Plans by some political actors to use food vendors around polling units for vote-buying in the forthcoming general elections, have been uncovered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
This
observation was made by an observation team, led by Chief Observer, Mrs
Maria Arena, in Abuja, on Monday, on a visit to INEC, the Chairman of
the commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
INEC was determined to
improve elections and ensure that votes count, and had taken steps to
address the disturbing trend of vote-buying by politicians, Yakubu said.
The
steps included modification of the administration of polling units to
make it difficult for voters to expose their marked ballot papers on day
of election, he said.
Also, the commission had introduced
partial ban on the use of mobile phones and other electronic devices by
voters while in the voting cubicles.
“We are also introducing the rolling and flattening of ballot papers by voters on day of election.
“We
are training our election duty staff, in addition to voter education
and sensitization, on this new innovation. We will leave no stone
unturned in ensuring the sanctity of the ballot.’’
The chairman
went further to expose the plans by political actors to use food vendors
“around polling units with large voter populations as collection points
for cash-for-votes as well as other forms of material inducement to
voters on election day’’.
“We are aware of this trick. It will not work.”
The claim that INEC had outsourced the recruitment of election duty staff to partisan actors, Yakubu denied.
The
Commission had established clear criteria for recruiting its ad hoc
staff and Collation and Returning Officers, which, according to him, has
been the practice over several electoral cycles, Yakubu stated.
“In addition, there is a clearly established system of vetting all election duty staff before they are engaged.
“Therefore,
the claim that the Commission has outsourced the recruitment of
election duty staff to partisan actors is the usual allegation on the
eve of elections and should be disregarded.
“With 25 days to the
2019 General Elections, the Commission’s attention is firmly focused on
the conduct of credible elections. We will not be distracted into a
fatuous debate.’’
Yakubu also stated that the commission was not
unaware of the complaints arising from the collection of the Permanent
Voter Cards (PVCs) as they were being addressed.
“We are
committed to ensuring that all voter cards are made available for
collection by registered voters who should collect the cards in person.
“There will be no collection by proxy.”
The commission had enhanced the functionality of the Smart Card Reader that would be used for the elections, Yakubu said.
“Clause
10 of the Regulations and Guidelines recently released by the
Commission make the use of Card Readers mandatory. It is an offence to
accredit a voter by any other means.”
The EU was one of the
long-standing partners of INEC in deepening Nigeria’s electoral
democracy, through the EU-Support for Democratic Governance in Nigeria
(EU-SDGN), Yakubu described.
“We have implemented all the recommendations made by the EU Mission in 2015 that are within the powers of the Commission to do.
“These
include simultaneous accreditation and voting system which we
introduced on Jan. 9, 2016 and used it to seamlessly conduct off-season
elections into 194 constituencies.
“We have similarly introduced
the continuous registration of voters. Over a period of 16 months, from
April 27, 2017 to Aug. 3, 2018, over 14 million new voters were
registered,” he said.
He assured the EU that INEC preparation for the 2019 general election was on course.
Earlier,
the leader of the delegation, Arena, had said that EU would deploy 40
observers to all states of the federation during the elections.
The EU would also have its Parliamentary observation mission on ground during the exercise, Arena said.
“We will issue two preliminary reports after the elections. We will work strongly with all the stakeholders of this country.
“We will also have the final reports two months after the elections, with recommendations.
“We really appreciate the work that INEC has done with the previous recommendations after the 2015 elections,” Arena said.
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