WITH the 2019 elections less
than a month away, the usual lingering questions still remain about the
preparedness of the Independent National Electoral Commission to satisfy
the yearning of Nigerians for free, fair and transparent polls. Aside
from security, the late arrival of electoral materials, ballot box
snatching, falsification of figures, thuggery and violence that have
always characterised elections in the country, issues bordering on the
Permanent Voter Cards and how they can be deployed to negatively impact
on election results are forcefully coming under scrutiny.
While not in any way attempting
to undermine the integrity of the commission or underestimate its
capacity to deliver on its given mandate as an unbiased umpire during
elections, it is still alarming to hear that millions of the PVCs meant
for the February 16 and March 2 elections are out there, unclaimed, just
as unscrupulous politicians are also reported to be out, cash in hand,
trying to buy up as many of the PVCs as possible from those who have
collected theirs. This is bound to raise eyebrows in many quarters as
such an action could be rightly interpreted as a form of rigging.
The INEC Chairman, Mahmood
Yakubu, who spilt his guts recently, could not however put his finger on
why politicians, definitely up to their old tricks, should be buying up
the PVCs, especially when the usage is not transferable. According to
him, the dodgy elements were also offering financial inducements in
exchange for Voter Identification Numbers as well as the account and
telephone numbers of those selling their cards.
If anything, it is an indication
that INEC has a lot of work to do to thwart the efforts of politicians,
who always seem to get away with their atrocities during elections,
including the rather unfortunate murder of innocent citizens and even
security officials. Yakubu has rightly suggested that it might have to
do with vote-buying, since account numbers are involved. Instead of the
usual practice of giving out money to voters at the polling centres,
they must have devised a new method of sending money to the accounts of
voters electronically ahead of the Election Day.
It is also true that, as the
INEC boss observed, it could be a way of disenfranchising people in
areas where candidates on whose behalf the illegality is being
perpetrated do not have strong support. There is also the possibility
that a potential voter whom money has been paid into his account could
have his PVC returned on Election Day if the fraudsters are convinced
the money might deliver votes to their candidates. The VINs could be a
means of monitoring whether the voters had fulfilled their own side of
the bargain. There are so many options to be explored by the INEC and
the security agents.
Also, concerning the reluctance
of voters to collect their PVCs, INEC may claim that it is not its duty
to force duly registered voters to come forward for their PVC’s. Yet,
there have been complaints of people who gave up because they claimed to
have visited INEC offices several times but could not collect their
cards. The complaints also extend to registration, where, in some cases,
people had resorted to literally sleeping in the local INEC offices to
get registered. This is not good enough.
In a recent interview, an INEC
Commissioner, Mohammed Lecky, was quoted as saying that over eight
million PVCs were still awaiting collection across the 36 states of the
federation and the Federal Capital Territory. In the usual Nigerian
manner, making it difficult for people to access simple services could
be a way of trying to squeeze out tips from people before attending to
them. Perhaps, if INEC could find a way of making the collection of the
PVCs or accessing any of its services less cumbersome, then there would
be improvement in the responses of members of the public. There should
also be awareness campaign to tell people about the importance of
collecting their PVCs.
INEC’s response to the matter
will be critical in deciding the fate of the elections. As the United
States Deputy Ambassador to Nigeria, Jonathan Cohen, observed recently,
“vote-buying could challenge the integrity of the election process.”
All that matters in an election is for the people to be allowed to
express their wishes of making their votes count. Any system that is
compromised by vote-buying, intimidation of opposing supporters and
other malpractices can never produce a credible result; it could also
result in a breakdown of law and order.
That is why INEC has to work
harder to ensure that all loose ends are tied up. If the INEC boss has
owned up to people buying up the PVCs, what has he done about it? Having
promised to “work with security agencies to deal with the violators of
our electoral laws,” there is no reason why some of those exchanging
money for the PVCs should not be in the police net by now. If Mahmood
himself has said he was aware of the card-buying scam, then using
intelligence to get some of the people behind it should not be so
difficult.
Generally, it should be noted
that discharging civic responsibilities should come with minimal
inconvenience. INEC has to find a way of removing some of the obstacles
in the way of people participating in elections. A good example is the
practice of locking down the country because elections are being held.
In smaller African countries such as Mali and Niger, for example, people
go about their business and it does not affect the elections. Election
is a very important part of life, but not the most important. People
still have to eke out a living and when man-hours are lost, they are
lost for good.
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