Some former members of the 2014 National Conference have cautioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against the likely negative consequences of going into the next elections unprepared.

The conference delegates, who made presentations at a symposium on the national conference and the 2015 elections organised by the HH Macaulay Centre for the advancement of democracy in Abuja, said from all indications, the build-up to the February 14 portends grave dangers to the survival of democracy in the country.

Discussants expressed divergent views with some calling for the postponement of the election, while others believed that such move to shift the polls date was capable of fuelling protests of an unprecedented magnitude.

Former National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Chief Dan Nwanyanwu, said the issue of inadequate distribution of PVCs should not be taken lightly if the next election is to be credible.

“We should not get to the point where INEC would after commencing the voting process call off the votes based on discrepancies. As far as I am concerned INEC is not ready for this election and we will see this in the 12 days,” he said.

A lawyer, Chief Mike Ozehkome, who spoke on the readiness of INEC to conduct the elections, said by insisting on the February 14, the commission must avoid anything that could lead to disenfranchising the majority of the Nigerian electorate.

“We may need to consider postponing the election so that we do not have a tyrannical minority electing a president to the detriment of the silent helpless majority”, he said.

He also accused the leadership of the National Conference of watering down the report of the body before submitting it to the federal government and thus rendering the document almost unattainable.

One of the discussants, Nkechi Isa said the issue of non- collection PVC was being over-flogged and that it is not enough basis for tampering with the election timetable.

Meanwhile, a civil society coalition, Forum for Democratic Change, has expressed support for the shift in the election date in order to ensure greater participation in the electoral process.

The Coordinator of the group, Mr. Solomon, said: “We must commend INEC for introducing the PVC in our electoral lexicon. The idea behind the PVC is to deepen our electoral processes in such a way that we can have free and fair elections.

“Since the commencement of the collection of the PVCs, INEC has deployed its best resources—human and financial to ensure that every registered voter collects his or her own before the February 14, election.

However, despite its best efforts, the results, as indicated by INEC, are that nearly 20 million PVC are yet to be collected across the country.

The group said the implication of this development is that a good number of registered Nigerian voters may be disenfranchised from voting on Election Day because it is crystal clear that INEC will not be able to get all them or even most of them in the hands of their owners.  By so doing, they will be denied their inalienable right to perform this sacred civic duty.

“Over and above this, it might give disgruntled politicians an opportunity to scuttle our democracy, which was not only hard earned but also protected and nurtured over the past 16 years.

The group said that going ahead with the February election without distributing PVCs to a reasonable level could arm an aggrieved loser with ample reason to go to court to prove that his or her supporters were disenfranchised from voting. So the election runs a high risk of judicial annulment.

“As protectors of Nigeria’s democracy, we in the civil society under the aegis of the FDC join other well-meaning Nigerians like the former governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, who has called on the INEC to take advantage of the window inherent in the Electoral Act of 1999 (as amended) to adjust the election time table and postpone the elections so that the commission can have more time to distribute the PVC and save Nigeria from crisis.

Some of the inscriptions on the placards carried by the protesting group read:
“We demand for the postponement of the election to allow Nigerians to exercise their franchise. Election is for general participation and not for a select few. Do not disenfranchise Nigerians. We demand for the postponement of the election”.