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Nigerians, especially political stakeholders, have
expressed mixed reactions to INEC’s preparations, capacity
and challenges in organising a free, fair and credible general
elections in 2015.
A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) nationwide survey on
various issues hinged on INEC’s build-up to the conduct of
successful polls, recorded series of mixed feelings on the
delay in the passage of the 2010 (further amendment)
Electoral Act in particular.
The stakeholders, including political party leaders,
lawmakers, legal practitioners, election monitors and civil
society organisations, expressed divergent views on the
absence of special tribunal to try electoral offenders and
enforcement of guidelines.
While many of the stakeholders said the delay by the
National Assembly to pass the act would cause setback to
INEC efforts, others belived that the electoral body could rely
on the existing law in 2015 because the new act might not
eventually take effect immediately.
INEC’s proposal and approval by NASS to request for
deployment of military personnel for elections received the
disapproval of the political class, legal practitioners and
some civil society organisations.
A cross section of the stakeholders took critical look at the
distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards and the
Continuous Voter Registration, concluding that incidents of
mix-up and missing cards did not help matters.
Respondents criticised non implementation of reports by
election observers, saying they did not contribute positive
impact to the conduct of subsequent elections in the
country.
A lecturer in the Department of Political Science in Umaru
Musa Yar’adua University, Katsina, Malam Musa Usman,
said the reports of such observers had remained
unimplemented.
Usman Said that the reports of the Joint Association of Civil
Society Groups that wrote against the 2011 election was
never used.
He said that INEC was facing serious challenges in
prosecuting the offenders because they were being
sponsored by top politicians.
A lawyer, Mr. John Danasabe, said that the nation was
passing through difficult time as INEC would not have the
capacity to punish offenders.
Mr Richard Tiebiri, a Political Analyst and Assistant Legal
Adviser, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa, said:
“I must tell you, about 30 per cent of eligible Nigerians are
yet to receive their voter cards; I urge INEC to find lasting
solution to such ugly trend.’’
In Edo, stakeholders expressed the opinion that election
tribunals would help reduce rigging and fast-track quick
dispensation of justice on electoral malpractices.
Rep. Akpodiogaga Emeyese expressed the belief that setting
up of such tribunal was long overdue.
The Political Adviser to Gov. Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta,
Chief Fred Majemite, expressed similar views, saying that
INEC could only petition but did not have the power of arrest
and prosecution in the current dispensation.
He said INEC’s reliance on police and other law
enforcement agencies to arrest and prosecute electoral
offenders had not made their job easy on the commission’s
effort to curb electoral malpractices.
“Hearing of such cases in the conventional courts delays
the dispensation of justice.”
For Danladi Ibrahim, a public commentator in Yola, INEC is
weak in implementing the election guidelines.
“You see posters, bill boards and you hear and see media
campaigns telling you to vote for this man or that woman
going on in our media ahead of the campaign period,” he
said.
On the delay in the passage of Electoral Act, many
respondents in Adamawa said it was not too late for now.
” It can be passed a month to the election; as you know
there wasn’t any much amendment in the act,” Ibrahim said.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Ondo State chapter
Publicity Secretary, Mr Abayomi Adesanya, also expressed
concern on the need for INEC to enforce guidelines towards
the 2015 elections.
“We hope they will start to enforce their own guidelines
because a political party has been flouting these guidelines
and there has been no penalty for doing so.
A Calabar-based legal practitioner, Mr Utum Eteng,
expressed fears that INEC might be in a dilemma over the
conduct of the polls because of the proposed amendments
to the Electoral Act.
Findings showed that NASS recently harmonised the
amendments to the act but was yet to transmit the
document to the executive for assent.
Eteng, however, said that INEC could still use the old law to
conduct the 2015 election.
In Benue, stakeholders rejected the deployment of soldiers
to monitor the elections.
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Makurdi branch, said it
was partnering with INEC to prosecute electoral offenders
during the conduct of 2015 elections in the state.
Its Vice chairman, Mr. Titus Hyundu, said the association
had agreed to support the conduct of credible elections by
identifying electoral defaulters and getting them arrested.
” If there is any challenge at all, it should be administrative;
maybe there is not enough finance to pay the lawyers but
legally speaking, there is no challenge with INEC
prosecuting offenders,” Hyundu said.
However, an INEC Director, Mrs. Rose Mangkam, shared a
contrary view, blaming the government for not implementing
the Justice Mohammed Uwais report on Electoral Reform
which suggested the creation of a commission for INEC to
handle electoral offences.
