With a heavy heart, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Attahiru Jega, announced a very ‘weighty’ decision he had to take to postpone the National Assembly election till Monday, April 4.


Though he said he was taking responsibility for the major lapse of the non arrival of Form E8 and other sensitive election materials, Nigerians are already counting the cost of the postponement of the election. From the economic standpoint, the implication of the postponement can be calculated from how it affects the voters to the candidates and to the nation, generally.


Before worrying about the candidates and the parties, the voters are a major source of concern. For the election, as early as 7am, voters had already started leaving their homes. In some places, materials did not arrive till around 11.30 and 12 noon and yet, people waited patiently for materials.


Those who were lucky to have the materials in their polling units arrive on time, waited patiently on the queues for their accreditation. In some places, voting had already started and people had had their fingers painted. Some, taking the advice of their party leaders, were waiting for the exercise to be over so that the votes would be counted in their presence. While they were still on it, the announcement came that the election had been cancelled.


Initially, nobody took it serious. Some people thought it was a rumour while others thought it was a ploy by some parties to disperse the crowd at the polling stations so as to enable them rig. Nobody took it serious. They continued the process, thinking that it was a rumour.


Unfortunately, it was not. The process had truly been stopped and it was to be repeated on Monday. The shock, annoyance, hisses and disappointment that trailed this announcement could be better imagined. People’s spirit had been dampened all over the nation. It is not yet certain what effect that would have over the psyche of the nation and the far flung consequences over subsequent elections. Right now, it is doubtful that angry and frustrated Nigerians would bother to vote on Monday anymore for a myriad of reasons.


Apart from dampened spirits, for the political parties, the postponement of the elections will cost them to spend more than they budgeted for. In some parts, some parties had mobilised their supporters and party agents, paying them to watch over their interests at the polling centres.


With the postponement, the money the parties have invested in the various activities has all gone to waste. For now, parties will have to regroup quickly, ready to mobilise supporters for Monday. Unfortunately for them, like other Nigerians, banks will not be opening on Monday and for them to get cash might be a very big problem. In short, any party’s chances of victory might be truncated for lack of cash to mobilise their members and other resources for their benefit.


For a party like Congress for Progressive Change, the disappointment is on many levels. The party says it has already concluded plans for the media presentation of its party manifesto at the City Hall in Lagos. Afterwards, there will be a roadshow vinning to a rally at Archbishop Vining playground in Ikeja. For now, the party has rescheduled its entire plans to accommodate the new election date. That, of course, means a lot in terms of logistics and planning.


For the candidates, too, who have expended their energy, resources and moral into campaigns and elections, this is a huge setback. Apart from being an anti-climax, it can also affect their chances of winning as their supporters would need to be mobilised all over again.


Not just would they need to campaign to them and persuade them not to lose faith, those among them who have spent money on inducing people to leave their houses and queue in the sun might need to repeat the exercise. Even though campaigns ceased on Thursday, there was an incredible amount of mobilisation of party members going on at various levels. Contestants tacitly rallied their supporters and to get them to do that all over again.


For the entire nation, the economic loss is almost unquantifiable. The postponement means that economic and other similar activities already scheduled for Monday, the first working day of the week, would be lost. From local flights that would be grounded to banks being closed to small scale trading that would be suspended for the purpose of accommodating the election, the loss is beyond calculation.


Worse, the implication for Nigeria goes beyond her borders. For a while, the rest of Africa and the world have been watching to see how Nigeria would fare in this election. This postponement will go a long way in saying so many things about Nigeria, most of which would not be positive.