YEMI ADEBOWALE: PVC/ CARD READERS ARE UNNECESSARY COMPLICATIONS

I was shocked when INEC informed Nigerians on Monday that as part of its preparations for the general election, it would on March 7 (today) start test running the smart card readers to be deployed for the accreditation of voters during the election. The commission said it would be conducting field tests on the functionality of the card readers in 12 states. It said the tests would take place simultaneously in two states of each of the six geopolitical zones of the federation. So, INEC is just about to start test running smart card readers for an election it said it was ready to conduct on February 14? So, the commission would have conducted the election on February 14 without test running the card readers? This same INEC had just ordered additional 20,000 card readers for an election that would have taken place on February 14. With precisely three weeks to the rescheduled date for the Presidential election, things are still not shaping up at Attahiru Jega’s INEC. As at yesterday, INEC was still battling with the engagement and training of ad hoc staff to be used for the election.

The commission is equally not doing too well with the distribution of PVCs. I don’t know if Jega and his men understand what is called “perspective planning.” For me, PVCs ought to have been distributed at least a year in advance. Though, INEC claimed about 67 million PVCs had been distributed to the states and that 54,327,747 had been collected, the situation on ground in virtually all the states does not reflect this. Millions of registered voters are still in search of their PVCs. By their own record, as at Tuesday, about 20 per cent of registered voters were yet to collect PVCs. Only eight states had collected over 90 per cent of their PVCs and they are mainly in the North-east and North-west. Voters in most states in Southern Nigeria had only collected between 48 and 60 per cent of their PVCs. A huge number of PVCs are still being expected from the manufacturers. Reports of blemished PVC distribution still permeate the nation. Only on Monday, the Bayelsa State REC, Baritor Kpagih confirmed that about 40,000 PVCs were still being expected in the state. Governor Ibikunle Amosun was also lamenting the non-arrival of over 600,000 PVCs meant for Ogun State. In Plateau State, members of the Christian Association of Nigeria were on the streets of Jos protesting the inability of a large number of people in the state to obtain their PVCs. Even Governor Jonah Jang is still looking for his PVC. If people are registered and they are not able to vote, then, the election will not be free, fair, and credible election.

The truth be told, the introduction of PVCs/card readers by INEC is an unnecessary complication of Nigeria’s electoral process. This is mainly responsible for the current political tautness in country. The PVCs and card readers will not add any value to making our elections credible, peaceful, free and fair. There is nothing like PVCs in advanced democracies in the world like the United States and the United Kingdom. PVCs and the accompanying card readers amount to unnecessary duplication of verification/accreditation of voters on Election Day. Let’s look at it this way: A voter gets to the polling booth on the D-Day and slots the PVC into the card reader for verification/accreditation. If he survives this, he would still not get the ballot papers to vote. The voter would now move to the INEC official holding a colour print out of voter register for the unit. This register also comes with photographs of all voters in the unit. The INEC officer will collect the PVC again, flip through the register and for the second time, verify/accredit the voter. It is after this that the voter would now be given the ballot papers to go and thumb print. This is clearly an unnecessary duplication of verification/accreditation process. For me, we should just throw away these useless car readers but keep the PVCs. Going forward; anybody that presents a PVC or TVC on D-Day and has his or her name on the register of voters should be allowed to vote. People who have been duly registered should not be denied the opportunity to vote, due to no fault of theirs. They should not be punished for INEC’s ineptitude. This is what democracy is all about.

But honestly, I still can’t fathom how Jega will deliver a free and fair election on March 28 with all these flaws. However, true patriots are hoping for the best. After this, Jaga Jaga Jega should just pack and leave. He has inflicted too much pains on Nigerians with his card readers and PVCs.

OLUSEGUN ADENIYI: OF JEGA AND MOB HYSTERIA

The tenure of Prof. Maurice Iwu was due to expire on 13 June, 2010. But as acting president who was riding a crest of popular opinion, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan knew he would score another big point if he sacked then Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman. Despite the fact that the law did not expressly grant the president—a position Jonathan had not even legally occupied at that period--such powers, he went ahead to remove Iwu on 28 April 2010 through the subterfuge of a “terminal leave”, just about six weeks to the end of his tenure.