According to Mangkam, the wholesale implementation of
the report will enable INEC to have it’s own lawyers who
will undertake investigation of offenders and prosecute
them.
A lawmaker, Mr Dave Iorhemba, said INECs proposal for the
deployment of soldiers to monitor the elections, already
approved, would undermine the gains of the country’s
democracy.
The former speaker of the Benue House of Assembly, said
the constitution was unambiguous over whose duties it was
to maintain internal security and wondered the reasons for
such proposals.
“Let not our electoral process be seen as a war path; I am
totally against the militarisation of the process.”
In Gombe State, a stalwart of the All Progressives Congress
(APC), Mallam Sullaiman Hassan, accused lawmakers at
the NASS of stalling the passage of the bill on Electoral Act
for selfish interest.
“They will make sure the bill is not passed so that they will
continue with the practices that brought them in to power,”
he said.
In Ebonyi, stakeholders said that issues of effective
enforcement of guidelines and time table by INEC and delay
in passing the electoral act would pose serious challenges
to the conduct of the elections.
Chief Samuel Okobe, Secretary of a faction of the All
Progressives Congress (APC) in Abakaliki, doubted the
ability of INEC to effectively enforce the guidelines and time
table.
“The incessant crises rocking several political parties as a
result of factionalisation of leadership might affect the
timely nomination of candidates to fly their flags at the
polls.’’
Mrs Chinwe Iroha, a Civil Liberties Organistion (CLO)
member, decried the proposed deployment of the military by
INEC, for the elections.
“This is a brazen violation of the peoples’ rights and an
indictment on the police capability to discharge their
duties.’’
On the proposal for independent candidates, he said: “An
independent candidate would not be under any form of
pressure from anyone, as it was only when this provision is
made, that the country would produce good leaders.”
But stakeholders in Lagos State, particularly party leaders,
lawmakers and civil societies identified lack of regulation of
sale of nomination forms, 90-day campaign period and poor
enforcement as some shortcomings of INEC guidelines.
The National Secretary of the National Conscience Party
(NCP), Mr Ayodele Akele, said that INEC must regulate the
sale of nomination forms by parties.
He said that the cost of the forms made it difficult for an
average Nigerian with leadership qualities to contest for
election.
Akele said that the 90-day period which INEC provided for
electioneering campaigns was not enough.
He said that there was the need for the electorate to have
enough time to listen to manifestos and know candidates
better to be able to choose wisely.
Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, a human rights activist and
President of Women Arise – an NGO – said that adequate
funding of INEC would be critical to the success of the 2015
polls.
“I am hoping that the recommendations of the National
Conference which, I am a member of, would have been
adopted before the 2015 general elections,” she added.
Contributing, some Lagos State lawmakers condemned
non-adherence to electoral guidelines and timetable by
some politicians and political parties.
Mr Sanni Agunbiade, representing Ikorodu Constituency 1,
also noted that some politicians were not operating in line
with INEC guidelines.
A former Deputy National Chairman of the Alliance for
Democracy, Alhaji Musa Umar, said some politicians had
been campaigning for elections through some NGOs while
others were spending above the approved amounts.
“For INEC to be very effective, it must be totally independent
in its finances and operations which include enforcement,’’
he said.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Adekunle
Ogunmola, however, expressed optimism that the Electoral
Act would be passed before the end of December.
He stressed the need for a special tribunal to try electoral
offenders to promote justice, noting that the regular courts
were already congested.
Ogunmola said that INEC learnt from reports of observers
and they were put into consideration in making elections
better.
In Kwara, the All Progressives Congress (APC) condemned
the proposed deployment of military during elections, saying
that it would amount to an infringement of rights of voters.
Chief Wole Oke, an APC chieftain, said deploying military to
polling units would be counterproductive as it was sure to
scare people away from exercising their civic responsibility.
But Ekiti State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Alhaji
Halilu Pai, said INEC had no plan to tamper with the
guidelines and time table already set for 2015 elections.
Pai also said deployment of security agents before, during
and after elections was normal as it was aimed at saving
lives and property.
He urged NASS to expedite action on the passage of the on-
going amendments of the electoral act.
He warned that those without the permanent cards would
not be allowed to vote.
The issue of military deployment, however, in Nasarawa
State, was welcomed as the APC and the state chapter of
PDP expressed support for the idea.
