There are growing concerns across the country as Election Day draws nigh.
It has become more obvious to the general public that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is far from ready to oversee the forthcoming elections.
Some quarters within the populace wonder what would have happened if the elections had held on the initial date of February 14, if by today March 7, the trial day, meant to test Card Readers in selected states, a large chunk of the nation’s populace remains separated from its Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs.
Despite INEC’s claims of preparedness, investigations by Post Nigeria, reveal that ad hoc staff in the FCT and every other state, save for the 12 states undergoing the mock elections, have never indeed handled the renowned card reader, nor have they verified any voter’s status with the device.
When Post Nigeria spoke to some of them, they admitted that they had been at the training thrice, in the build up to the elections, before the shift in dates.
On the last day of the training, the card reader used to illustrate the procedure for accreditation, was nonfunctional.
Hence, these very vital personnel who will be involved in the elections are yet to realise the shock of actually learning how to use the device, in the face of pressure from the voters to hurriedly get accredited on election day.
The cry by INEC to retain the use of the readers, and indeed even the use of the PVCs, seems a plot to cover up for its bizarre ineptitude.
Despite INEC’s claims that the card readers will have backups, in a case where one malfunctions, INEC has not explained how it will programme a default Card Reader, for the polling unit where it will be dispatched to.
The Commission had claimed that the card readers were programmed to individual units which implies that a card reader from the reserve, will have to be reconfigured, to carry the database of the particular unit.
INEC also has not explained how arrangements agreed by party agents on Election Day will be factored into its election process.
For instance, if all party agents present at the polling unit decide that the card reader be ditched, to avoid a shift, delay or total cancellation of their voting, and rely on the manual accreditation process, after hours of delay caused by card reader malfunction, how will INEC make sure that the votes from those places, no matter how few and far in between (assuming they are) count?
Also, INEC’s belief that in an election as vital as this and with the time it has had to prepare, some votes do not matter, raises alarm on the Commission’s equity in the role it has to play.
Not even the Constitution of the country allows for any group of people to be sidelined for any reason, from choosing who should read them.
As difficult as it may seem to achieve, INEC must ensure that it doesn’t take the laws into its own hands, by denying some electorate the right to vote.
Every nook and cranny of Nigerian territory should and must be allowed to have a say in this election.
Speaking with Taiwo, an Adhoc Staff Trainee, it was discovered that INEC conducted a three day training of Adhoc Staff on the 7th, 8th and 9th of February, 2015 , on Permanent Voters Card, PVC, verification and accreditation, theoretical teaching on the use of the Card Reader, vote casting and announcement of results at polling units after which the commission promised to get back to them.
“After the training on PVC accreditation, voting and vote announcement, that took place on the weekend before the initial 14th February general election date, we were asked to home, that the Commission would get back to us,” he said.
When our correspondent quizzed another Adhoc Staff Trainee, Ayo, he revealed that the Commission slated times between 8am to 1pm as the accreditation period, after which voting would start and go on till 4pm with a grace of 30minutes in each session:
“We were told by INEC Ad hoc Trainers that it is mandatory for accreditation to start by 8am and end by 1pm, with a 30 minute grace, thereafter voting commences till about 4pm,” he said.
He revealed that each polling unit would comprise of 4 adhoc staff and a supervisory Officer who is an INEC staff:
“Each polling unit will have 4 officers, the Assistant Presiding officer, APO 1, 2, 3 and a Presiding Officer, PO, all of which are Adhoc staff, and an INEC staff, the Supervisory presiding officer,” he added.
According to the 2010 Electoral Act, each Polling Unit, PU, is expected to have not more than 500 voters.
A glance at the approved re-allocation of 150,000 PUs nationwide, INEC would require about 600,000 Adhoc Staff for a hitch free general election come March 28th and April 11th.
Now, any rational Nigerian, after doing the basic math, would be irritated by the Jega-led Commission’s claims of preparedness for the 2015 general elections even before the poll postponement, and would be perplexed if by now 600,000 Adhoc Trainees are yet to receive practical training on handling and operating PVC card readers.
What appears to be happening behind the scene at the commission, remains to be known.
National commissioners are believed to be poised to give a vote of no confidence on the chairman, and their reasons may not be far fetched.
The big question for Jega still looms large – How do you plan to not disenfranchise Nigerians?
Post a Comment