A rescheduled election is evidence of  weakness, it exposes INEC’ s and this government’s inept leadership . Albert Einstein put it succinctly: “ insanity is doing the same thing  over and over again and expecting different results.

It shows lack of effective planning, and incompetence that is running at INEC’s headquarters.

The level of discomfort and potential for more embarrassments is rising  daily given that Prof Mahmood Yakubu had opportunity of taking advice from certain sections of  his team on security and logistics ( top scholars), but failed to implement it and this has resulted to this sudden change of date.

Both financial and credibility losses give big blows to his leadership as INEC chairman  and has put our democracy in a shaky position. Had INEC used information they gathered, they would have minimised cost and maximised the odds that they will conduct a successful election.

This pressure could be seen few days ago as President is currently advocating for extrajudicial killings in a constituted democracy.

As Judge Learned Hand said in Barnett: “Liberty lives in the hearts and minds of men. When it dies, no constitution, no laws can save it.

This calls into question the judgement of President Muhammadu Buhari.

It is the duty of the President to ensure law and order, provide a good environment for INEC officials to carry out their activities in a fair and lawful manner. Unfortunately, the President’s utterance seems to play into the hands of some trigger happy  soldiers.

The propensity for more embarrassments to this election looms as the presidential candidate of PDP Atiku Abubakar brings to light the knowledge that machines were being reconfigurated and officials trained in China to compromise the election results. If this is a common knowledge, it’s important Inec addresses it head on. Otherwise, it’s also important to find out how and where the PDP got the information from. Can it be their own agenda being projected on their opponents? These are crucial pieces of information that Inec should not sleep on if they want to be taken seriously.

Prof Mahmood Yakubu has shown that he has not done enough to ensure this election is held freely and fairly. It beggars belief that the chairman could not identify this opportunity he generated and it is quickly slipping through his fingers.

Churchill said: “To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour.”

Of course we are not privy to information he has but on leadership as whole he must admit his mistakes and be able to tell Nigerians whether he has the steel and will to carry out this project without swaying to right or left.

My advice to Professor Mahmood Yakubu is that character is more important than power. If he fails to do the honourable thing and be honest about what he is doing, he ends up sabotaging his best interest, for a short term gain.

To avoid such logistics problems which might be half-truth in this case,  INEC has to employ more advanced technology to make it harder for rogues to copy them. Secondly look after their staff and lastly, increase operational effectiveness.

The conduct of this election will have a huge impact on our democracy and our global branding as a nation..

Written by  Emeka Anyanwu,  the author of ‘The Big R Of A Successful Business.