The re-run election in Ekiti State that took place last Saturday was not conclusive. It ended without a winner emerging and as many had feared was marred by horrendous electoral malpractices and violence and once again showed that when it comes to electoral matters those whose business it is to put in place a full proof process would prefer to do otherwise.

There was also the drama of the resignation, disappearance and reappearance of the state's Resident Electoral Commissioner Mrs Adebayo Ayooka who claimed that there was same hanky panky in the election. The election was characterised by all manner of electoral subterfuge including stolen ballot boxes, flagrant illegal thumb printing, use of party thugs who disrupted otherwise peaceful voting and other shameful acts aimed at gaining unfairly advantage in the election. The Ekiti re-run would therefore go down as a despicable display of electoral brigandage which underscores Nigerians predilection toward throwing away every opportunity to do things the right way.

The blame for the Ekiti election debacle should be laid squarely on the door step of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for its inability to bring the whole process to a happy conclusion. Right from the time the election of Segun Oni, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate was annulled and a new election was scheduled, the INEC in Ekiti should have known that much would depend on the manner and the serious effort made for the preparation for the election. Had Mrs. Ayoka Adebayo put in place the kind of process to checkmate the overbearing, not to say disruptive influence of party personalities that made Ekiti a temporary abode during the campaign for the election, perhaps the inconclusiveness of the election could have been avoided? Of course, we are not unmindful of the difficulty in persuading top political personalities who should have known better than actively working to ensure their parties won by all means.

It follows therefore that the untoward influence party personalities brought to bear on the election by both sides of the political divide was unedifying to say the least. It shows the political class' unwillingness to let the electoral process take its natural course. Hence the violence that attends electoral contests where winning does not come from the wishes of the people, but from illegally manipulating the process through devious means. Time and time again this odious political behavior has been blamed for endangering democracy and the polity. We note sadly that this fact escaped the Federal Government whose job it was to ensure that everything went well in the Ekiti re-run election in order for it not degenerate into the ugly spectacle that ensued. It appears that the government saw the contest purely from a partisan perspective and through its party it worked assiduously to make its candidate win. Alas that did not happen and by so doing missed the opportunity to make the point that: first, it is ready to put its much touted rule of law into concrete expression by making sure the electoral rules are obeyed strictly. Secondly, that as a government it is ready to jettison partisanship and narrow party demands for the benefit of matters that impinge on moral strength of the nation.

Because of all this it is now being asked that if election in a state could be so badly bungled what then would happen to the 2011 nation wide elections? No one needs a crystal ball to see the dark portents. Still, we think it could be avoided if the necessary amends are done. Firstly, however the hung election in Ekiti must be brought to its logical end by ensuring that the remaining polls in Ekiti are held expeditiously in a more conducive atmosphere for the result to reflect the wishes of the voters. Beyond this, the Ekiti episode should be taken as a lesson for the 2011 elections. The one good thing about it is that it revealed the pitfalls that are likely to come up in subsequent elections.