Politicians, civil society groups, electoral officers and other stakeholders have met in Lagos to assess the security challenges facing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the discharge of its duties, as it begins preparations for the 2019 general elections. MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE, who attended the event, reports that the positions canvassed by the various interest groups raised some pertinent issues.
A CIVIL society organisation, the Independent Service Delivery Monitoring Group (ISDMG), recently assembled stakeholders in Lagos, to assess the challenges facing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as it prepares for the next general elections scheduled for 2019.
At the meeting, which took place in Lagos, representatives of INEC, the political class, the media and the academia raised some issues that could constitute a stumbling block to the election, if not addressed on time. The issues revolve round security challenges that may rear its ugly head before, during and after the contest.
The Acting Executive Director of ISDMG, Faith Nwadishi, said his organisation decided to do a research when it realised that most of the elections after 2015 were becoming inconclusive.
He said: “We tried to find out the reasons behind the inconclusive elections. We found that it was courageous on the part of the INEC chairman to declare some of the elections inconclusive. Now politicians are beginning to get together for the 2019 elections. So, civil society organisations must be proactive; look at what is needed to be done; review the elections which had been conducted so far.”
Stakeholders surmised that even though INEC had the legitimacy to conduct elections, it is handicapped when it comes to security and it is not in a position to guarantee the safe conduct of elections. It was established that police officers sent to provide security during elections were not well remunerated; a situation which had led many of them to compromise during such exercises in the past.
The stakeholders cited examples where police officers and other security organisations deployed to cover election abandoned their place of primary assignment, to partake in the sharing of money, food and drinks provided by politicians. In such a situation, the security officers turned blind eyes to their benefactors’ malfeasance. They called on government to checkmate such fraudulent practices, by ensuring that allowances meant for officers on such national assignment are provided before the day of elections.
They equally resolved that political parties should not be deregistered. The idea is to allow both major and minor political parties to contest; just like it is done in other advanced democracy.
They insist that if weaker political parties are removed from the political space, the democratic experiment would become disenchanting. In that case, the rights of the people to freely associate would be abridged.
If that becomes the norms, they argue, many people would be disentranced. In that eventuality, those who fought so hard to bring back democracy in the country would emerge the losers, because they do not have sufficient funds to transform their parties into the kind of parties INEC craves for.
Speaking on the fate of fringe parties, one of the brains behind ISDMG, Mr. Babatunde Oluajo, said it is not INEC’s responsibility to canvass for the removal of paper-weight parties from the political space; rather it should concentrate on the conduct of elections.
He said: “I am really agitated each time INEC embarks on deregistering weak political parties. If that is carried out, they would have disenfranchised Nigerians who are supporters of those parties. What the commissioner should be seen to be doing is to conduct elections. In case, those smaller political parties cannot field candidates for the national elections that would warrant them to be on the ballot papers, they should be accorded the rights to be on the ballot papers at the local elections where they field candidates.
“We are aware of the efforts of the likes of the late Gani Fawehinmi, who fought so hard to enthrone democracy. Now you are suggesting that his party be deregistered, with the kind of large followership it has? I think that is not politically wise.”
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who was represented by the Commissioner in-charge of Election and Party Monitoring, Mrs. Anthonia Simbine, called for support for the electoral body.
Simbine enumerated the challenges starring INEC in the face, but explained that they were surmountable. She said the commission would incorporate all that is needed to ensure that the e-voting exercise becomes a success.
She said the attitude of the political class, its desperation for power and the do-or-die politics played have not helped the commission in the conduct of elections. She said some of the politicians could go to any length to ensure they emerged winners and that attempts to stand on their way were often fiercely resisted.
Simbine pointed out that INEC was equally constrained by delay in remitting its fund, adding that when such situation arises, it becomes very cumbersome to conduct elections. She said the real elections and by-elections attract the same financial commitment by the commission. She added that it was erroneous to state that INEC spends less in conducting by-elections.
