Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja

With the general elections a few weeks away, analysts said how the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC handles issues like the distribution of voters’ cards and other issues will determine the success of the election

With the 2015 general elections barely a month away, Nigeria’s two major political parties, the All Progressives Congress, APC and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP hit the road in the battle to win the hearts and minds of Nigerians with the launch of their campaigns in Rivers and Lagos States respectively last week. But as politicians and their supporters criss-cross the country in search of votes in the next few weeks, one institution they cannot afford to take their eyes off is the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

There have been concerns about the preparedness of the Commission to conduct free and fair polls, based on the perceptions of the public on the way the electoral body has handled some of the crucial assignments leading up to the elections. Chief among these is the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs with which voters will be accredited to vote at the polls which kicks off on 14 February with the presidential election. Less than five weeks to the election, INEC is still battling with complaints of inability of Nigerians to obtain the chip based cards which the Commission has insisted must be presented before voters are allowed to exercise their franchise during the polls. INEC had early last year begun the distribution of the PVCs across the 36 states of the country and the Federal Capital Territory in phases. The PVCs were produced, based on the information provided by voters in the general registration conducted before the 2011 general elections.

•Jega, INEC boss: All eyes on him

However, the distribution of the PVC was also accompanied with Continuous Voters’ Registration, CVR designed to give all the categories of people who did not register during the general registration conducted in 2011 the opportunity of having their names in the electoral register. But apart from those who went to the various collection points and were unable to get their PVCs, many Nigerians complained that they could also not trace their names in the register displayed by INEC at the various distribution points as the exercise continued across the country. INEC later solved the riddle of the missing names by informing Nigerians that the Commission decided not to print the PVCs of those whose biometrics were missing from its database. The Commission said those in this category will also have to join for fresh registration being done through the CVR.

But there were complaints that the three days set aside for the exercise in each state of the federation were not enough with complaints across of the country of eligible voters not being able to register or collect their PVCs. The Commission further compounded the poor perception of many Nigerians about its readiness for the exercise with announcement of postponements, sometimes barely a day to the take off of the exercise. The Commission announced a shift in the distribution of the PVCs in some local government areas in Lagos barely few hours to the day it has announced that the exercise will kick off for instance. Even then, some electorates in the state, including Governor Raji Fashola, went to their wards which served as the distribution points on the rescheduled dates only to discover that they have to do fresh registration as INEC said it no longer has their complete information necessary for printing the PVC in its data base.

Also, INEC shifted the issuance of the PVC in Niger State four times before it finally conducted the exercise, starting on 19 December last year. INEC has been forced to extend the two exercises for one or two days in some states in response to complaints with the Commission that it did so at a very great cost. But even as the election is now knocking on the door, analysts fear that the continuous complaints about the inability to get PVC or participate in the CVR posed a danger to the election.

•PVCs: A scarce commodities

Reports indicated last week that INEC is yet to distribute PVCs in 109 polling units in Bauchi State while the Commission only started the distribution of the cards in Borno State last week. The Kaduna state chapter of APC had two weeks ago decried the hitches which characterized the distribution of the PVC warning that many voters may be disenfranchised. The party noted that the distribution of the PVC across the 23 local government areas of the state has recorded little success, with many eligible voters unable to get their cards while the exercise is yet to commence in some other local governments. The APC, in a statement issued by its chairman, Bala Bantex, warned that deliberately disenfranchising eligible voters from exercising their civic rights could lead to rancour and violence during the forthcoming general elections. In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN last week, some voters in Lagos said they have also not been able to collect their PVCs and thus, may not be able to participate in the 2011 elections.

Tekena Wakama, a legal practitioner, told the news agency that he and many of the eligible voters in his area were unable to obtain the PVC although they have been fully registered in Surulere Local Government. “When they said the PVC’s are out, Surulere’s own didn’t come out. It’s among the local government areas in Lagos State that was delayed. And behold when the PVCs came out and we went to check, they said it didn’t come out. It means I’m going to be disenfranchised. I won’t have the opportunity and privilege to vote for a candidate of my choice. Definitely, there is no election that is perfect in any part of the world. We have challenges here but I pray that INEC should be able to do what is right so that people would be able to vote candidates of their choice so as to have a credible election,” said Wakama.

Candidates vying for various elective positions under the platform of APC in Lagos State also expressed reservations about the way INEC has conducted the distribution of the PVCs. Speaking at an event hosted by the party’s governorship candidate, Akinwunmi Ambode, at his campaign office in Lagos, the APC candidates affirmed that it would be disastrous if registered voters who have been unable to collect their PVCs were denied the opportunity of exercising their constitutional right. The APC candidates noted that reports indicated that several eligible and registered voters in the state may not be able to vote for candidates of their choice because they have been unable to obtain their PVCs due to what they described as curious and intractable logistics challenges on the part of INEC.

“The issue of PVCs is critical to successful polls and a commendable electoral system and we demand that INEC provide these tools of change for the masses. Under no circumstances should any eligible registered voter be disenfranchised because of non-availability or collection of PVCs. All voters must be able to exercise their rights and choose the candidate of their preference during the polls through every legitimate means,” Ambode said at the occasion.

Frustrated by the poor distribution of the PVCs and what they perceived as the looming mass disenfranchisement of their people, some leading traditional rulers and political leaders in Plateau State decided to take the matter beyond mere wringing of the hands complaints going on in other parts of Nigeria. The leaders of the state led by Gbong Gwom of Jos, Da Buba Gyang; Honourable Titus Alams, the Speaker of the Plateau House of Assembly and the 17 local government areas of the state in a suit filed early last week asked the court to stop INEC from using the electoral register compiled by the Commission in 2014 as this will lead to disenfranchisement of many potential voters. They also want the court to declare that INEC has no power to stop a registered voter who has not been issued a PVC from voting at the February 2015 election. The plaintiffs also want the court to declare that INEC does not have the power to set down the rules and regulations restricting people who have not registered 60 days before the election to vote or be voted for and that the PVC exercise should be declared null and void.

