On the Presidential Election Day, the election commenced at exactly 4:10pm in some places, far beyond the scheduled 8am. Working as Assistant Presiding Officer Voting Point, it was a challenging task dealing with the electorates that have exhaustively queued for about 8 hours.
Obviously, majority of the voters of my assigned Polling Unit were aggressively eager to vote for President Muhammadu Buhari. To them, the only reason Buhari would win was their votes. Therefore, telling them to be patient, or be on a straight queue was a waste of time.
At the time of getting to the Polling Unit, it was already late for any kind of voters’ education as it was hard to get the mammoth crowd listen to either INEC officials or party agents.
Generally, the 2019 general election was a retrogression to what we had in 2015. No improvement to a process that had earned Professor Jega an international recognition. The entirety of the exercise is an indication that Professor Mahmood Yakubu is not a serious type.
Catching up with other nations, Nigeria still has a long journey. Our electoral system lacks reform that appreciates modernity, lacks institutionalized directions and so, opens to unrestricted manipulations.
Working as APO/VP, I observed how critically INEC flopped in the conduct of 2019 elections which I considered not free and fair enough.
Areas to be addressed
On election day, we were able to accredit just 310 out of 1652 registered voters, not because they didn’t come out to vote, but because the commission failed to keep to the time. This happened even after a week postponement of the election. Summarily, the delay, coupled with the malfunctioning of the card readers, disenfranchised 1,342 registered voters from voting the candidates of their choice.
Consequently, this situation affected the electorates’ turnout in the following elections. While I acknowledge their timeliness in some areas, the commission must, in the future, devise efforts to prevent any kind of delay that could result in voter apathy.
Also, the card reader is not yet programmed to prevent malpractices. In fact, the machine gives credence to rigging, manipulations and cooked statistics. It gives chance for multiple accreditations and voting. In a PU that houses two Voting Points, three card readers were provided and each could accredit any PVC belonging to the PU.
The implication is that, by chance, someone can get accredited on the three CRs and vote thrice accordingly. This is an avoidable blunder that, if not rectified before next election, can deregulate the process and thereby pauperize the credibility of the process.
Against this odd, the machine must be programmed in alphabetical manner. Each CR of the same PU must be configured differently.
Among many ineptitudes that hindered the outcome of 2019 general election are ballot box snatching and vote buying. The former is not as endemic as the later. From election to election, politicians have capitalized on the pervading poverty, hunger and unemployment as the instruments to get electorates think low at the sight of petty money.
The INEC have done little or nothing to curb this situation. The level of mutuality between the commission and the security agents is glaringly amorphous. When some PUs were without a single security personnel, some, including mine, were given just an officer of Federal Road Safety Commission.
Whilst it was however worrisome to get the crowd into order, looking after buying and selling of votes, concurrently, was unarguably impossible. Therefore, vote buying was not only an open business, buying and selling of votes were advertised, priced and repriced.
The commission must show her indefatigableness in the fight against vote buying.
It’s devastating to rate Professor Mahmood’s INEC above average as there was no tangible improvement to the foundation laid by Professor Jega. The next INEC chairman must see the need for Electronic Voting. Like Dr S.Y Quraishi of the International Elections Advisory Council claimed, ‘voting technology has been devised for the illiterate because pressing a button is the simplest activity which anyone can do’.
As long as the process remains manual, elections in Nigeria will continue to be nightmare marred with the usual massive rigging, bloodshed and other irregularities.
In this modern world, shifting paradigm to improved electoral reform is inevitable in any serious country.
With eVoting, Collating Officers, Election Officers, Returning Officers, Adhoc Staff, Ballot Boxes and both sensitive and non sensitive will not be needed. The tradition of losing lives of especially corps members will be completely eradicated. With voting technology, we may as well put an end to the story of rigging, ballot paper snatching, vote buying on election delay.
The INEC must juxtapose the deficiency of eVoting (which is precisely hacking) with the problems associated with manual voting.
Comparing the implications of ballot paper burnt and live lost in the recent election to hacking (of electronic voting machine by computer scientists), you will agree with me that right to life is more paramount. The commission, through the National Assembly, should see to the campaign of Electronic Voting in Nigeria and give room for a system that will reduce the opportunities of sabotaging the election outcomes.
Adeagbo Ademola writes from Abuja and can be reached through [email protected] or 08109224060
