The Nation Newspaper

Tag: PVCs

  • Can there be credible elections without PVCs?

    Can there be credible elections without PVCs?

    In this piece, Adeyinka Jeje, Election Manager and Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission, contends that the disenfranchised of eligible voters, through the shoddy distribution of Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)  is dangerous for democracy.

    I have followed with interest the on-going National discourse on INEC; the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards; and the Continuous Voter Registration.  I have restrained myself from making comment by virtue of my office, but l am finding it difficult to defend my position of silence in the face of what appeared as deliberate effort by INEC to frustrate the 2015 General Elections.

    My change of position is also due to the fact that I am an Election Manager in Lagos State and constitutionally,  whatever is the final product of the voters register by the INEC will also affect the performance on my job, hence, I am constitutionally permitted to shout loud and clear where Any short-coming in the process. Moreover, l am a Nigerian and privileged to have full understanding of the electoral terrain, hence l owe the nation, posterity and myself the duty to analyse the situation as an insider and let Nigerians know and understand the unfolding scenario.

     

    Issues

    It is essential to articulate the issues under these major headlines; (i) Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), and (ii) The Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) exercise.

     

    Permanent voter cards

    It would be recalled that the Temporary Voter Cards (TVCs) were issued by INEC on registration for the 2011 General Elections. INEC informed all of us that those with double registration had their names deleted as at 2011 and even threatened then to prosecute those affected by double registration. The Permanent Voter Cards being distributed now, had the 2011 Voters Register as its data base. Of course, this was four years ago!  INEC equally informed us in 2011 that it was in the process of issuing the Permanent Voter Cards. In essence it took INEC four years to produce the Permanent Voter Cards purportedly to be used for the 2015 General Elections. One would have expected a perfect and seamless job, not the haphazard issuance, missing of individual names and entire registration units all over the country.

    First, let us examine the issue of double registration. While INEC has the right to perfect its Voter Register, l have checked the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Electoral Act, l did not see anywhere INEC is empowered to disenfranchise anybody for double registration. Me think the most logical thing to do is to delete double but still maintain the voter in the register. INEC could decide to prosecute anyone for double registration but for God’s sake, it has no right to disenfranchise anybody.

    Secondly, INEC came with some double talks on why voters in some states decreased while obviously these states are states with exploding population. Is INEC saying after the 2011 General Elections it did another editing of the register or it employed another computer application that assisted in weeding out names with double entry?  I know this was not the case, hence something mischievous or hidden from the public and the Election Managers in the 36 State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs), who will equally use the same register for their Local Government elections are not being along carried on by INEC. This leads simply to suspicion as election is a process and the compilation of the Voters Register is a very important aspect of that process.

    Thirdly, is the distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards for three days and relegation of subsequent collection to INEC Local Council Offices, is a reckless management of the distribution without adequate consideration for the environment. All of us who witnessed the distribution were sure that not up to 30 percent collected the PVCs.  I was therefore ,shocked when INEC claimed that over 60 percent of registered voters had collected the PVCs and that any registered voter without the PVC will not be allowed to vote in the 2015 General Elections. This seemingly simple unconstitutional decision by INEC is a recipe for disaster in the forthcoming election.

    The voters register is biometric in the sense that it has the picture, details and finger-prints of each voter. It is easy to relate the photograph in the register to the face of the voter and one could ask some simple security questions like age, date of birth, etc, to ascertain doubtful voters. To out-rightly ban those who could not locate/collect their PVC is nothing but arbitrary use of power.

    If this situation is not corrected by calling INEC to order, the ground or foundation is being laid for altercations at each of virtually all the polling units across the country. On the day of election, it is easy for altercation to get heated and if not well managed, could lead to squabble which may ultimately lead to chaos, riots and breakdown of law and order. I foresee this happening simultaneously all over the country and this will simply lead to cancellation of elections in those areas where peace appears to have been disturbed.

    I have read voraciously about electoral processes and luckily l was in Washington DC, USA with Prof Jega and his team during the 2011 presidential elections. One constant in stable electoral environments all over the world is confidence in the system. No voter ever expect to be disenfranchised and voters in those climes know that anyone who commits an Electoral offence shall be liable. The simple question l want to ask is: Hhs INEC distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards generated confidence in the Nigeria Electoral System towards the 2015 elections?”

