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Tag: Inec

  • APC to INEC: you don’t need court order to cancel tainted poll

    APC to INEC: you don’t need court order to cancel tainted poll

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has rejected the stand of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that only the courts can cancel last Saturday’s governorship election in Anambra State, in which about 1.3 million of the 1.7 million registered voters voted.

    In a statement in Lagos yesterday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party reminded INEC that it did not wait for a court order to cancel the National Assembly elections in 2011, when it was obvious that many voters across the country could not vote due to the late arrival or non-delivery of voting materials.

    ‘’In announcing the cancellation of the National Assembly election in 2011, INEC Chairman Attahiru Jega said, among others, that it was to ‘maintain the integrity of the elections and retain effective overall control of the process’,’’ it said.

    APC said the situation in Anambra last Saturday was even more serious because, in addition to the fact that voting materials were either late or not delivered at all, most voters were disenfranchised by an INEC official who apparently tampered with the 2011 Voters’ Register for the state.

    ‘’Therefore, there are more compelling reasons now to cancel the Anambra governorship election than what led to the cancellation and rescheduling of the National Assembly election in 2011, unless of course INEC is still acting out the script handed to it for the ill-fated election,’’ the party said.

    It also said since the integrity of the 2011 Voters’ Register had been compromised by tampering, that register can no longer be relied upon by INEC to organise any election in Nigeria.

    ‘’The emerging allegations are very serious. First, the Voters’ Register for Anambra has been allegedly tampered with by an INEC official to disenfranchise a huge number of voters, to such an extent that only 451,826 voters were accredited out of the 1,763,751 registered voters in Anambra State.

    ‘’Secondly, the disenfranchisement started from the data capturing stage, when the machine was apparently manipulated not to capture those whose names start with ‘O’ or ‘U’, and that is a whole lot of people. Against this background, it is obvious to all fair-minded people, not the rabidly partisan PDP, that INEC ‘s computer data-base must have been fraudulently, irreparably and totally adulterated, such that no credible Voters’ Register can anymore be produced from the 2011 voters’ registration data.

    ‘’That is why we are not just calling for the cancellation of the Anambra governorship election, but also saying that even a fresh election cannot and must not be conducted on the basis of the 2011 Voters’ Register. Unless Nigeria embarks on another voters’ registration exercise, it is doubtful if INEC has the ability to ameliorate the damage already done to 2011 registration information by its corrupt and inept officials.

    ‘’That is why we are calling on Prof. Jega not to withhold the name of the main saboteur in Saturday’s poll, and to also investigate the level to which the Voters’ Register has been compromised, fish out all those involved, find out who their sponsors are and make all of them to face justice,’’ APC said.

    Meanwhile, the party has described as very strange indeed the role of the presidency and the PDP in the debate over the Anambra election.

    ‘’The conventional wisdom is that political parties take their bearing from their candidates on election day. But in the case of the PDP and the Presidency, not only have they abandoned their candidate in the Anambra poll, who himself has derided the election and called for its cancellation, they have also disowned him by going ahead to hail the poll as free and fair.

    ‘’It is now glaring to all that the disgrace that INEC has suffered from the Anambra debacle is because the electoral body is acting out the script written by the Presidency and APGA for the election. The claim by the PDP spokesman that our party is trying to discredit the entire electoral process is as shallow as it is laughable.”

    ‘’Pray, how more can you discredit an election that the organiser itself (INEC) has admitted was sabotaged by its own officials? Is it the APC that revealed the information concerning the role of INEC saboteurs? Did the PDP candidate find his name on the voters’ register used for Saturday’s election? Obviously, things have fallen apart in the contraption called the PDP and the centre can no long hold there,’’ it said.

  • Anambra’s poll and an umpire’s tyranny

    Anambra’s poll and an umpire’s tyranny

    Before the Anambra State governorship poll, the expectation was high. Almost everyone expected that by now, a governor-elect would have emerged. But, instead, the election was declared inconclusive, raising doubts about the capability of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), writes Group Political Editor Emmanuel Oladesu

    How will the Attahiru Jega, Professor of Political Science and Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), justify the credibility of the inconclusive governorship poll in Anambra State, if his students at the Bayero University, Kano, ask him to analyse the process, using the criteria of democracy, due process, legality and legitimacy?

