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Time constraints may prevent the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) from conducting credible elections next
year, but a little adjustment in the timetable will help it out of the
ongoing shoddy arrangement for the exercise, the Academic Staff Union
of Universities (ASUU) said yesterday in Calabar.

Rising from a-three day national executive meeting of
the union in Calabar, lecturers of public universities in the country
said the time between when their colleague, Attahiru Jega, was
appointed as the chairman of the electoral agency and early 2011 when
elections will come up, is “too short a time for free and fair polls to
be conducted.” The body’s national president, Ukachukwu Awuzie, told
the press in Calabar that it will take a miracle for the electoral body
to do a neat job, hence the timetable should be adjusted for the
exercise to come up at the middle of the first quarter of 2011, with
the May 29 handover date remaining unchanged.

According to him, if there is no shift in the
elections, Nigerians and the international community will be convinced
that Goodluck Jonathan and the INEC have “programmed the elections and
the entire process to fail. It will not help to guarantee the required
free, fair, and credible elections”.

A communiqué presented by the union suggested the
election time table be adjusted to provide time for a fresh voters
register, verification of the register and political enlightenment that
will guide the electorate in voting for candidates of their choice.
“ASUU believes that for the Nigerian political process to serve the
needs of the people of Nigeria, the NEC of our union is calling for an
adjustment of the election time table, but such adjustment must not
interfere with the handover date of May 29th, 2011,” Professor Awuzie
said.

Assessing activities

Assessing the political activities put in place by
the government for the 2011 elections, the ASUU leadership said the
federal government has not demonstrated enough sincerity in
institutionalizing true democracy in the country, as issues of party
bigotry and ethnic aspirations have not been properly addressed in the
electoral reform laws to serve as a step toward producing credible
leaders for the country.

On electoral reform, the union expressed confidence
in the INEC chairman, but expressed fears that the political class may
make votes not count again as was the case in 2007, stressing that
there was no sign in sight that the “people are ready to conduct free
and fair elections”.

“Attahiru Jega has integrity to deliver as INEC
chairman, but the fear is that he may not be given a free hand to
implement the electoral laws. Imo and Cross River State local
government council elections which were used recently to experiment the
new electoral law, were an indication that the ruling class are not yet
ready for democracy. Elections in the two states were fraught with
irregularities,” Mr Awuzie said.

“In Imo State, reports from the area revealed that
election results were declared without figures, while in Cross River
State, women demonstrated nude on the street against the conduct of the
polls. There is nothing in the offing to convince Nigerians that next
year’s general elections will be free and fair.”