     

    Continuous voters

    registration exercise

    After the 2011 elections, Prof Jega announced that INEC would start the Continuous Voters Registration immediately all over the Federation.  I find the whole gamut of Continuous Voters Registration as a huge joke on Nigerians. Why five days if it is Continuous Voter registrations, is it not contradictory?  We all can remember the problem of the data Capturing Machines when used in 2011 and we begin to wonder what magic INEC wanted to perform within 5 days of what they called Continuous Voters Registration exercise. Of course, this is not the age of miracles, the exercise has failed woefully.

    The INEC has a monopoly on the compilation of Voters Register, but the Constitution also empowers SIECs to advise INEC on the subjects as long as the same Register would be used for Local Councils’ elections. This implies SIECs are Stakeholders, but INEC in its electoral arrogance did not consider it necessary to carry the SIECs along and to worsen the matter has refused to acknowledge inputs from SIECs. INEC is on a solitary journey in the Nigeria electoral terrain whereas it is expected to carry all the stakeholders along. It is more painful because this is one of our areas of core competence where we are, expected to exhibit pure professionalism, which I must confess is lacking in INEC’s management of the exercise.

     

    Inferences

    It is quite clear from the analysis that if INEC is not called to order, it would embark on unconstitutional disenfranchisement of   eligible voters. INEC has no right to delete any name from the Voters Register but can only prosecute those involved in double registration.

    What happens to the names of individuals missing in the Register or to names of people in an entire Registration Unit missing? Many people re-registered but still no Permanent Voter Card. Yet many of these people have the temporary Voter Card but according to INEC, cannot vote.

    What will happen on Election Day.  Are we using the Card Reader? What value is the Card reader going to add to the election? Is the card reader going to replace the Poll Clerk? In fact it is still a mystery to me at our level of electoral development what the card reader is meant to achieve.

    Anyway you must have a Permanent Voter Card before the Card Reader can be used. What if the Card Reader is faulty?

    The INEC should drop the idea of disenfranchising eligible voters for lack of Permanent Voter Card. The blame for non- possession of Permanent Voter Card should be placed at the doorstep of  the INEC. I do not want to subscribe to the allegation that INEC is playing out a script.

    More worrisome is the implication of the aforementioned on the voter turn –out. Any Electoral Management Body (EMB) that refuses to take into cognizance the confidence of the voter in the electoral system and level of participation in the democratic process is invariably plunging the nation into legitimacy crisis. If democracy is the government of the majority, a situation where less than half the voter population elect the representatives could not be said to be democratic in actual terms. Prof. Attahiru Jega should revisit the way INEC is embarking on this journey of 2015 elections.

    Nigeria has a lot to learn from Brazil that incidentally shares some attributes with Nigeria, equally a federal state, highly populated and multi-cultural in nature. Just last year October, 2014 the Voter Turn –out in the presidential election of that Country was 78.9 per cent where  Presidential, Gubernatorial and National Assembly Elections were held same day. Perhaps we need to also note the 2013 parliamentary elections in Australia with 93.23 per cent Voter Turn-out. Nigeria could achieve same feat if the political will and the conducive atmosphere is in place. However the present disposition of INEC and the body language appears to be indifferent to high turn-out of Voters during the coming election.

    The INEC not to allow itself to be an instrument in subverting itself in the process of free, fair and credible election. It should allow without any controversy the use of Temporary Voter Cards during the 2015 election or else it might open itself to litany of litigations which I hope may not add to frustrating credible 2015 general elections in Nigeria.

  • Can there be credible elections without PVCs?

    Can there be credible elections without PVCs?

    In this piece, Adeyinka Jeje, Election Manager and Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission, contends that the disenfranchised of eligible voters, through the shoddy distribution of Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)  is dangerous for democracy.

    I have followed with interest the on-going National discourse on INEC; the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards; and the Continuous Voter Registration.  I have restrained myself from making comment by virtue of my office, but l am finding it difficult to defend my position of silence in the face of what appeared as deliberate effort by INEC to frustrate the 2015 General Elections.