    How credible was the election? Jega, veteran academic unionist, electoral reform curator and civil society leader, was boxed into anxiety and bewilderment last weekend. He owned up to INEC’s failing, acknowledging that his official compromised himself and soiled the reputation of the agency. He handed the culprit to the police for interrogation. But the commission still went ahead to release some results.

    On post 2011, it was not the first time the commission will make grievous mistakes. In Edo State, Governor Adams Oshiomhole cried foul during the last governorship poll. He alleged that Jega, his compatriot in the civil society, had changed gear. He disputed INEC’s integrity in that period of tension. The commission had tactlessly hired a drunkard as the boat driver. On the high sea, the self-inflicted turbulence led to boat mishap. Polling materials were destroyed. In the Ondo State governorship election, minor hitches were also recorded. Controversy also trailed the recent Delta Central senatorial by-election, with many voters alleging fraud.

    The turn of events in Anambra has created panic in the Southwest states of Ekiti and Osun, both due for governorship elections next year. Will the electoral terrorism repeat itself in the Fountain of Knowledge and State of Living Springs? Will INEC dare the electorate by declaring disputed figures, while the spin doctors ask the aggrieved candidates to go to the court?

    Many agree that democracy is under threat in Nigeria. The ballot box is not insulated from peculiar assault. Therefore, popular rule is in jeopardy. The way out is electoral sanity anchored on ‘one man one vote’ in a peaceful atmosphere. These elements were absent in Anambra, which many had perceived as a litmus test for 2015 general elections.

    INEC had enough time to prepare for the poll. Yet, the procedure fell short of expectation. According to observers, the usual vices assailed the process. The list of irregularities is endless: ballot snatching, double thump printing, lateness of materials to polling units and absence of polling officers and materials at the units. There were also cases of police rascality, hostility of polling officers to observers, display of campaign posters and absence of result sheets.

    Curiously, the commission disclosed to political parties that it would “clean up” the voter’s register, ahead of the poll. Jega assured the stakeholders that the agency will abide by the Electoral Act. He also promised that the procedures will be transparent. However, on poll day, the hope of the voters were dashed. Many people were excluded from voting as their names disappeared from the register.

    There was also a curious electoral coup in Idemili North and Ihiala councils. In some units, INEC officials and materials were no where to be found. At 1 pm, voters were restless. Due to the late arrival of voting materials, accreditation was delayed. This also led to the extension of voting. The residual voting was scheduled for Sunday. The Christians shunned the exercise. They went to the church service.

    Unlike previous elections, polling officers developed cold feet when they saw the election observers. Many of them refuse to give information to the monitors. The monitors concluded that the polling officers were not trained. In fact, following the friction between the INEC officers and observers, policemen were deployed to intimidate the accredited observers. They were arrested and detained for few hours.

    Critics have argued that the specific electoral malpractices and fraud in the election were deliberate. Many Anambrans agreed that Idemili North and South councils, which were denied polling materials, is the stronghold of one of the strong contenders. Thus, the voters there believed that it was an attempt to subvert their mandate. In some units, people refused to vote when it was clear that the processes had been breached and INEC could not offer convincing explanations.

    Many indigenes of the state alleged that voting materials meant for specific local governments were diverted by the INEC officials. Insufficient polling officers were reported in some units. Thus, to make up for the lapses, “assistant polling officers” were hurriedly recruited to fill the shortfall without prior training.

    In some local governments, INEC officials did not raise eyebrow when chieftains of the ruling party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were offering money to polling officers, fake observers and voters to woo them.

    The perception of the rightness or wrongness of the decision of the INEC to declare the results of the inconclusive exercise has created credibility and legitimacy crisis. The election has paled into a foul play and the integrity of the umpire is at stake.

