Remembering the gubernatorial election in Akwa Ibom

Although the gubernatorial elections have come and gone, allegations of massive rigging still resonate in Akwa Ibom State, with stakeholders calling for thorough investigation with a view to preventing the ugly trend from becoming a norm. While the winners are set for the inauguration Friday, aggrieved losers are to avail themselves of the election tribunals that have since been set up in all the states.

As an observer in Akwa Ibom State during the election, with a massive win of 996,071 votes out of 1,122, 836 votes cast (representing a 90percent win) one can only admire such phenomenal results. When such great strides are achieved, it is important to study the model used and adopt key lessons in the interest of national development.

Those who were behind the electoral fraud adopted 10 tactics, which include: making sure people can’t vote, compromise the resident electoral officer (REC), abduct over-zealous ad-hoc staff, use violence where necessary, control the media, compromise some observers, strategic use of security forces, announce results as fast as you can, among others.

It would be recalled that across the 31 local government areas, there were cases of missing election materials, especially the result sheets. How did it work? As eager citizens arrive, you can either stop them from getting accredited by making sure no PVC card reader arrives at the polling unit or in some cases allow them to get accredited but no stamp to thumbprint the election sheet. Better still, you can have the ad hoc staff show that result sheets are missing to really discourage citizens. This will make people feel that waking up early to exercise their fundamental human right is a complete waste of time as a lack of result sheet shows how their votes will definitely not count.”

Compromise the resident electoral officer

This falls in line with best practice of the top-down approach in a system where decision-making is highly centralised. This provides an overall and clear direction for all tiers of the electoral hierarchy from the electoral officers to the Ad-hoc staff to ensure a seamless execution of the plan for a successful election.

Abduct over-zealous ad-hoc staff

This is for those who will insist on doing their duty or due to a gap in communication from the Supervising Presiding Officer (SPO) may not have received the order of the day. So to avert any confusion simply abduct the young ad-hoc staff before they arrive at their assigned polling units. It saves from the drama of snatching ballot boxes in front of crowds as you can intervene just in time while you leave citizens waiting aimlessly at the polling unit. Also, it’s just a few hours, as they will be released just in time to submit their election materials in tact at the collation center while they wait to receive their appreciation envelope for the night. It is very important that both the top-down and bottom-up approach is deployed for optimal performance and best results delivered. Using the top-down approach provides focus, direction and performance conditions but if used in isolation can be ineffective. Such a system with several moving parts must provide some level of independent thinking to allow for quick responses when things don’t go as planned. For instance, we observed a level of ingenuity, such as the few places where election results sheets where not missing, fake result sheets were made available. This shows the creativity some electoral officials displayed. This also creates a medley of problems, which makes election reportage of actual events overwhelming and implausible.

Use violence where necessary

The use of violence in one area can have a ripple effect that will reverberate across the entire state, thanks to the use of mobile phones and social media. This is great as one does not have to use a huge amount of force as seen in prior elections but just enough to remind people of how being democratic can land you in the gutter with dismembered body parts. In this election we saw a more organized approach using white buses with decent looking thugs who came to cart away ballot boxes. They shot in the air using guns several times to disperse the crowd of eager citizens willing to vote. Unfortunately the violence did result in a few people being killed but it is important to note it appeared it was used more as a deterrent than a direct use of force against the Akwa Ibom people. In a country ridden with insecurity from a terrorist group in the North, 8 people getting killed and over 30 cases of severely injured people will definitely not get any media attention.

Control the media

To achieve absolute success you cannot afford for the media to be let loose in the state, they tend to have a mind of their own, desirous of reporting real happenings in real time. Ensure this freelance approach to the media is not condoned. They must be told to stay away and for those in the state they must be controlled. In a case some friendly methods do not suffice, you have to use coercion by threatening to burn down their houses with their family in it. Of course, that should temper down any bright ideas on election reportage and ensure they are where the main actors of the state are to cover a seamless process of accreditation and voting in the 30percent of the state that seemed to vote. This will, of course, be a stark difference from what International observers and some local observers will report but fortunately no one has a wide reach like the local media. Those observer reports are really just for those academics that aspire to be a resource for election monitoring in developing countries.

Compromise some observers

Again maintaining balance is key. It would be a shame to have such a flawless plan of robbing people of their right to vote by leaving observers to wander around freely reporting a very different reality you have worked so hard to create. In this case, invite them to your house for lunch, welcome them very warmly to the State House and ensure you have discussions of how greatly you have performed and how ecstatic the Akwa Ibom people are to vote 100person for continuity. Do let them know that you are a product of democracy and you will continue to ensure these dividends flow even after you’re gone as governor… This ensures they have a great time in Akwa Ibom. As they report, you’ll be pleased to see them use the buzzwords such as “peaceful” and “perfect” to describe the successful election.

Strategic use of security forces

Ensure you have heavy security presence in your opponents’ strong areas. As much as 22 policemen were present in one polling unit in Eniong Offot and none were present in other “less” threatening areas where violence erupted. This anomaly will secure the plan in areas easily controlled. While on the other hand, keep any opposition and their thugs from running amuck as they witness their grand plans to vote or cause their own brand of trouble thwarted before their very eyes. Also you’ll need to ensure the security forces across all levels are on your side. This is for post-election purposes when annoying citizens who actually get upset about their inability to vote, gather to peacefully protest the announced results. You must ensure that none of such revolutionary activities are tolerated. For the few bold citizens that are undeterred by the violence they heard or witnessed during the election process you must make sure as soon they gather, you disperse them.

Announce results as fast as you can

In this case; you have to seek balance again because it’s a bit tricky. You can’t afford to announce too early, as it will cause eyebrows to be raised so make sure you are not the first or second state to announce results but ensure you are top seven. At least, a good 12 hours after elections is usually a good time to announce the pre-written results. Since you have achieved rule number one by stopping 70percent of the citizens from voting, you can skip the arduous task of actually collating results from Ward level to LGA level to state level. There is no need for the manual labour of counting and deciding how many votes will be rendered invalid to guarantee the pre-determined winner. The pre-generated computer results is what you’ll have the REC write on the result sheet to be announced by the Returning Officer usually a professor assigned from INEC who also plays his role of announcing results ‘as is’ without any questions.

Media appearances

It is important to select key state actors from Government House, House of Assembly, former and current National Assembly Members and NGO organisations (heavily linked to these state actors) as media emissaries. You’ll need to ensure all media emissaries sing the same song of how the state has always voted one way and will always vote that way forever and ever. You also need to make sure all emissaries use the same buzzwords ‘peaceful’ and ‘perfect’ election. When pictures of protest emerge, tell the audience that those images are imaginary and the real march was a victory march around the state celebrating this glorious win.

 

Moniker Adetutu Williams