BusinessDay 18 Feb 2018

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2 BD SUNDAY C002D5556 Sunday 18 February 2018 IssueOfTheWeek Underage, alien voters fuel fear 2019 elections already rigged Innocent Odoh, Abuja Doubts and anxiety now envelop an appreciable number of Nigerians that the 2019 general elections may have already been rigged. This follows recent revelations in Kano and Katsina States, where underage voters were allegedly seen brandishing their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and voting in the just concluded local government elections in Kano State and the by-election in Katsina State last week. The process later turned in the results for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in both states, raising the questions as to how children as young as 8 and 12 years, could have access to the PVCs reserved only for people from 18 years and above, according to the electoral laws. This concern has already prompted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue a public statement. Although it acknowledged the pictures of the underage voters, the commission tried to exonerate itself from the anomaly, saying, “As far as we can ascertain, they (the pictures) relate to a local government election conducted at the weekend (in Kano). “While the Commission remains resolute in our commitment to sanitise the nation’s electoral process and deliver free, fair and credible elections, we cannot be held directly or vicariously liable for a process outside our legal purview.” INEC’s director of publicity and voter education, Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, admitted recently that officials out of fear for their lives and threats by community members register underage voters, but assured that the commission had a mechanism through which it removed the ineligibles from the voter register even after they found their way into the register. So far, the total number of registered voters across the country is 73,944,312, according to INEC. The North-West geopolitical zone leads with a total of 18,505,984 voters. The South-West zone, which comprises Ekiti, Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Osun and Oyo states, trails with a total number of 14,626,800 registered voters, while the South-East, with the lowest number of states, has 8,293,093 registered voters. The main opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has castigated the INEC and blamed it for complicity and instigating voting by minors. The PDP says Nigerians have lost confidence in the INEC for attempting to cover its complicity in the widespread impunity recorded in last Saturday’s Kano local council elections, particularly the documented massive underage voting that characterised the exercise. The party says it was INEC that registered the minors as voters in the first place and as such should not in any way attempt to exonerate itself of involvement in the electoral fraud, simply because it did not directly conduct the elections. PDP national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement on Wednesday, said the press release by INEC, wherein it tried to exonerate itself from culpability in the participation of minors in Kano election, clearly showed that INEC under Mahmood Yakubu was completely unreliable and cannot be trusted. “We ask: Who is fooling who? Is it not INEC that registered the minors and issued them with Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVC) to participate in elections as clearly documented in the Kano council election? Can INEC truly acquit itself as the original culprit who set the stage for the eventual participation of the minors and overall rigging of the elections? “By resorting to lame excuses and trying to exonerate itself at a time it should be taking decisive steps to protect the sanctity of its sensitive materials such as the PVC, this INEC has shown that it cannot be relied upon as a responsible and trustworthy electoral umpire. “Indeed, if this INEC was serious about the sanctity of sensitive electoral materials, by now, it should have ordered the immediate review of its voter register in Kano and Katsina states, fishing out and prosecuting those who registered the minors and clean up the electoral system in the affected states. “Viewed alongside series of numerous other irregularities being allowed by INEC to favor the ruling APC, including alleged conspiracy with APC-controlled security operatives to intimidate opposition members and manipulate elections as witnessed in the last Saturday’s Mashi/Dutsi Federal Constituency “Supplementary election in Katsina state, any reasonable person will decode that INEC, as presently constituted, has serious questions to answer, especially as we approach the 2019 general elections.” In Kano election debacle last weekend, reports were rife about polling officials waiting in vain for sensitive materials to be supplied by officials of the State Electoral Commission which, as is now obvious, was a deliberate arrangement to disenfranchise genuine voters and rig the poll. Nigerians are now more afraid that this sly move could be replicated all over the federation to frustrate eligible voters and deny them their rights across the federation. Nigerians are also struck by the fear that the porous borders especially around the northern axis have allegedly become transit routes through which devious politicians now make way for aliens from countries such as Chad, Niger, Mali, Guinea and Senegal to infiltrate the country to register and vote in elections. This situation has been on for decades but it is worsening in recent times and the failure and sometimes the alleged complicity of the immigration officials who allowed these aliens into the country compound not just the electoral fraud but even pose a serious security threat to the country. Responding to this development, the Executive Director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani, told BusinessDay on Friday that the issue of underage voting in Kano last week was unfortunate and shameful saying “I think what happened is a shame and if it is going to be replicated in 2019, then we are in trouble.” Although he exonerated the INEC, he blamed the state government saying “I am sure that what happened was a result of intimidation and violence perpetrated by the governor of Kano State against his opponents. INEC