According to Usman Mohammed, state Legal Adviser of the
APC, the security of lives was paramount in view of the
insecurity in the country.
“We all know that in recent time, insurgents target places
where people congregate and in order not to give them
opportunity, the military had to be on hand to protect the
lives of both the electorate and electoral officials,”
Mohammed said.
He, however, said the military should only be deployed to
troubled spots and volatile areas.
Similarly, Mr. Yunana Iliya, state Chairman of PDP, lauded
the proposal.
Iliya said with the level of fear in the country, the people
needed to be assured of their security, to perform their civic
responsibility.
In Kano, the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Alhaji
Abdullahi Danyaya, said prosecution of election offenders
was not part of INEC’s responsibilities but the security
agencies.
He called for the setting up of a panel to prosecute offenders
to serve as a deterrent to others.
Also, a onetime Military Governor of Katsina State, and a
Senator in the Third Republic, Retired. Col. Isa Kachako,
said it was a disgrace to Nigeria to deploy military during
elections.
In Jigawa, INEC Head of Voters Education and Publicity,
Alhaji Surajo Kore, called on civil society organisations to
assist in voters’ enlightenment and mobilisation, to ensure
a successful election in 2015.
Kore said that INEC was fully prepared for the next year’s
elections because people were fully mobilised and voters’
cards were also distributed.
In his contribution, a legal practitioner in Dutse, Mr Muktar
Usman, said that the only way to ensure a credible election
was people should be allowed to vote and stay around the
polling centres for their votes to be counted in their
presence.
He rejected the idea of deploying military personnel to
supervise election, stressing that they would not help in
anything.
A legal practitioner in Bauchi State, Malam Isma’ila Idris,
said unless the bill for further amendment of the electoral
act was passed, the situation would not augur well for the
people who were expecting changes.
He added that time was running out, therefore, the
lawmakers should understand the importance of the act and
pass the bill for it to be a reference guide to the general
elections.
Reports from Enugu State indicated that political parties
decried the non-existence of special tribunal to try electoral
offenders.
The state Chairman of Kowa party, Mr Chinedu Anuche, said
that establishment of such tribunals would discourage
electoral malpractice and violence in Nigeria.
The chairman, however, commended election observers for
their roles in promoting democracy and governance in the
country
He said that their recommendations had contributed to
some of the electoral reforms in the country.
The chairman called for more collaboration among INEC,
political parties and security agencies
Also, the Secretary of the PDP, Mr Steve Oruruo, said the
delay in the passage of the act would not disrupt the 2015
elections.
“With the quality of administration that I have seen under
Prof Attahiru Jega, we are hitting standardisation.“
Religious organisations, including the Christian Association
of Nigeria (CAN) in Borno, also expressed the view that
politicians should avoid rancour by playing politics
according to the rules.
Borno CAN chairman, Rev. Titus Pona, told NAN:
“Politicians should play a fair game of politics without
bitterness with one another.’’
On the state of preparedness by the police, the Borno Police
boss, Mr Clement Adoda, said that the command was ready
to provide a level playing ground to all political
stakeholders.
Adoda warned politicians against thuggery political
recklessness usually associated with electioneering in
some parts of the country.
The recurring issue of the passage of the electoral law
played out in Osun when a lawmaker, Abiodun Awolola,
said the delay would not have any effect on the 2015
general elections,
Awolola, a member of Osun House of Assembly, said that
although the elections were fast approaching, the law could
not be implemented immediately if finally passed before the
conduct of the elections.
“Even if the bill is passed, it will not have any effect on the
election because its implementation will not start
immediately.’’
Sharing a similar view, Mr Kamil Oyedele, another law
maker, said 2010 Electoral Act was still valid.
Meanwhile, Mr Adegboyega Adebayo, the state Coordinator
of Civil Progress Group (CPG), expressed the fear that
democracy might not be sustainable with the heavy
deployment of security personnel during elections.
In Oyo State, Alhaji Nasir Ayilara, the Resident Electoral
Commissioner (REC), said in Ibadan that the polls would be
better than the 2011 edition adjudged to be free and fair by
international observers and monitors.
“We have very high hope that the 2015 general elections
will be better than that of the 2011. You know 2011 was a
departure from previous ones,” he said.
The REC said INEC had been tackling the challenges facing
the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) distribution and
Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) in line with
international standards.
“The major threat to the conduct of 2015 elections is
insecurity as hoodlums and thugs may want to perpetrate
violence,” he said.