    Many have argued that the redress of the electoral injustice in Anambra will restore the hope of Nigerians about electoral sanity. But, if this option is jettisoned, an illegitimate leadership may ride on the flawed election to power. Then, the polity will brace up for the eclipse of popular rule in a component unit of the federation.

  • ‘INEC has failed in Anambra’

    ‘INEC has failed in Anambra’

    Two non–government organisations, the Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) and the Transparency Centre Network (TCN), have urged the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, to apologise for the flaws in last Saturday’s poll.

    The groups also enjoined INEC to prosecute the officials, who colluded to undermine the poll.

    National Coordinator of HURIWA Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, who served as the deputy chief of Mission for TCN, an officially-accredited observer and the National Director, Media Affairs of HURIWA, Miss Zainab Yusuf, said the failure of INEC in Anambra was an unfortunate foretaste of what might happen in 2015 unless and except comprehensive reforms were executed in INEC by the National Assembly.

    “The poll was a disappointment despite the preparations and funds committed to it. The election was marred by criminal shortage of sensitive materials and the inexplicable tampering with the voter register in which case many were denied their rights to civil and political freedoms.”

    The groups enjoined INEC to ensure that the supplementary election is conducted without waste of time.

    “We are sad that INEC has demonstrated that inefficiency and corruption, which were entrenched in INEC before the current leadership, have assumed a wider dimension and if these gaps are not fixed, the 2015 elections could precipitate major national conflagrations if the same administrative flaws seen in Anambra on November 16 are repeated at the national level.”

     

  • PDP’s diversionary statement on poll, by APC

    PDP’s diversionary statement on poll, by APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Anambra yesterday said the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) half-hearted statement on last Saturday’s poll was diversionary.

    APC’s Interim Publicity Secretary Okelo Madukaife said in a statement: “The comments credited to Olisa Metuh, PDP’s national publicity secretary, that APC knocks the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) when it loses is diversionary.

    “In fact, it’s a manifestation of sycophancy to please Metuh’s superiors in the PDP caught in an intricate web of anti-party conduct and undue influence over INEC.

    “The fact that the position of the PDP, as expressed by Metuh, contradicts the one expressed by the PDP candidate, Mr. Tony Nwoye, who has called for the cancellation of the poll, is indicative that the national body may not have fully been behind its candidate.

    “Gladly, Metuh illustrated with Ondo State where his party fielded a candidate, but instead supported the Labour Party candidate, Governor Olusegun Mimiko, through the back door.

    ‘’Without meandering, the principle of PDP support, which short-changes its candidates, is the same for Anambra as it was in Ondo State, and the issue of coming third, fourth, fifth or sixth in a largely discredited poll does not take away the locus standi of a focused party to demand that all voters in Anambra State be allowed to vote in a free and fair election on a clean slate.

    “The needless political point that Metuh and his party – at the national level-wish to score is that only those, who have been awarded an undeserved first and second positions, in an election in which all indices point to failure can speak up on whether people should be allowed to vote or not.

    We disagree!

    “The admission of INEC that its officers have colluded in rigging, the confirmation of observers, local and foreign that the election was a failure and testimonies from the election confirms that the rigging plan, which PDP used to shortchange Ghali Umar Na’Aba in 2003 in favour of an All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) candidate and Ifeanyi Ararume in Imo State in favour of Ohakim, a PPA candidate in Imo State’s 2007 election, may or may not necessarily work for the ‘messed-up’ (in Prof. Attahiru Jega’s words) election in Anambra State.

    “However, while the issue of sincere support by the PDP at the national level to its own candidate in the state remains its internal affair, what is true is that APC stands for the principle of one-man one-vote, which must count, and Anambra indigenes, who are qualified to vote, must be allowed to vote in a clean election.

    “Hence, it remains unacceptable to accommodate a widespread manipulation, using INEC officials, security agents, real and fake, who used every possible vice to blur the future of Anambra youths.

    “It becomes laughable when Metuh opens a new vista to the rigging plan of PDP when it chose to use security agents to arrest election observers in a neighbouring state, only to label them ‘APC thugs’. Yet, no charge is being pressed on the wonderful ‘tag-wearing thugs’, with large number of highly-educated women in their ranks.