    My change of position is also due to the fact that I am an Election Manager in Lagos State and constitutionally,  whatever is the final product of the voters register by the INEC will also affect the performance on my job, hence, I am constitutionally permitted to shout loud and clear where Any short-coming in the process. Moreover, l am a Nigerian and privileged to have full understanding of the electoral terrain, hence l owe the nation, posterity and myself the duty to analyse the situation as an insider and let Nigerians know and understand the unfolding scenario.

     

    Issues

    It is essential to articulate the issues under these major headlines; (i) Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), and (ii) The Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) exercise.

     

    Permanent voter cards

    It would be recalled that the Temporary Voter Cards (TVCs) were issued by INEC on registration for the 2011 General Elections. INEC informed all of us that those with double registration had their names deleted as at 2011 and even threatened then to prosecute those affected by double registration. The Permanent Voter Cards being distributed now, had the 2011 Voters Register as its data base. Of course, this was four years ago!  INEC equally informed us in 2011 that it was in the process of issuing the Permanent Voter Cards. In essence it took INEC four years to produce the Permanent Voter Cards purportedly to be used for the 2015 General Elections. One would have expected a perfect and seamless job, not the haphazard issuance, missing of individual names and entire registration units all over the country.

    First, let us examine the issue of double registration. While INEC has the right to perfect its Voter Register, l have checked the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Electoral Act, l did not see anywhere INEC is empowered to disenfranchise anybody for double registration. Me think the most logical thing to do is to delete double but still maintain the voter in the register. INEC could decide to prosecute anyone for double registration but for God’s sake, it has no right to disenfranchise anybody.

    Secondly, INEC came with some double talks on why voters in some states decreased while obviously these states are states with exploding population. Is INEC saying after the 2011 General Elections it did another editing of the register or it employed another computer application that assisted in weeding out names with double entry?  I know this was not the case, hence something mischievous or hidden from the public and the Election Managers in the 36 State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs), who will equally use the same register for their Local Government elections are not being along carried on by INEC. This leads simply to suspicion as election is a process and the compilation of the Voters Register is a very important aspect of that process.

    Thirdly, is the distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards for three days and relegation of subsequent collection to INEC Local Council Offices, is a reckless management of the distribution without adequate consideration for the environment. All of us who witnessed the distribution were sure that not up to 30 percent collected the PVCs.  I was therefore ,shocked when INEC claimed that over 60 percent of registered voters had collected the PVCs and that any registered voter without the PVC will not be allowed to vote in the 2015 General Elections. This seemingly simple unconstitutional decision by INEC is a recipe for disaster in the forthcoming election.

    The voters register is biometric in the sense that it has the picture, details and finger-prints of each voter. It is easy to relate the photograph in the register to the face of the voter and one could ask some simple security questions like age, date of birth, etc, to ascertain doubtful voters. To out-rightly ban those who could not locate/collect their PVC is nothing but arbitrary use of power.

    If this situation is not corrected by calling INEC to order, the ground or foundation is being laid for altercations at each of virtually all the polling units across the country. On the day of election, it is easy for altercation to get heated and if not well managed, could lead to squabble which may ultimately lead to chaos, riots and breakdown of law and order. I foresee this happening simultaneously all over the country and this will simply lead to cancellation of elections in those areas where peace appears to have been disturbed.

    I have read voraciously about electoral processes and luckily l was in Washington DC, USA with Prof Jega and his team during the 2011 presidential elections. One constant in stable electoral environments all over the world is confidence in the system. No voter ever expect to be disenfranchised and voters in those climes know that anyone who commits an Electoral offence shall be liable. The simple question l want to ask is: Hhs INEC distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards generated confidence in the Nigeria Electoral System towards the 2015 elections?”

