It is not the sequence of the electoral time-table that matters, it is the attitude; our aspiration is that these pivotal elections must be fought on the basis of well-articulated and properly costed  programmes and not on the basis of rancor.

In view of the superlative returns-on-investments which accompany the holding of political office in Nigeria, it is hardly surprising that mixed reactions have trailed the release by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of the 2015 general election time-table.

The reactions are vary from being altruistic. In actual fact much of it is self-serving as it involves
jockeying for partisan advantage. Inevitably there has also been a sly innuendo about the very independence of INEC itself. This can hardly be surprising. Having ‘fumbled and wobbled’ its way through the fiercely contested Anambra governorship   contest, the commission certainly has a lot of rebuilding work to do.

This is why the sequence of the election has become contentious. The elections kick-off with the almighty presidential election. The use of the phrase ‘almighty’ is done advisedly. For the current heating up of the polity has everything to do with the presidential seat. It can hardly be otherwise. For as is well acknowledged, the Nigerian Presidency is the most powerful imaginable.

The presidency in Nigeria commands powers and fiats which will make its counterparts elsewhere salivate and grow green with envy. Add to this is a political economy based on limited economic possibilities and the imperative of getting hold of presidential power in a quasi-federal state becomes very clear.

There is a good reason to pay attention to the clamour of those who suggest a reversal of the order. Perhaps ‘lesser’ elections should be held first in order to test the waters and fine-tune INEC’s perennial difficulties with logistics. An election into the almighty presidency in which things (inadvertently?) go wrong is better not imagined. After all the Presidency is the ‘jackpot!’.

Nevertheless, INEC must be given the benefit of the doubt. A reversal of the order now will really be contentious. It will cast aspersions that INEC can be maneuvered or brow-beating into making policy flip-flops. This is why INEC has to work with great diligence as well as precision in order to remove any reasonable doubts about its independence and its competence.

This is an awesome task. Nevertheless it has to be done. For the very stability of the republic depends on INEC getting it demonstrably right. Let there be no understating the magnitude of what is at stake. INEC has an historic responsibility which it must fulfill.

The other segments of both civil and political society have a historic burden as well. Not least the political establishment. Over remunerated even without delivering the dividends of democracy, they have the most to lose if it all goes wrong. It is a damning indictment on the entire political establishment that fourteen years after the restoration of democracy in Nigeria they have failed to enact a national democratic agreement.

Failure to do so has led to the mentality of ‘do or die’ electoral processes. This in itself negates the very ethos of what a democracy should be. The evolution of a democratic agreement amongst contending forces and formation jockeying for power is important for the smooth running of a democracy. For such an agreement based on conventions lays the parameters, the dos and don’ts in the terrain of political action. It is the foundation upon which acceptable elections and peaceful transfer of power is built. It is a long shot certainly, but there is still time to build it now.

In addition, the security forces must evolve the professionalism as non-partisan disposition required in a democracy. Unfortunately, the negative example being set in Rivers state by the local police force gives great room for apprehension. Everything now has to be done to rebuild public confidence in the professionalism and impartiality of the security services.

Everyone have their work cut-out including civil society and the non-governmental organizations. It is not the sequence of the electoral time-table that matters, it is the attitude. Our aspiration is that these pivotal elections must be fought on the basis of well-articulated and properly costed  programmes and not on the basis of rancor. After 14 years the time is right to have acceptable elections.