    “By toeing this path, Metuh is the one trying to becloud a serious issue of illegitimacy of government to be thrown up in the 2004 to 2018 governorship tenure to naked propaganda, without content.

    “Were it not so, Metuh should have dealt with the INEC-assisted rigging in an Obosi hotel where policemen and soldiers declined to make an arrest; withdrawal of result sheets by INEC officials, which they had ‘mistakenly’ supplied; allowing results to be recorded on rough sheets or cardboard papers; use of fake policemen and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members; arrival of materials in predetermined councils at 2pm incomplete; orchestrated strike by NYSC presiding officers; placement of materials unmanned, among others.”

     

    “We note that silence is better than the statement so far credited to PDP and Metuh even in the interest of his party.

    “Once again, we restate our resolve to rescue their rights to choose their leader and run their state without being controlled.

    “APC urges the indigenes to disregard the mud-slinging from Metuh’s PDP and attend to the report of the manipulation in the 21 councils.”

     

  • Is INEC prepared for 2015?

    Is INEC prepared for 2015?

    The flawed Anambra State governorship election has created doubts in the minds of Nigerians about the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC’s) preparations for the 2015 general elections. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN reports.

    In less than two years, the next general elections will hold. But, judging by the flawed governorship election in Anambra State, it is doubtful if the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is prepared to conduct a credible election in the nearest future.

    Unlike in 2011, when Nigerians heaved a sigh of relief, the confidence of Nigerians in the umpire is waning because it has failed to live up to expectation. Five days after, the governorship poll in Anambra is still inconclusive. Many critics have called for its cancellation, citing irregularities.

    Many have argued that the INEC has not learned from its mistakes in Edo State. The governorship election there was marred by logistic failings. Many polling stations did not receive voting materials on time. In some areas, voters complained about fake voters register, with many names without pictures. The accreditation of voters, which was supposed to end by 12pm, did not start in many areas until 11am. Apart from many eligible voters, who could not find their names on the register, many were disenfranchised because they were not accredited before the close of the accreditation.

    Irked by the appalling situation, Governor Adam Oshiomhole chided the commission for the hitches. “Prof Jega and INEC have been an embarrassment to the nation. I am in shock with all the arrangements. INEC is the weakest link in the Nigeria’s democratic chain. I have no faith in what INEC is doing in Benin City”, he said.

    Apart from the Edo experience, inadequacies were also recorded in Ondo poll. There were cases of late arrival of polling officers and materials in some areas, especially, in the riverine areas. There were also reports of illegal insertion of names into voters register. It was discovered that the voters register was inflated with over 150, 000 illegal names. In the months preceding the election, opposition parties alleged a plot by some powerful politicians to inject fictitious names into the register. But INEC insisted that such a development was impossible.

    The commission has come under attacks. There have been allegations by the opposition that some INEC officials are planning to collude with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to manipulate the forthcoming election. While the opposition political parties have called for the cancellation of the Anambra poll, the PDP said that the election was peaceful. The security arrangements for the election were also suspect. Policemen pretended as if nothing was happening when some politicians were openly wooing voters at the polling units with money. In the last senatorial election in Delta-Central, it was alleged that the ruling party employed security agents to intimidate other parties’ agents.

    The inconclusive Anambra election has been described as one of the worst ever conducted in this country. The outcome of the election reflects INEC’s poor preparation. A lawyer, Professor Itse Sagay (SAN), described the election as a total catastrophe, adding that it was a disgrace to the nation.

    “Everything was in shambles. This is not the type of election that Nigerians should be witnessing at our level. It has diminished us as nation,” Sagay lamented.

    He added: “Jega should respect himself by announcing total cancellation of the fatally flawed election and announce a new date for a fresh election. He should stop talking of supplementary election. No amount of supplementary election would make it credible. The fact is that INEC has failed the nation by bungling the Anambra election. INEC should own up and redeem its image by cancelling the election and fixing a new date for a fresh election. Jega should be honest to himself and admit that what happened on Saturday in Anambra was not an election, but a charade”.

