JOKER OF THE DAY ( INEC, 2011 GENERAL ELECTIONS)
The 2011 General Elections in Nigeria, scheduled to have commenced nationwide on April 2 2011(reports indicate voting actually took place in some parts of the country) have been postponed. INEC chairperson, Professor Attahiru Jega cited the non-delivery of election materials by contracted vendors as the reason for the postponement. In a press release, the INEC chair offered profuse apologies for the unfortunate event whilst giving assurances of the preparedness of INEC to conduct free, fair and credible polls.
It however beats the imagination that after a series of occurrences that included a shift in the polling dates from January to April this year and an upward review in the operating budget of the electoral body; the non-delivery of electoral materials could be tendered as an excuse for this hitch. Especially in the light of the fact that Professor Jega had sometime earlier(forty-eight hours before the elections were to commence) publicly declared that the electoral body was set and rearing to go! One hopes that from here onwards, the electoral umpire would be more circumspect in his utterances and have in his possession; verifiable facts and first hand information!



ACE OF THE DAY (NIGERIANS, INEC, POLITICAL PARTIES)
Curiously, this unfortunate incident threw up a number of players, who acquitted themselves nobly! First to receive rare mention is the electorate; all Nigerians who turned out for the botched exercise in their numbers, from the North to the East to the West. It was gratifying seeing a people willing and eager to exercise their constitutional rights. May all our votes count in this electoral process!
Oddly, up for praise also, is INEC (hmmn) and the sixty-three or so political parties, who took the postponement in their stride, deliberated extensively and came up with re-scheduled dates for the 2011 general elections. Their reactionary yet expedient consultations may just be the turning point in the nation’s hopes for a free, fair and credible electoral process!