has been calling on Nigerians to register and Nigerians have to respond to that call. “There was no proper procedure that was followed in the conduct of that election in Kano and not only in Kano but in Lagos and Delta in previous local elections. The issue is that they did not even use any PVCs, young children were just seen thump printing the ballot papers. So, all I can say is that there was no election in Kano. We rather blame the state government. I think it’s the desperation and lack of transparency that characterized the process.” The Head Research Policy and Advocacy or Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advancement, Samson Itodo, told BusinessDay on Friday, “There is complicity on the part of the registration officials no doubts but the critical problem is actually the community conspiracy. The communities actually conspired and enforced it on the officials to register under age persons. And this is driven by a particular philosophy that communities do have and it has to do with the nature of Nigeria’s political economy that confers access to resources based on state power. “State power determines access to resources, therefore the number of registered voters you are able to have in your community will determine the access to resources that the community will benefit. Politics is a game of numbers and because of that people devise different strategies and means to ensure that they get the figures behind them and that is something that we really need to resolve.” He added that there are instances where registration officials have been intimidated and threatened by the communities and if they officials do not register these under age voters, they will probably be lynched. He however, noted that the problem of underage voters and even registration by foreigners could be addressed by the officials. “When the registration officials register people under duress they have the duty and responsibility to ensure that when they go back to consolidate on the data they take out all those people who by mere observation you can tell they have not attained the age of 18. This brings to the fore the need for a consolidated national identity database, which we currently don’t have because of infrastructural deficit and that is just incompetence. “This under age voting and the alleged voting by foreigners can undermine the integrity of the process and we have an opportunity in the ongoing continuous voter registration to ensure that we expose all those communities who are encouraging this type of behaviour and to also deal with INEC officials who are compromised to register under aged children and aliens and prosecute them because it is an electoral offence,” he said. The provisions of the Electoral Act provide the opportunity to interrogate the voter register before it is finalised on the eve of General Elections. According to the electoral law the register, including pictures of registrants, is displayed at registration centres and polling units nationwide for claims and objections. The purpose is for the register to be assessed by citizens so that ineligibles such as underage, aliens etc are eliminated. It has been discovered that most Nigerians do not pay attention, neither do they check the register and raise the necessary objections to help INEC clean up the register. This laxity therefore is another albatross because once the register is finalised, it requires a legal process to expunge the names of voters from the register. It becomes even more difficult where there is community complicity, which has become very rampant.
Sunday 18 February 2017 C002D5556 BD SUNDAY 3 PhotoNews L-R: Sandra Bell, Committee Member, British Women Group, Lagos; Gabriel Maria, Udogu Coordinator, St Pio Boys Hostel; Julian McKnight, Chairperson, British Women Group, Lagos; Femi Yussuf, National Customer Service Manager, Mouka Nigeria, and Zoueen Bandyopadhyay, Treasurer, British Women Group, Lagos, during the donation of mattresses and other relief materials to St Pio Boys Hostel in Ijebu Igbo, Ogun State. L-R: Ade Laoye, president, Lagos Polo Club; Ifeoma Okoye, public affairs manager, Lagos & West, Nigerian Bottling Company Ltd (NBC); Damilola Odujinrin, experiential excellence execution manager for NBC; Ayo Olashojo, Lagos Polo Club captain, and Seyi Oyinlola, Lagos Polo Club Tournament manager, at a press briefing to herald the kick-off of the 2018 edition of Lagos International Polo Tournament in Lagos. L-R: Richard Noamesi Amenyah, Global Fund Implementation Adviser, UNAIDS; Kayode Ogungbemi, acting DG, NACA, and Aliza Leferink, marketing director RB, West Africa, during RB presentation of 100,000 units of condoms to UNAIDS/NACA in Abuja. L-R: John Senaya, past president, Rotary Club of Ikoyi; Wale Omole, coordinator, free eye cataract surgery by Rotary Club of Ikoyi; Charles Okonkwo, director, community services, Rotary Club of Ikoyi; Isichei Osamgbi, president, Rotary Club of Ikoyi; Alarape Taofik of Eye Foundation Hospital, attending to one of the beneficiaries, Afolayan Bose, during the Rotary Club of Ikoyi Free Cataract Surgery operation in partnership with the Eye Foundation Hospital in Lagos. L-R: Esa Ogbu representative of Inspector-General of Police, presenting an award on peace to Abike Dabiri-Erewa, senior special assistant to the President on foreign affairs and diaspora, in Abuja, With them is Ekeoba Kelechi, deputy controller of immigration. L-R: Lekan Makinde, DG/CEO, OOF; Olubolade Kuforiji, dep. VC, Bells University, Ota; Ope Farinu, acting. conductor, health services, Bells University, and Alabi Ajoke, an architect at the University. The head of school, Uzoma Anazodo, staffs and students of Villa d’crystal Montesori School presenting Valentine gift to the chairman of Spinal Cord Injuries Association of Nigeria in Festac Lagos State, recently. L-R: Tolu Salu, category manager, Oral Care, Unilever Nigeria Plc.; Reekado Banks; Titilope Kola-Banjo, brand manager, Closeup, Unilever Nigeria Plc., and George Umoh, channel and category development manager, Oral Care, Unilever Nigeria Plc, at the Closeup Cool Breeze #CoolLikeThat campus party finale which held on Wednesday February 7, 2018 at the University of Lagos Sports Complex, Lagos, Nigeria.
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BusinessDay 18 Feb 2018

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