     

    Continuous voters

    registration exercise

    After the 2011 elections, Prof Jega announced that INEC would start the Continuous Voters Registration immediately all over the Federation.  I find the whole gamut of Continuous Voters Registration as a huge joke on Nigerians. Why five days if it is Continuous Voter registrations, is it not contradictory?  We all can remember the problem of the data Capturing Machines when used in 2011 and we begin to wonder what magic INEC wanted to perform within 5 days of what they called Continuous Voters Registration exercise. Of course, this is not the age of miracles, the exercise has failed woefully.

    The INEC has a monopoly on the compilation of Voters Register, but the Constitution also empowers SIECs to advise INEC on the subjects as long as the same Register would be used for Local Councils’ elections. This implies SIECs are Stakeholders, but INEC in its electoral arrogance did not consider it necessary to carry the SIECs along and to worsen the matter has refused to acknowledge inputs from SIECs. INEC is on a solitary journey in the Nigeria electoral terrain whereas it is expected to carry all the stakeholders along. It is more painful because this is one of our areas of core competence where we are, expected to exhibit pure professionalism, which I must confess is lacking in INEC’s management of the exercise.

     

    Inferences

    It is quite clear from the analysis that if INEC is not called to order, it would embark on unconstitutional disenfranchisement of   eligible voters. INEC has no right to delete any name from the Voters Register but can only prosecute those involved in double registration.

    What happens to the names of individuals missing in the Register or to names of people in an entire Registration Unit missing? Many people re-registered but still no Permanent Voter Card. Yet many of these people have the temporary Voter Card but according to INEC, cannot vote.

    What will happen on Election Day.  Are we using the Card Reader? What value is the Card reader going to add to the election? Is the card reader going to replace the Poll Clerk? In fact it is still a mystery to me at our level of electoral development what the card reader is meant to achieve.

    Anyway you must have a Permanent Voter Card before the Card Reader can be used. What if the Card Reader is faulty?

    The INEC should drop the idea of disenfranchising eligible voters for lack of Permanent Voter Card. The blame for non- possession of Permanent Voter Card should be placed at the doorstep of  the INEC. I do not want to subscribe to the allegation that INEC is playing out a script.

    More worrisome is the implication of the aforementioned on the voter turn –out. Any Electoral Management Body (EMB) that refuses to take into cognizance the confidence of the voter in the electoral system and level of participation in the democratic process is invariably plunging the nation into legitimacy crisis. If democracy is the government of the majority, a situation where less than half the voter population elect the representatives could not be said to be democratic in actual terms. Prof. Attahiru Jega should revisit the way INEC is embarking on this journey of 2015 elections.

    Nigeria has a lot to learn from Brazil that incidentally shares some attributes with Nigeria, equally a federal state, highly populated and multi-cultural in nature. Just last year October, 2014 the Voter Turn –out in the presidential election of that Country was 78.9 per cent where  Presidential, Gubernatorial and National Assembly Elections were held same day. Perhaps we need to also note the 2013 parliamentary elections in Australia with 93.23 per cent Voter Turn-out. Nigeria could achieve same feat if the political will and the conducive atmosphere is in place. However the present disposition of INEC and the body language appears to be indifferent to high turn-out of Voters during the coming election.

    The INEC not to allow itself to be an instrument in subverting itself in the process of free, fair and credible election. It should allow without any controversy the use of Temporary Voter Cards during the 2015 election or else it might open itself to litany of litigations which I hope may not add to frustrating credible 2015 general elections in Nigeria.

  • Jonathan to INEC: Issue PVCs to all eligible Nigerians

    Jonathan to INEC: Issue PVCs to all eligible Nigerians

    President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday directed the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, to ensure all registered eligible Nigerians get their Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) before the next month’s general election.

    He gave the order while swearing in the new INEC Commissioner representing Oyo State, Prof. Akinola Murtala Salawu, at the Presidetial Villa, Abuja.

    Jonathan said that it is unacceptable for any eligible Nigerian not to vote in next month’s election because of inability to get their PVCs.

    He said: “I believe Prof. Jega will even want to double the number of staff if he has the resources to make sure that they can cope. Nigerians are getting worried if INEC can actually conduct the elections.

    “Talking about the PVCs, even some governors are complaining that they are yet to get their PVCs. If governors are yet to get their voters cards of course that means that so many Nigerians are yet to get and people are a bit worried.”