Commenting on INEC activities towards the elections, a
Kaduna-based frontline politician, Alhaji Balarabe Musa,
said the electoral body was not ready.
Musa said in Kaduna that the absence of an amended law
would negate the 2015 election.
According to him, the election time table released by the
commission will have very little binding effect since there is
no law guiding the electoral process.
“INEC is not prepared for the 2015 election; we are going to
have a mess; we are going to have imperfect election, bad
election and it will be called elections, and winners will be
allowed, which means there will be no legitimacy,” he said.
He said NASS granting of INEC request to use military for
elections was unconstitutional.
Musa cautioned that ceding such powers to INEC would
compromise the neutrality expected of the commission and
portray it as “part and parcel of the ringing system”.
He said the commission did not require a special tribunal to
prosecute offenders if it was serious in doing so based on
existing laws.
The former governor also spoke on the operations of civil
society organisations in the country, saying they had failed
woefully in the discharge of their responsibilities.
The need for INEC to have “constitutional autonomy’’ was
stressed by political stakeholders in Delta.
The state Chairman of the Labour Party, Chief Tony Ezeagu,
said for INEC to deliver on its obligation to the nation, it
must have a capacity to operate independent of the
government.
“The electoral body cannot be said to be independent as
long as it depends on the government of the day for funding.
The constitution should make provision for INEC to have its
own budgetary allocation.
“Also, the appointment of the chairman of the commission
should be rested in the hands of the chairmen of the various
political parties, not the government.’’
Politicians in Anambra, however, said the time table and
guidelines for the elections, if strictly followed, would build
better political orientation and advance the political culture
of the country.
The electorate in Rivers also kicked against deployment of
troops in 2015 general elections as undemocratic.
Mr Ben Orlu told NAN in Port Harcourt that deployment of
troops was capable of triggering voters’ apathy.
Orlu, who is a community leader, said that presence of
soldiers would undermine the tenets of democracy as well
as truncate electoral values.
‘’If INEC is sincere, it should engage the services of police
and other para-military, who I believe could maintain peace
and order during the election.
Also commenting, the Zamfara Commissioner for
Information, Alhaji Ibrahim Birnin-Magaji, said non
prosecution of electoral offenders had created more avenues
for election crimes and offences.
Birnin-Magaji noted that if INEC and other election tribunals
could carry out their duties effectively to arrest and
prosecute offenders, the rate of violation of guidelines would
reduce.
The commissioner therefore called on INEC, election
tribunals, and other enforcement agencies to ensure
prosecution and punishment of electoral law offenders.
In Abia, Prof. Etannibi Alemika, a lecturer in the Department
of Sociology, University of Jos, urged the Federal
Government to ensure timely release of funds to the relevant
agencies concerned with the 2015 elections to enable them
to discharge their responsibilities.
Alemika said the delay in the release of funds to police in
past elections always resulted in the non-payment of
allowances to policemen on election duty.
He said the amendment of the electoral act ought to have
been completed early by the NASS to enable Nigerians to
study it before the commencement of the elections.
Alemika lauded INEC’s proposal for the use of the military
during the polls, saying that ‘’the military can be used in the
distribution of logistics and election materials.’’
Reacting to the issues at stake ahead of the election, the
INEC’s Director of Education and Publicity, Mr Oluwole
Osaze-Uzi, said there was need to establish special
commission to handle electoral offences.
Osaze-Uzi said in Abuja that INEC’s roles did not include
punishing the offenders but to present them in court for
prosecution.
“It will be good to have special tribunal within the exciting
judicial framework, or we can have special tribunal to do
the same,’’ Osaze-uzi said.
He said that the commission would continue to do all within
its mandate pending when the appropriate decisions would
be taken on the matter.(NAN)
expressed mixed reactions to INEC’s preparations, capacity
and challenges in organising a free, fair and credible general
elections in 2015.
A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) nationwide survey on
various issues hinged on INEC’s build-up to the conduct of
successful polls, recorded series of mixed feelings on the
delay in the passage of the 2010 (further amendment)
Electoral Act in particular.
The stakeholders, including political party leaders,
lawmakers, legal practitioners, election monitors and civil
society organisations, expressed divergent views on the
absence of special tribunal to try electoral offenders and
enforcement of guidelines.
While many of the stakeholders said the delay by the
National Assembly to pass the act would cause setback to
INEC efforts, others belived that the electoral body could rely
on the existing law in 2015 because the new act might not
eventually take effect immediately.