    A critic, Bernard Briggs, said what happened in Anambra is a tip of what Nigerians should expect in 2015. According to him, the PDP has used the election to test its winning strategies in the forthcoming general elections. “People should know that the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) is a branch of the PDP. Bamanga Tukur said two weeks ago that the PDP was not interested in winning Anambra gubernatorial election,” he said.

    The President of the Civil Rights Congress, Mallam Shehu Sani, said: “The quality of our leadership is a derivative of the quality control of our elections. If Anambra fails, it will prove the pessimists of 2015 right and will give credence to the apocalyptic predictions of doomsters. A credible election must reflect the will of the people. As long as we continue to find it difficult to count votes honestly, we will continue to count crisis endlessly.”

    Sani advised Jega “to tidy up the mess in Anambra and restore our confidence that has been eroded by the seemingly incurable virus of electoral fraud.”

    The President of the Nigeria Voters Assembly, Mr Mossod Erubami, urged INEC to rectify the noticeable irregularities, manipulations and human errors in the electoral process to the satisfaction of interest groups in the election.

    Erubami said: “It is the only way by which the election can be considered fair, credible and the winner could claim legitimately to have won the popular votes of eligible voters”.

     

  • Taxpayers’ body seeks fair poll in 2015

    Taxpayers’ body seeks fair poll in 2015

    A group, the Tax Payers Association of Nigeria (TAPAN), yesterday urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that the 2015 presidential poll is free and fair.

    TAPAN, which spoke in Abuja, decried the irregularities at Saturday’s poll.

    The group’s President, Mr. Phillip Ilokhulo, in a statement, also enjoined INEC to ensure proper handling of the review of voter register to prevent cases of missing names.

    It hailed the INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, for actions taken against those allegedly involved in malpractices and advised parties to educate their members and supporters on electoral matters.

    The association, which decried calls by some parties for the cancellation of the exercise, urged the aggrieved to participate in the supplementary elections.

    “We don’t think cancelling the exercise will be sensible because tax payers foot the bill. People have a right to be aggrieved, but since areas with problems have been listed for supplementary elections, they should participate. But if they are still aggrieved, they should seek legal redress.

     

     

  • Understanding the Anambra election fiasco

    Understanding the Anambra election fiasco

    WHEN voters in Anambra State were called out on November 16 to cast ballots in deciding who should run the affairs of the state in executive capacity from March next year to 2018, expectations were high that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other agencies, bodies and officials involved had perfected the plans to advance the cause of democracy. It was the hope of all that Nigeria would be handed a rare gift that would make them glad. It was expected that, given the ostensible elaborate preparations for the elections, the results would be declared within 72 hours. Ninety-two hours after the poll, the commission is not in position to declare the full and final result. It remains debatable whether what was released by the returning officer, Prof James Epoke, was acceptable and within the contemplation of the extant electoral laws.

    Epoke had declared that results collated from most of the wards in the state showed the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) leading the pack, followed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP’s) candidate in the second position and the All Progressives Congress (APC) flag bearer in the third. He, however, held that the election could not be called as the results from about 208 polling units had been cancelled. He said until the figures from the units are collated, since collectively they are capable of returning more than 113,000 votes, a decision could not be taken on the winner.

    The electoral commission has rejected the call by candidates of the APC, PDP and Labour Party for an outright cancellation of the election, which they have dubbed a sham and the conduct of a fresh poll that would meet international standard. They said discrepancies, irregularities and malpractices were not restricted to the 208 polling units, 160 of which are in Idemili North alone. At the heart of the fraudulent poll was the electoral register. Could something be built on nothing? If the electoral roll has been shown to be invalid as some voters could not find their names on it, then how could the election be deemed valid? The PDP candidate, Mr. Tony Nwoye, who claimed that he and his father had seen their names on the register earlier dispatched to the parties, was unable to vote on Election Day? How could such injustice be remedied?