    “So the chairman of INEC luckily you are here, all Nigerians must get voters cards, we cannot conduct an election where some people will not have the rights to vote.”

    “People must decide who rules them at all levels not just about presidential elections, at the lowest level of elections conducted by INEC, the state assembly elections, House of Representatives, Senate and Presidency. All Nigerians must vote and INEC must do everything possible to make sure that all Nigerians have their voters’ card because we cannot have a situation where some Nigerians will not vote that day. So Prof. Salau and Prof. Jega I wish you success.”

    But Jonathan noted that the improvement in the electoral system under his tenure gave room for the complaints from various quarters.

     

  • Nigeriens caught with PVCs in Jigawa

    Nigeriens caught with PVCs in Jigawa

    The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has seized temporary and permanent Nigerian voter cards from Nigeriens staying illegally in Jigawa State.

    The Nigeriens are said to have entered the country illegally.

    Seven such Nigeriens and a Malian were paraded yesterday in Dutse, the state capital by the Comptroller of the NIS in Jigawa State, Mr. Isa Jere.

    He said the service arrested and repatriated 430 illegal immigrants in Jigawa between January and November this year.

    Jere said 90 percent of the arrested immigraants were from Niger Republic while others were from Cameroun, Chad and Mali.

    According to him, the service has intensified its mop-up operation to get rid of illegal immigrants in the state before the commencement of the 2015 general elections.

    “We are committed to repatriating illegal immigrants in our midst because they don’t have right or have any business to participate in our elections” he said.

    The comptroller also said that the state’s command had seized 20 voters’ cards from Nigerien immigrants.

    He said that 11 out of the 20 were permanent voters’ cards while the remaining were temporary ones.

    The NIS chief said that his officers and men were vigilant to prevent foreigners from participating in the forthcoming general elections.

  • 2015: APC and the battle to come

    2015: APC and the battle to come

    APC must insist on the use of electronic card reader as PVCs currently being hoarded are destined to be cloned by the PDP

    “The flow of handing over a mini bag of rice with cash to every voter on the queue in turn had been smooth until it got to the victim of the brutality; a staunch APC faithful I presume, well known to the distributor. I think the distributor had offered him his own with a wink of tease he did not find amusing. ‘Get out of my sight or…” the APC man was still saying when a hard slap from the civil defense man, from behind, cut him short of further words. This instantly ignited in me a pity for the miserable life these Ekiti people have just been deceived into, endorsing with these PDP’s callous bait for a deeper wretched living in their land”.  – From the diary of  a self-confessed  member of the  militarisation team  that locked down  Ekiti from 19th- 21st, June 2014.

    In a 4-part article titled “PERISCOPING APC’s IDEAL PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE” on these pages, I recently showcased why, in the interest of not only the APC but Nigeria at large, General Muhammadu Buhari should be the party’s presidential candidate.  I, indeed, opined that given Nigeria’s current circumstances, the country needed the general much more than he needs her.  I should not delay with a rehash of those self-evident realities; a situation so galling a naturally taciturn Dr Christopher Kolade could not hold back from saying that Nigeria never had it so bad. The loud mouths have since replied, lecturing the 80-year plus senior citizen.  Let me therefore quickly congratulate the party for proving us right. I must,  however, specially  thank Dr Kayode Fayemi, the Chief Retuning Officer and his  election planning team for  organising such a first- in- Nigeria congress, so transparent a blind could see.

    For the party, however, the time for backslapping is not yet here because for the very first time in its chequered history, the ‘biggest rally’ in Africa -PDP – is going to have an electoral contest, properly so called. In place of those  small, usually  feuding  political  parties,  PDP would, this time around , be facing a proper, well heeled  opposition  party.   For a party which thinks nothing of manipulating an election which it should ordinarily win, this cannot be a joking matter for PDP at all.  It will therefore stop at nothing to rig the presidential election in the vain hope that victory at that would trigger a bandwagon effect as if Nigerians are fools.

