The guidelines for the conduct of the 2019 general elections released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC last Monday have features that could mar the much anticipated February 16 Presidential and March 2 polls.
INEC after series of meeting with critical stakeholders in the electoral process including political parties, civil societies and the media still retain the disputed simultaneous accreditation and voting pattern, phone number box for failure of authentication of fingerprints by the smart card reader and voting points.
According to clause 10(c) of the guidelines which provides for simultaneous creditation and voting, “accreditation and voting shall commence at 8.00am and close at 2:00pm, provided that all voters already on the queue by 2:00pm shall be allowed for accreditation and voting”.
Clause 10 of the guidelines made the use of card reader mandatory for accreditation and offensive for poll official not to use it. Clause 10(b) provides that, “a person intending to vote shall be verified to be the same person on the Register of Voters by use of the Smart Card Reader (SCR) in the manner prescribed in these Regulations and Guidelines.
(b) Any poll official who violates the provision of Clause 10 (a) shall be deemed to be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to prosecution”.
However, clause 11(b) provides that, where a voter’s PVC is read but his/her fingerprint is not
authenticated, the APO I shall refer the voter to the APO II who shall: (i) request the voter to thumbprint the appropriate box in the Register of Voters;
(ii) request the voter to provide his/her phone number in the appropriate box in the Register of Voters; (iii) continue with the accreditation of the voter; and (iv) refer the voter to the PO or APO (VP) for issuance of ballot paper(s)”.
Another contentious issue in the guidelines is the creation of voting points. While INEC consistently denied the creating additional polling units the Commission admitted that it has formed voting points particularly in Abuja based on experience of the 2015 general elections. This has accommodated in clause 22(b) of the guidelines which says, “where Voting Points have been created the APOI shall: (i) enter the result on form EC8A (VP); and (ii) submit to the presiding officer who shall consolidate the result using form EC8A and attach the EC8A (VP) to form EC8A.
INEC argued that the new guidelines, particularly the three contentious items are innovations to make elections more credible. For instance, the simultaneous accreditation and voting pattern experimented in the off season elections reduced chances of multiple voting and results manipulation associated with late commencement of voting, phone number box is the abolition of the disputed incidence form used in 2015 while voting points is for convenience.
However, stakeholders and pundits have raised alarm that these issues will do more harm than good to the 2019 general elections. According to them, the simultaneous accreditation and voting would prevent voters from guiding their votes against manipulation of results, use of phone number box is a replacement of the incidence which aided massive rigging in 2015 while voting points could facilitate over voting within a polling unit.
At a stakeholders meeting preparatory to the release of the guidelines, political under the auspices of Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC and Coalition of United Political Parties, CUPP through their Spokesperson Ikenga Ugochinyere the national chairman of the APP Action Peoples party and the Spokesperson of IPAC and Opposition CUPP raised alarm that tampering with the 2015 accreditation method which allowed separate accreditation and voting will give room for a scanty polling unit that will aid rigging.
The political parties also insisted that the Commission must provide a form to record and announce accreditation and issue it out to the political parties before voting starts, to deter tampering with the results since accreditation has been known.
Furthermore, 61 political parties that made up CUPP penultimate to release of the guidelines rejected the clauses on simultaneous accreditation and voting, use of phone number box and voting points with a threat to initiate a legal action.
Again, their Spokesperson, Ugochinyere, “political parties demand retention of 2011 and 2015 separate accreditation time and separate voting time to help forestall rigging with the presence of voters at the polling unit instead of INEC 2019 simultaneous accreditation and voting.
“Political parties demand announcement of accreditation figures by 12 noon on Election Day and recorded in a signed form and given to party agents before voting starts to forestall doctoring of election figures during collation.
“Political parties reject the clauses in the guideline which allows unduly accredited voters to vote especially the clause that allows voters with PVC whose name is not in the register of voters to vote.
“Political parties reject the creation or usage of secret polling units called voting points settlement and demand full list and location of such units”.
Speaking on the issue, Athanausius Okon, National Co-ordinator, Friends of Nigeria said “you can run and finish accreditation and thumbprint; you can leave to another pulling unit. That is not impossible. There is nothing impossible in this dispensation. This can lead some people to run somewhere else and do some funny things.
“Let me tell you again election process does not end with thumb printing. There are other things you do to facilitate somebody winning. People that just finished accreditation and voting can be as well used as mercenaries to do something else funny to facilitate somebody’s victory somewhere.
“Another controversial issue now is the section 11(b) of the INEC guideline that talks about a voter with the PVC but fingerprint not read but has been allowed to vote. If your fingerprint is not read the card reader but electoral officials are convinced you are the owner, all the details contained on the card are yours you should be allowed to vote that is another contentious issue.
“Because the amendment passed by National Assembly would have prevented this but INEC is allowing all those who fingerprints do not read to vote. Are the laws of the land backing all these things; these guidelines that some people are breaking? Sometimes we break it to satisfy certain interests. That is why we have to holistically make it a people-driven thing”.