    The turn-out in a politically sophisticated state, such as Anambra, where there had been a vigorous campaign, was particularly poor. Only about 25 per cent of the registered voters came forth to perform their civic duty. Yet, the electoral commission claimed that the roll shrunk to 1.78 million men and women after it had been cleaned up. The logical conclusion, if the INEC claim is to be accepted, is that majority of those who wanted to vote had been prevented by the shoddy preparations.

    The reasonable and logical thing to do is cancel the election, restore power to the disenfranchised voters by ensuring that all eligible and willing voters are able to cast their ballots and bring credibility to the electoral process. It has been argued that the electoral laws empower the electoral commission to postpone elections in whole or in part. The commission, in coming up with this position, cites section 26 of the Electoral Act 2010. The relevant portion of the section reads:

    26. – (1) Where a date has been appointed for the holding of an election, and there is reason to believe that a serious breach of the peace is likely to occur if the Election is proceeded with on that date or it is impossible to conduct the Elections as a result of natural disasters or other emergencies, the Commission may postpone the election and shall in respect of the area, or areas concerned, appoint another date for the holding of the postponed election, provided that such reason for the postponement is cogent and verifiable.”

    The section, while allowing INEC, in exercise of its power to conduct election, to postpone where necessary, it also lays out or suggests conditions that would make that necessary. It is thus to be inferred that only when these conditions are met are the reasons deemed “cogent and verifiable.” The Act envisages that elections could be thus postponed when there is a likely breach of the peace, a natural disaster had occurred or there were some other such emergencies. In the Anambra case, the situation is quite different. The law did not envisage incompetence on the part of the commission as a reason to reschedule polling in parts of a state.

    Section 178 (4) of the constitution declares that, for the purpose of the governorship election, the entire state shall be regarded as one constituency. The question to ask is, at what point is a declaration of results of an election deemed to have been made if the state is one constituency? Is the governorship election one poll? If so, are the bits and pieces announced at the polling units, wards, and local government areas regarded as sacrosanct before the final declaration of the winner by the returning officer?

    For as long as the final result has not been collated and announced, INEC still has the power to administratively review the figures coming in, and where it has cause to believe that the cause of justice would be better advanced by a wholesale cancellation, it could go ahead.

    Such was the case in the false start of the general elections in April 2011. The National Assembly election had commenced in parts of the country and some polling units had made their declarations, yet, INEC went ahead to cancel the polls nationwide. Why were the results from the polling units that had been announced not sustained?

    Supplementary elections are unknown to the law as it stands today. And, more importantly, the spirit of the constitution could not have supported the validation of an election conducted on the basis on a flawed electoral register.

  • Mistakes INEC must avoid in future poll

    Mistakes INEC must avoid in future poll

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is under fire. Its Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, is on the weighing scale. Unlike 2011, when Nigerians heaved a sigh of relief from severely flawed elections, the nation is in a nightmare. As the people of Anambra State agonise over the bungled governorship elections, fears about 2015 polls have become heightened.

    The next general elections is a litmus test for the umpire. Two years ago, it had shown an improved capacity for restoring public confidence in the electoral process, judging by its performance in the 2011 general elections. But now, it has failed woefully in Anambra State to manage the achievement and sustain the tempo.

    INEC has a historic duty to live up to expectation, as it prepares for the governorship polls in the two states in the ‘wild wild Southwest’ – Ekiti and Osun – next year. The governorship elections are now somehow scattered, owing to the mistake of the 2007 by the INEC under Prof. Maurice Iwu. In Edo, Ondo, Ekiti and Osun states, where the Appeal Court restored the stolen mandates to the deprived winners, the people have to contend with new electoral timetable.

    To conduct a credible and transparent exercise in Ekiti and Osun, the commission must avoid the ‘Anambra pitfalls”. It must tighten the loose ends and correct the mistakes that have boxed it into the crisis of integrity. In 2011, the electoral agency was about to wreck a monumental havoc on democracy before Jega that had to cancel the first leg of the general elections. Critics have argued that, If the polls were not abruptly stopped and postponed, it would have resulted into an avoidable electoral calamity.