    For the APC, therefore, the words of former President Obasanjo to the effect that “In politics, just as in war, what matters is not just your plan, but knowledge of your opponent’s plan” become relevant and germane.  For it, therefore, the point of departure must be the clear understanding that for PDP, nothing, however reprehensible, is off limits. In other words, PDP would fight bare knuckles.  Fortunately, in Ekiti and Osun the APC saw, in its utmost brazenness, what the party can do.  The bestiality of the militarisation team, described in the intro to this article, is a clear manifestation of one of the problems with rulers of resource rich countries, particularly in the Third World.  They always want to be rulers for life.  APC must therefore be prepared: not for war nor for a recourse to AK47  but, it must, as a matter of urgency,  head to the courts to ask that INEC be legally compelled to conduct the 2015 elections strictly according to the Electoral Law instead of, as usual,  pandering to the ruling party and helping it to rig elections.  Two examples will suffice to show INEC as nothing more than PDP’s rigging partner.  First,  it has been shown  that the  sudden  postponement of the April 6, 2011 election long after  voting had commenced  nationwide,  on the grounds  that  voting materials did not arrive, was a ploy  to  enable the PDP ascertain where General Buhari was strongest to enable PDP ferry fake ballot papers, being  printed in a well known, local printing press in Abuja, to shore up Dr  Jonathan’s votes in those places. It was to cover this infamy that Justice Ayo Salami was rapidly suspended from office, and, ipso facto, from his chairmanship of the Presidential Election Tribunal where he had already granted General Buhari leave to inspect the ballot papers. That leave was promptly reversed at the first sitting of the reconstituted Presidential Election panel. Second, is the use of vanishing ink instead of the prescribed indelible ink as we saw in the Ekiti election. Last week in the column, I demonstrated how the vanishing ink was programmed to impregnate a  mark already affixed to the PDP column turning it to the voted party and how that accounted for their so-called victory in all of Ekiti’s 16 Local Government Areas. APC just must stop this unholy PDP/INEC mala fidi. It will be its greatest battle because on its record of performance, PDP has already failed and fallen.

    The Obasanjo regime -1999 -2007- showed conclusively that PDP is a rigging machine. However, if rigging was then analogue, and in-your face, under President Jonathan, it has become industrial and scientific. It comes in various ways. In 2011, for instance, fake ballot papers played a major part in PDP’s ‘victory’. In an affidavit before the Presidential Election Tribunal, CPC alleged that fake ballot papers printed by at a press whose name it gave the tribunal, were used in the entire north.  In confirmation, the party gave the names of two individuals who were arrested by the police in Abuja with 100,000 fake ballot papers. Similarly, there were reports of arrests for fake ballot papers in Akwa Ibom, which is already notorious for election rigging, and in Ogun State the driver of a sitting PDP senator, seeking re election, was arrested with a vehicle loaded with fake ballot papers. In all of these, mum had been the case with the complicit Nigeria police.

    Equally, some INEC staff, especially of the ICT department, are busy at work for the PDP. Their duty is to crutch data to ensure that PVC collection becomes as difficult as studying robotic science in areas of the country believed by PDP strategists to be APC-leaning. Therefore, at the mere touch of a button, they could maximally reduce the number of voters in such places. Like Governor Fashola, APC must do everything to hold INEC accountable. Where it fails to give out PVCs, it must, willy nilly, approve the use of temporary cards. The party must also insist on the use of electronic card reader as I suspect that most of the PVCs currently being hoarded are destined to be cloned for PDP use.

    However, as indicated earlier, of all these rigging methods, about the most difficult  to  guide against will be  scientific rigging which was deployed in Ekiti but  they could not use in Osun because their cover had been blown and it was too late to  use another variant. A South African intelligence outfit, NASENI, which did extensive work on the Zimbabwean 2013 presidential election believed to have been scientifically rigged, concluded that the technology involves the development and use of a special water marked ballot paper, which is designed to give majority of the votes cast to a pre-determined party. Once the ballot papers are supplied by its complicit suppliers, all that INEC does is provide vanishing ink in place of the indelible type. I am  persuaded  that  in the  2015 elections,  PDP would like to deploy this rogue technology  in some given states as boasts, reminiscent of those  we saw in Ekiti before the governorship election are  already being repeated  by PDP leaders in such states.  For example, in spite of the defection of the former Secretary to the Government of Akwa Ibom, Mr Umana Umana, with his teeming supporters which include very senior party elders who, though didn’t defect but are deeply rooting for him, the state governor continues to boast that PDP will score nothing less than 99 percent in both the presidential and governorship elections. Ditto in Rivers State where Wike keeps repeating the same boasts despite the fact that the primaries have shredded the PDP there.