Of course, as to be expected, Jonathan was hailed for the move by many Nigerians, including the current promoters of the All Progressive Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Major General Muhammadu Buhari. And when Jonathan appointed Prof. Attahiru Jega as Iwu’s replacement, his popularity went a notch higher at a time all the ills in Nigeria were credited to one imaginary “cabal”.

  

However, in the run-up to the 2015 presidential election which promises to be more competitive than the ones previously held in this Fourth Republic, some people within the administration feel that the use of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and Card Readers by INEC would not give them any “elbow room” to nudge fate in the right direction in the course of the election. And because of that, a stupendous amount of money is being expended in running a media campaign against the INEC chairman and all the adverts bear the PDP logo and photograph of the president.

Ordinarily, I am one of those who believed the president when he said he would not remove Jega having considered the wider national security implications of tinkering with INEC on the eve of an election that has put the nation on edge. But there is also a lesson to the civil society. Whatever may have been the failings of Iwu as INEC Chairman, process also matters. By approving, and even hailing, Iwu’s removal through illegal means, a dangerous precedent had already been created but thank God that the president appreciates (as he said in his Aljazeera interview on Monday) that removing the current INEC chairman for no just cause and at this period would put the elections in jeopardy.

  

Instructively, against the background that the President usually touts credible elections as his major contribution to our democracy and has always used the name of Jega to buttress his point, what is going on in our country today resembles the story in James Hardley Chase novel, “My Laugh Comes Last”. In that particular offering, a wealthy bank president had asked a young man versed in the intricacies of electronic security to build for him the “safest bank in the world”. He got his wish but the bragging rights of having the “safest bank in the world” also came with the realization that he had built something impregnable even beyond his own machinations.

Apparently taking the mandate from President Jonathan seriously, it would seem that Jega has put in place anti-rigging measures that go beyond the Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) and Card Readers. I got to know that through two programmes I have had to attend in the last one week, one in Uyo, the other in Abuja. Last Saturday, Patrick Okigbo’s “Nextier Advisory” organized its Development Discourse session in Abuja titled “2015 Elections: D-Day and the Morning After”. The discussions centred around public concerns on the readiness of INEC for the polls and the preparedness of the Police to forestall any election-related violence. The discussants included Professor Mohammed Kuna (Special Adviser to Jega), Mr. Innocent Chukwuma (West Africa Representative, Ford Foundation) and myself. But the star of the day was Kuna who revealed many things that most Nigerians may not be aware of.

According to Kuna, a number of security features have been introduced such that the rescheduled 2015 elections would be very difficult to rig. For instance, the ballot papers and ballot boxes have been colour coded by State, Local Government Areas, and Polling Units. As a result of the colour codes, ballot documents or boxes that are for particular polling units cannot be used at any other polling units. Also, there is only one result sheet for each polling unit and any destruction of the result sheet nullifies the votes from the polling unit. Any errors or mistakes in registering the results must be counter-signed (like a bank document) by all the authorised parties. Interested readers will find Kuna’s view in the communiqué on http://www.nextierlimited.com/publication/.

Also last Thursday, I was in Uyo to speak at a two-day workshop on 'the Media and the 2015 General Election' organized by Vibram Nigeria Limited in collaboration with the Akwa Ibom State chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ). Among other speakers were State Director, Department of State Services (DSS), Mr. Tom Minti, the State Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr. Gabriel Achong and the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Austin Okojie. In his presentation, Okojie revealed that INEC has created “FORM EC 40G series to ensure that cancelled elections and where elections were not held are recorded for accountability” while engaging “lecturers of tertiary institutions as collation and returning officers in order to insulate the Commission staff against any underhand practices.”

Given all the measures being introduced, Okojie said, he is “confident that we (INEC) will conduct elections that will reflect the will of the Nigeria people.” That also happens to be Jega’s pledge. And since the president has assured Nigerians that he never harboured any plan to remove the INEC Chairman, the unhealthy campaign for or against Jega should stop.