    Shortly after the last general elections, activist-cleric and politician Pastor Tunde Bakare distinguished between free and fair elections. He said an election can be free, and yet be fraudulent. He said, while election, as experience has shown in this dispensation, has been free at the level of voting and counting at the polling booths, it can be fraudulent at the level of collation of results.

    In Anambra, the collation was flawed. In some polling units, there were no result sheets.

    INEC also failed the elementary test of credibility when its officials reported late for the assignment in many local governments. Where the officials reported for the exercise, they did not show up with the non-negotiable polling materials. Voters were disillusioned. Many returned home in protest. Although the poll was postponed till the next day in some units, voters did not show up because it was on a Sunday. The most critical material is the voter’s register. The names of many voters were omitted from the register. The implication was that many were disfranchised. In Ondo State, when voters complained that their names were omitted from the register, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Akin Orebiyi, quickly rose to the occasion by providing the comprehensive data and the voters exercised their voting rights.

    In 2015, INEC will face more challenges. The elections will raise some questions about the environmental dimension of the exercise. There are trouble spots in the North, where people fret under the menace of the Boko Haram. If INEC cannot conduct a free poll in an atmosphere of relative peace, how will it cope in the tensed areas? Also, since the general elections would be holding in the creeks of Cross River, Rivers, Edo and Bayelsa, there is the need to rise to the challenge of movement of men and materials on waterways. During the last governorship election in Edo, INEC was said to have hired a drunkard to navigate a boat full of polling materials. The end was catastrophic.

    Voters usually raise objections to the late accreditation and voting in many states. The late arrival of polling officers and electoral materials is worrisome. Many voters returned home without voting because their names were not found in the voters’ register. Uncouth electoral officers have always been giving INEC a bad name. A dispirited INEC chairman had to even hand over a polling officer to the police for interrogation in Anambra.

    Elections have become a burden in Nigeria. Rather than being perceived as an opportunity for political choice and change, election periods are usually dark moments when the polity is submerged in a tremor of wild politicking, do-or-die contest, thuggery and violence, which often make the critical contest a sort of war. Governorship election, more or less, is a higher local election posing greater challenges to the electoral commission than the presidential and National Assembly elections. Incidentally, the fear of democratic election at the state level has contributed to the fragility democracy in the country.

    The commission owes it a duty to halt the pollution of the ballot box. One man one vote is not guaranteed when many people are excluded from voting due to INEC’s mistake. The practice of voter register display and verification, ahead of the election, tends to be fading. The penchant for doctoring the results by the combined forces of unscrupulous politicians, unpatriotic security agents and electoral commissioners aptly captures the illusion of democracy. In subsequent elections, these should be nipped in the bud by the electoral agency.

    INEC should also be ready to invoke the various provisions in the constitution against electoral malpractices. Electoral officers who act in concert with politicians and the police to commit atrocities against the ballot box should be prosecute The expectation that the ruling party must always have the upper hand at every democratic contest could spell doom. When it is evident that the ruling party is no more popular, INEC should not assist it to unnecessarily prolong its stay without legitimacy.

    Electoral violence has also become a feature of periodic polls. Thugs and cultists, who are armed with sophisticated weapons beyond the reach of the police, are often recruited by desperate politicians to create panic, molest voters, scare away electorate, invade the polling booths, snatch ballot boxes, inflict pain, maim and kill, in the interest of the highest bidder, and in expectation of a fat reward for unleashing terror. INEC and security agents should not sleep – to avoid the floodgate of litigations that trailed the 2007 electoral foul play.

    Ordinarily, a credible election is a panacea for violence. In earlier dispensations, rigging provoked popular revolt. In the Western Region, malpractices was perceived as a colossal rebellion against the people. It led to the burning of houses and mass killings in the First Republic. The scenario was repeated in the Southwest States of Oyo and Ondo States In the Second Republic.