    In conclusion, the APC, in particular, and Nigerians in general, must be prepared to stop PDP in its tracks.  Enough of the national decline on all fronts.

  • Lagos communities yet to get PVCs

    Lagos communities yet to get PVCs

    Many residents are still unable collect their permanent voter’s cards (PVCs) in some parts of Lagos for the third day running yesterday.  Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials did not show up in Gowon, Shagari and Gemade estates, and Okunola community in Alimoso Local Government Area of the state to distribute the PVCs.

    The estates and Okunola are neighbouring communities in the council, which is one of the remaining nine Local Government Areas (LGAs) where distribution was supposed to begin last Friday.

    At Okunola, cards were being issued at one collection point; the situation was not better in Shagari Estate. The officers only showed up at one registration point on 401 Road in Gowon Estate on Friday to distribute a few cards. The large estate has more than 30 registration units.

    They came around 10am to one registration point at 31 Road roundabout and two other registration units on 52 Road by 2pm. After pasting the list of registered voters, they were said to have left immediately without giving out a single card.

    Earlier on Friday morning, pasted an INEC poster at the same registration point on 52 Road, informing voters about the duration and time for distribution of cards.

    Voters who trooped out on Friday and Saturday as early as 8am to collect their cards left in annoyance after a long wait.

    A resident who spoke under anonymity, said: “This is very frustrating. I left everything I had to do this morning to come here only to meet this situation. Not even a single INEC official was around to explain to us what is really happening.

    “I think this is a deliberate plot to disenfranchise voters in Alimosho because they know that Alimosho has the largest population of voters in any constituency in the country and it is an APCs stronghold; if not, why is it that in areas where PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) has some strength, this is not happening?

  • PVCs distribution begins in Lagos, Rivers, Nasarawa today

    PVCs distribution begins in Lagos, Rivers, Nasarawa today

    The distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) begins today in nine local governments in Lagos State that were left out in the first phase. The affected councils are: Alimosho, Amuwo-Odofin, Apapa, Badagry, Epe, Eti-Osa, Oshodi/Isolo, Shomolu and Surulere. A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Mr Kayode Idowu, said the PVCs distribution would also begin today in Rivers and Nasarawa states. Idowu said: “The six states where PVCs are yet to be distributed and Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) pending are Niger, Katsina, Rivers, Nasarawa, Kaduna and Borno as well as nine local governments in Lagos State”. To ensure effective distribution of PVCs and mitigate the difficulties encountered in the previous phases, he said the commission has rescheduled the exercises to hold as follows: “In Rivers and Nasarawa states and the remaining nine local governments in Lagos State, PVCs distribution: Friday, November 28 to Sunday, November 30. CVR: Wednesday, December 3 to Monday, December 8. “Kaduna and Katsina states: PVCs distribution: Saturday, December 6 to Monday, December 8. CVR: Wednesday, December 10 to Monday, December 15. “Niger and Borno states: PVC Distribution: Friday December 12 to Sunday, December 14. CVR: Wednesday, December 17 to Monday, December 22”. Idowu spoke on Wednesday at a meeting with leaders of  the parties. They expressed understanding and pledged support to the commission’s efforts.

  • INEC adjusts distribution of voter cards, registration in four states

    INEC adjusts distribution of voter cards, registration in four states

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced an adjustment in the dates for the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and the conduct of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise in Phase III.

    According to the commission’s daily bulletin, the decision was contained in INEC decision extract dated November 25, 2014 and signed by the Director (Commission’s Secretariat) I. A. Gali.

    The bulletin stated that the distribution of PVCs in Kaduna and Katsina States will take place from Saturday, 6th December to Monday, 8th December 2014.