•Kayode Idowu: Everyone will get PVC

The Court is yet to fix date for the suit which is capable of completely torpedoing the 2015 elections, especially if the court acceded to the request of the Plateau leaders. Just like the aggrieved political and traditional leaders in Plateau, some Nigerians and organisations are also calling on INEC to allow the use of temporary voter card used in 2011 to vote in 2015. This is necessary, according to them given the expected high turnout of voters expected during the election and the already highly charged political atmosphere. , “I am appealing to INEC not to allow it to be an instrument in subverting itself in the process of free, fair and credible elections. It should allow without any controversy the use of Temporary Voter Cards during the 2015 elections or else it might open itself to a litany of litigations, which I hope may not add to frustrating credible 2015 general elections in Nigeria” the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission, Adeyinka Jeje said last Wednesday.

Jeje cited the examples of countries that share some attributes with Nigeria, which have recorded over 80 per cent voter turnout in their recent elections. He noted that Nigeria could achieve same level of voters’ turnout if INEC is able to effectively manage the process. “If democracy is the government of the majority, a situation where less than half the voter’s population elect the representatives could not be said to be democratic in actual terms. Please, Professor (Attahiru Jega) you have the power and posterity has put you in a position to avert an impending crisis. You have a duty to revisit the way INEC is embarking on this journey of 2015 elections,” said Jeje. In a reaction to the complaints, INEC chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega has insisted that every voter in its register will get his or her PVC before the beginning of the elections. But it seemed not many, including President Goodluck Jonathan, are convinced by the assurances of Jega on the issue. Literarily putting the INEC Chairman on the spot, President Jonathan told him last week that he must ensure that all Nigerians must get their PVC before the elections. “Nigerians are getting worried whether INEC can actually conduct free, fair and credible elections, talking about the PVC, even some governors are complaining that they are yet to get their PVC. If governors are yet to get their voters cards, of course that means that so many Nigerians are yet to get and people are a bit worried,” the President who added that the country cannot afford to conduct an election where some people will not have the rights to vote on election days told Jega.

But Kayode Idowu, the chief press secretary to Professor Jega told this magazine last week that INEC achieved an average of the distribution of 65 per cent of the cards it printed during the distribution exercises it conducted across the different states of the country. He added that the figures would definitely have increased given the fact that distribution has been going on in the local government offices of INEC. “At the end of the three days exercise that we conducted, about 65 per cent of the cards we’ve printed were collected. And we have been distributing ever since at the local government offices. As we speak, the distribution is still on ongoing,” said Idowu.

He added that the number of complaints has also been increased by those recently registered during the CVR, even though INEC did not say they will collect cards immediately. “They were given temporary voter’s card. Their PVC is being produced. The commitment the Commission gave is that we have taken your data, we give you a commitment that we will give you the cards before the election day- towards the end of January, you will get your cards because those cards have to be produced,” he added. The CPS added that the problem has been compounded by those doing double registration in the CVR under various guises like those who registered in 2011 and have changed their names to re-register. He added that there are those who registered in one place and relocated and their cards have been printed in that place. But they don’t want to go back to pick the cards. Instead, they come out to re-register. According to him, there are also people who were doing multiple registration deliberately. “If you continue to run the lines for the next five years, there will still be crowd because all these things are multiple registrations. Number one, they will delay the process and it costs money to keep those queues on there. Then, INEC will now have to be weeding out thousands of multiple registrations- another delay in the process. And the time for keeping that line endlessly like that is not there. It is quite possible that genuinely, there were some people there who ought to be registered, but were not registered,” said Idowu. But this magazine gathered that the manner the distribution of the PVCs has been handled by INEC has also led to mutual suspicion among the political parties and different political interests in the country.

The opposition APC for instance had in Kaduna State accused INEC of colluding with the ruling PDP to ensure that its supporters in parts of the state were unable to get their PVCs. In the same vein, the APC has also raised alarm that the problem of poor distribution of PVCs seemed to have affected most of the states under its control which incidentally also boasts of the highest voters population in the country. The inference was that the exercise was deliberately poorly planned to disenfranchise the large voting population especially during the presidential election. In a recent press release, the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF also alleged that distribution of PVCs was poorest in the northern states. But a recent report put the states in the northern part of the country at the top of the states where collection of the cards was the highest.

With this information came allegations that Jega is colluding with opposition politicians to manipulate the distribution of the PVCs to give the northern part of the country where he is from an advantage especially in the presidential election which many analysts have predicted will be keenly contested. Indeed, a report indicated last week that the directive of the President to Jega was informed by reports of alleged secret dealings of Jega with some northern political interests. Another area of apprehension as this magazine gathered last week was INEC’s decision to use card readers for accreditation before people are allowed to vote. There are fears that the machines may fail to read the cards or the charging of the batteries may frustrate the process. But officials of INEC have dismissed such possibility while affirming that they have made all the necessary arrangements to ensure that this did not happen.

No doubt, all eyes will be on Professor Jega in the next few weeks as his actions and inaction will be interpreted in different ways by the political players. But Kayode Idowu, INEC spokesman told this magazine last week that the fact that all the different sides of the political divide are laying different allegations against Jega indicated that he is neutral. “And it has made sure that everything it does conforms to that. When all the sides are accusing the Commission, for us, it is reassuring. It shows you are not supporting anybody. INEC’s basic job is to be neutral and that also means nobody is happy with you. But that is the price to pay because you are not supporting anybody, you are not pandering to the interest of anybody,” said the CPS.