The awareness for last Saturday’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) council poll was not adequate, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) said yesterday.
It urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to work towards using electronic voting machines for efficiency.
Briefing reporters in Abuja, the Chairman of the NBA’s Election Working Group (NBA EWG), Dafe Akpedeye (SAN), said the election was characterised by low turnout of voters and disenfranchisement.
He said the officials and polling materials arrived late in most polling units in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).
This, he said, was in contrast to the majority of the suburbs where electoral materials were distributed early.
Said he: “It was recorded in Kukwaba Polling Unit 003 that form EC 60E was not available at the time of voting. This form is essential for returning voting results.
“In a polling unit in Karu, near the old NEPA junction, there were complaints that the United Progressive Party’s (UPP’s) logo was missing in the councillors’ election, but our team observed that the logo was visible during the chairmanship poll.
“Our team of observers also reported cases in Kuje, AMAC and Gwagwalada area councils where some accredited voters were not allowed to vote because after being accredited, they left and returned when voting had started.”
Akpedeye cited a polling unit in Area 11 with 2,419 registered voters, but only 29 voters were accredited and voted.
He said: “In Garki II, NNPC main gate polling unit had 658 registered persons on the voters’ list. At 3pm, no voter turned up for accreditation, although the INEC officials and security agents were present.
“In Abaji and Bwari area councils, there were cases where some voters with voter identification cards, who could not find their names on the registers, were not accredited. In some other cases, voters, who had lost their voter cards and were able to trace their serial numbers, were not accredited.
“Some of the polling units were haphazardly located, especially on the outskirts. They were located under trees in some areas where schools were located not far away from trees. This was inconvenient for the voters and umpires, thereby making accreditation of voters cumbersome and problematic.
“Our team also observed the presence of under-aged people loitering around the polling units.
“Civic education was lacking on the part of the parties. We noted that there were cases of the elderly and the illiterate voting without a clue as to who was being voted for and for what purpose.”
The observer group recommended that the Electoral Act 2010 as amended should be further amended to give presiding officers the discretion to create a separate queue for the elderly.
It said: “Some of them could not cope with the harsh weather and the surging crowd. The creation of a separate queue for the elderly will encourage them to remain engaged with the electoral process and encourage them to perform their civic responsibility.”