    The CVR exercise in these two states it further stated will take place from Wednesday, 10th December to Monday, 15th December 2014.

    The Commission also approved that the distribution of PVCs in Niger and Borno States will take place from Friday, 12th December to Sunday, 14th December 2014. The CVR exercise in these two states will take place from Wednesday, 17th December to Monday, 22nd December 2014.

    The distribution of PVCs in Rivers, Nasarawa and the outstanding local governments in Lagos State will take place from Friday, 28th November to Sunday, 30th November 2014 as earlier scheduled.

    The CVR exercise in these states will take place from Wednesday, 3rd December to Monday, 8th December 2014 as earlier scheduled.

     

  • 2015: INEC’s indefensible management of PVCs

    2015: INEC’s indefensible management of PVCs

    In matters as fairly simple as registering voters, producing voter cards, and issuing them to owners with precision, it was expected that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would pull the exercise off with only a few hitches. It was also expected that in case of hitches, the electoral body was savvy enough to find adequate ways of remedying the problems. But not only has INEC approached the permanent voter cards (PVCs) matter with as much shoddiness as two or three generations of electoral commissions aggregating their incompetence can manage, it has stubbornly refused to appreciate the magnitude of its lapses, and seems determined to either disenfranchise voters or punish them bitterly. Nigerians are conversant with INEC’s administrative malfeasances, so let me spare readers a rehash. What I cannot understand, however, is that if INEC has no hidden motives as it claims, why is it pretending not to appreciate the weight of the problem it is confronting and is not summoning the urgency needed to tackle it?

    I am among the more than one million registered voters in Lagos whose data were lost for whatever reasons — computer problems and other lapses. At least the sms I sent to them and their reply indicate as much. But the real puzzle is why it took INEC almost four years to realize that the commission faced a data loss/mismanagement catastrophe. Beyond announcing that their computers and servers malfunctioned, as a result of which about a million registered voters in Lagos cannot get their permanent voter cards, INEC has not fully explained how the problem came about. They had almost four years since 2011 to make amends; but they have waited some three months before the next general elections to scramble for a solution.

    Those whose cards are ready have faced an uphill task in collecting them. And those, like me, who have to register afresh are facing an even more daunting battle. INEC officials do not come to polling units on time, and in some cases don’t even show up at all. In many polling units, they showed up only on Saturday for the fresh registration billed to commence days earlier and discovered that their machines were either not functioning well or not functioning at all. It is shocking that a fairly straightforward task of registering enthusiastic voters has become so hugely complicated, as if this elementary administrative exercise is too burdensome for our public officials, or as if it is a deliberate ploy to disenfranchise potential voters.

    INEC claims to have lost computer data. If by a miracle the 2011 manual registers have not also been gobbled up by some goblins, and if it is true they mean well and are not working towards a predetermined end, they should be kind enough to revert to the use of manual register and temporary voter cards for the next polls. But if they are too proud to go back to former mode, they should kindly flood the polling units with functioning machines and prove to everyone they have no programmed agenda to disenfranchise us. The way they have handled the exercise is truly disgraceful. Let them be humble enough to make amends, and stop punishing Nigerians and making a spectacle of themselves before the whole world.

  • 4,658 PVCs stolen in Edo – INEC

    4,658 PVCs stolen in Edo – INEC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed that a total of 4,658 Permanent Voter Cards were stolen at distribution points in Edo State.

    It said the cards were stolen from nine local government areas in the state.

    Out of the figure, 3,661 PVCs were stolen in Orhionmwon local government which is the base of Edo State Deputy Governor, Dr. Pius Odubu and Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu.

    The Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Baritor Kpagih, while speaking at a press briefing on Thursday, said 1,531,580 PVCs meant for the state were received by the commission.

    Kpagih explained that he refused to state the number of PVCs for Edo because some PVCs meant for other states were among those brought to the state.

    He was however silent on how the cards were stolen.

    The REC said a total of 883,058 PVCs were collected, while the balance was yet to be collected.

    He wondered why some individuals would steal the PVCs despite earlier warning that stealing of the cards was a worthless venture.