as marketers and sundry speculators anticipate whether the authorities would approve upward price adjustments. When that doesn't occur or when some sort of hike is implemented, the queues miraculously disappear.

But long after the...