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.
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