By Michael Chibuzo
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday announced February 20, 2027 as the date for the 2027 presidential election while the governorship election will, as usual, hold two weeks later on March 6, 2027.
Interestingly, some Muslim voices including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and ADC presidential hopeful, have called on INEC to shift the general election from these dates because the dates are going to clash with the month of Ramadan. To be honest, I initially thought these calls were jokes until it dawn on me that they were indeed serious calls for postponement of the 2027 polls.
To be clear, I respect every religion, be it Islam, Christianity, Judaism, or our various indigenous local religions. However I am struggling to understand how elections should be postponed simply because the dates fell within the month of Ramadan. And to make matters worse, some people are accusing INEC of deliberately selecting the date to punish Muslims. This is beyond incredulous honestly.
Before people begin to run an agenda against INEC and its Chairman, who is already a public enemy of some Muslims over his past utterances, it is important that I lay out some facts here.
The Holy Month of Ramadan is not static. It fluctuates. Fortunately since 1999, our general elections have managed to be held outside of the month of Ramadan not because of any special considerations by INEC but simply because the two events never clashed until now.
In the 1999 election cycle, Ramadan began on 19th December, 1998 while the presidential election took place on 27th February, 1999.
In 2003, Ramadan began on 26th October, 2003 while the presidential election took place on 19th April, 2003.
In 2007, Ramadan began on 13th September, 2007 while the presidential election took place on 21st April, 2007.
In 2011, Ramadan began on 1st August, 2011 while the presidential election took place on 16th April, 2011.
In 2015, Ramadan began on 18th June, 2015 while the presidential election took place on 28th March, 2015 (it was earlier scheduled for February 14 being Valentine’s day before the Council of States approved the postponement by 6 weeks to enable the military tackle the rampaging Boko Haram terrorists).
In 2019, Ramadan began on 6th May, 2019 while the presidential election took place on 23rd February, 2019.
In 2023, Ramadan began on 23rd March, 2023 while the presidential election took place on 25th February, 2023.
If you watch the trend, the beginning of Ramadan has been dropping downwards since the 1999 election cycle. It is simply a coincidence that 2027 elections would take place within the month of Ramadan. To underline this coincidence, the 2031 Ramadan will likely be on December 15th, 2031 while the 2030 Ramadan will likely be on December 26, 2030 and will spill into January of 2031 but not into the expected February date for the 2031 presidential election.
By the way, for many Christians, the lenten season often falls within the general election cycle with 2027 not an exception because 2027 lent starts on February 10th, 2027 and ends on March 25th. If I dig further, I am sure I will find traditional worshippers with important festivals within this election period. Do we now begin to postpone elections anytime the dates clash with these religious dates? I certainly do not think so!
So, it is ridiculous for anyone to suggest postponing a one-day election event because it clashes with a Holy Month of fasting. We should not even be having such a conversation. The election does not require extraordinary strength from voters. No polling unit has more than 1000 voters and no voter will stand on a queue between 8am to 3pm. At most a voter would be on a queue for two hours before it gets to his or her turn.
Meanwhile, the human body biologically can survive without food for days, so I do not know why a voter who wishes to vote would not survive a maximum of two hours of queuing especially when the individual must have taken his or her Suhoor (early morning meal) before commencing the day’s fasting.
We must not walk on this slippery slope. INEC’s leadership under Prof. Joash Amupitan must resist this pressure. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar should understand that Nigeria is currently sitting on a fragile religious spot and as an experienced politician and a statesman, he should not fan the embers of religious tension.