    Domestic monitors and international observers have described the 2007 elections as a national tragedy. The presidential threat of do-and-die was carried out and the INEC gave its nod. These vices may still resurface, if the exercise is characterised by the late arrival of electoral officers and polling materials, shortage of ballot boxes and papers, ballot stuffing by thugs, violence, falsification of results, bribery and corruption.

    In Anambra, election observers were arrested and briefly detained. There should be a better way of accrediting and identifying the monitors next time, instead of subjecting them to ridicule while on a national assignment.

    After the 2007 polls, the rot stared the country in the face. Petitions flooded the election tribunals and courts. Many of the stolen mandates were retrieved back at the courts at greater costs to the opposition parties. The courts decried the electoral horror and terrorism. The poll created a hollow in the record of former President Olusegun Obasanjo as a citizen of the world. It was the nation that suffered the debilitating effects. The country’s image was dented. The Anambra scenario has rekindled the memory of the electoral horror.

     

  • Anambra: Story of a bungled poll

    SIR: The recently conducted governorship poll in Anambra State could be likened to the story of a city blessed with an amazing beauty and fragrance but spiritually sick therefore making its descendants to be unsuccessful in their chosen career. As an observer in that election, my take is that the election could not be said to have passed the democratic test although relatively free. It was peaceful but not fair.

    It is imperative to state here that the people of Anambra state conducted themselves in a peaceful and an orderly manner during the election. Brigandage was jettisoned for serenity. No violence. Very peaceful. No uproar. Political thugs were sent into oblivon. Thuggery was caged. Gangsterism was rejected. Anambra people disgraced desperate politicians by not allowing them to have their usual way.

    Let me state unequivocally that the modus oparandi adopted by the electoral umpirewas a ruse. Voting materials were short in the areas where the candidates of the opposition parties – the ll Progressives Congress (APC) , Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were rooted and strong. Only the areas where the candidate of the ruling All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) was popular were adequately equipped and serviced with electoral materials.

    What a well concocted planned game! I make bold to aver that the election was scientifically and carefully rigged. The people of Anambra were the winners of the election while INEC officials were the villains. In Idemili North and South local government areas, less than 20% of voting materials were brought to the polling units. Many electoral officials absconded for reasons well known to them. The Professor Attahiru Jega- led INEC was a disappointment. While the people were ready for change and success, INEC remorsefully demonstrated failure.

    It is clear that worse days are ahead for Nigeria. I say without being hypocritical that democracy is in danger in Nigeria. Anambra people were ready for a free and fair election but INEC fumbled. The candidate of PDP, Comrade Tony Nwoye could not vote. His 75 years old father too could not vote. His Uncle, Chukwudi also could not vote. Their names surprisingly disappeared from the voters register.

     

    • Maxwell Adeyemi Adeleye,

    Magodo, Lagos.

     

  • CSOs to Jega: Remove corrupt officials before 2015

    CSOs to Jega: Remove corrupt officials before 2015

    Some Civil Society groups in Kaduna have advised the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, to remove corrupt electoral officers at all level before the 2015 general elections.

    They said this would ensure the credibility of the elections and help to restore the confidence of Nigerians in the process.

    The groups in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday noted that the role played by some INEC officials in the inconclusive governorship election in Anambra State should not be allowed to continue.

    The Head, Policy and Coordination of Adopt A Goal for Development Initiative, Mr. Dare Atoye, said such officials would compromise whatever good plans were made by the commission, if not checked now.

    “There is nothing INEC can do to guarantee credible elections in an atmosphere of serious compromise.

    “Election conduct is a collective responsibility of all political stakeholders; we must support INEC.

    “Yes, you can’t rule out bad eggs that could be compromised like Jega observed, but no one should doubt the good intention of INEC,” Atoye told NAN.

    Also, the President of the Civil Rights Congress, Shehu Sani, advised Jega to “tidy up the mess” generated by the election in Anambra.

    “I advise Prof. Jega to tidy up the mess in Anambra and restore our hope that is now quickly eaten up by the seemingly incurable virus of ritual of election fraud.”

    According to him, only credible elections will bring about a genuine, free and democratic state, and a leadership that will help the nation to progress.