She added: “Elections and election period are usually very tough times. We have all sorts of political behavours that can be very negative and we all depend on the security agencies to help us provide conducive atmosphere in order to be able to carry out the exercise.
“The collaboration has been good; if not for the contribution of the security agencies it would have been very difficult. There can be challenges once in a while; we always work towards improving on the process.”
The commissioner said the conflicting court judgments and orders from the judiciary have not helped matters; because they often result in uncertainty in the electoral process. She said: “We have seen a situation where orders on the same subject matter or lower court not abiding by the decision of superior court and in some cases of the Supreme Court.
“Although, INEC is now on the first line charge, the delay in passing the budget and envelope system being implemented in the face of recession and the conflicting states’ primaries, as well as the volatile foreign exchange market have negative impacts on the work of the commission.”
The INEC official expressed confidence that the commission would live up to its responsibility, when the e-voting is put to use. She urged the electorate to show maximum support and cooperation during the exercise. Her words: “We expect to get maximum cooperation from the House of Representatives, just like the Senate has already approved it and we look forward to implementing it, when it eventually becomes law. The e-voting means people will now be in their home and go online to vote. We will distribute technologies wherever it is possible and where it will be conducive for the electorate cast their votes.”
In spite of the above optimism, other stakeholders are not confident that the country is ripe for the innovation. For instance, the chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the Labour Party, Pastor Biodun Popoola, does not share the INEC commissioner’s optimism. He believes that the country is not ripe for e-voting.
His words: “The e-voting idea could be a necessary machinery to forestall the re-enactment of the past practice of clouded, shady and dangerous arrangement by INEC for elections in Nigeria which to a larger extent have allowed kingpins and undemocratic thugs to hijack what necessarily should be a free, fair and transparent arrangement.
“I strongly believe that our country and by extension the citizenry is not in the ‘A’ rating for this fast receding global trend, which allows voters to transmit their secure and secret ballot during election through the internet. In truth, a more robust and well-designed system with options will facilitate the conduct of the exercise with more speed and less cost.
“But, despite all the advantages stated, there are several issues that definitely stand in the way of the success of this unique arrangement, particularly in our dearly beloved nation, Nigeria such as the percentage of literacy, unequal access to internet, unequal access to technological devices and mobile applications, vulnerability to security issues such as server/data base virus and network issues which as at date is upside down.”
Fine-tuning the electoral process has become a serious concern for stakeholders, who believe that the commission must get its acts together before the 2019 general elections. Some of them are of the view that INEC must do everything possible to redeem its image; so that it could be depended upon when integrity matters.
Chairman of the occasion and former President of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Mr. Ledun Mitee, charged the commission to put its adhoc staff up-to-date before conducting the elections. He said INEC has the responsibility to discourage the people from embarking on dubious electoral path. He said, in the past, INEC’s adhoc staff were often willing tools in the hands of corrupt politicians.
He said: “What I see as a challenge is how we can make 2019 a success. I think the overriding force that should give INEC should not be about its staff that works in Abuja or state offices. This is because the local people see INEC not through the prism of these people, but through their adhoc staff who actually work on the field during elections.
“So, when you say there can be compromise by those presiding officers, the adhoc staff is the ones people see as INEC. I think it is how to leverage these people, to meet the standard that builds confidence on the populace. That is what INEC should work towards.”
Mitee said the recently approved guidelines on the conduct of elections were rolled out against the background of some INEC staff that misbehaved during elections, adding that no punishment was meted out to the politicians involved in the misconduct.
So far, observers say INEC under the leadership of Prof. Yakubu has organised 157 elections between November 2015 and now and 123 out of it was concluded on first ballot.
For some stakeholders, the commission needs to do more to earn public accolade. But, Nwadichi said ISDMG is conversant with such challenges and that Nigerians should be patient, “because we have studied the electoral system of some advanced countries and some of them are not even relying on e-voting anymore”.
She added: “I think the integrity of any electoral process depends on those managing the system, including the citizens themselves. While we welcome the idea of e-voting, we ask people to be a little patient, do more research about and look at why countries are beginning to leave it behind.”