INEC’s proposal and approval by NASS to request for
deployment of military personnel for elections received the
disapproval of the political class, legal practitioners and
some civil society organisations.
A cross section of the stakeholders took critical look at the
distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards and the
Continuous Voter Registration, concluding that incidents of
mix-up and missing cards did not help matters.
Respondents criticised non implementation of reports by
election observers, saying they did not contribute positive
impact to the conduct of subsequent elections in the
country.
A lecturer in the Department of Political Science in Umaru
Musa Yar’adua University, Katsina, Malam Musa Usman,
said the reports of such observers had remained
unimplemented.
Usman Said that the reports of the Joint Association of Civil
Society Groups that wrote against the 2011 election was
never used.
He said that INEC was facing serious challenges in
prosecuting the offenders because they were being
sponsored by top politicians.
A lawyer, Mr. John Danasabe, said that the nation was
passing through difficult time as INEC would not have the
capacity to punish offenders.
Mr Richard Tiebiri, a Political Analyst and Assistant Legal
Adviser, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa, said:
“I must tell you, about 30 per cent of eligible Nigerians are
yet to receive their voter cards; I urge INEC to find lasting
solution to such ugly trend.’’
In Edo, stakeholders expressed the opinion that election
tribunals would help reduce rigging and fast-track quick
dispensation of justice on electoral malpractices.
Rep. Akpodiogaga Emeyese expressed the belief that setting
up of such tribunal was long overdue.
The Political Adviser to Gov. Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta,
Chief Fred Majemite, expressed similar views, saying that
INEC could only petition but did not have the power of arrest
and prosecution in the current dispensation.
He said INEC’s reliance on police and other law
enforcement agencies to arrest and prosecute electoral
offenders had not made their job easy on the commission’s
effort to curb electoral malpractices.
“Hearing of such cases in the conventional courts delays
the dispensation of justice.”
For Danladi Ibrahim, a public commentator in Yola, INEC is
weak in implementing the election guidelines.
“You see posters, bill boards and you hear and see media
campaigns telling you to vote for this man or that woman
going on in our media ahead of the campaign period,” he
said.
On the delay in the passage of Electoral Act, many
respondents in Adamawa said it was not too late for now.
” It can be passed a month to the election; as you know
there wasn’t any much amendment in the act,” Ibrahim said.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Ondo State chapter
Publicity Secretary, Mr Abayomi Adesanya, also expressed
concern on the need for INEC to enforce guidelines towards
the 2015 elections.
“We hope they will start to enforce their own guidelines
because a political party has been flouting these guidelines
and there has been no penalty for doing so.
A Calabar-based legal practitioner, Mr Utum Eteng,
expressed fears that INEC might be in a dilemma over the
conduct of the polls because of the proposed amendments
to the Electoral Act.
Findings showed that NASS recently harmonised the
amendments to the act but was yet to transmit the
document to the executive for assent.
Eteng, however, said that INEC could still use the old law to
conduct the 2015 election.
In Benue, stakeholders rejected the deployment of soldiers
to monitor the elections.
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Makurdi branch, said it
was partnering with INEC to prosecute electoral offenders
during the conduct of 2015 elections in the state.
Its Vice chairman, Mr. Titus Hyundu, said the association
had agreed to support the conduct of credible elections by
identifying electoral defaulters and getting them arrested.
” If there is any challenge at all, it should be administrative;
maybe there is not enough finance to pay the lawyers but
legally speaking, there is no challenge with INEC
prosecuting offenders,” Hyundu said.
However, an INEC Director, Mrs. Rose Mangkam, shared a
contrary view, blaming the government for not implementing
the Justice Mohammed Uwais report on Electoral Reform
which suggested the creation of a commission for INEC to
handle electoral offences.
According to Mangkam, the wholesale implementation of
the report will enable INEC to have it’s own lawyers who
will undertake investigation of offenders and prosecute
them.
A lawmaker, Mr Dave Iorhemba, said INECs proposal for the
deployment of soldiers to monitor the elections, already
approved, would undermine the gains of the country’s
democracy.
The former speaker of the Benue House of Assembly, said
the constitution was unambiguous over whose duties it was
to maintain internal security and wondered the reasons for
such proposals.
“Let not our electoral process be seen as a war path; I am
totally against the militarisation of the process.”
In Gombe State, a stalwart of the All Progressives Congress
(APC), Mallam Sullaiman Hassan, accused lawmakers at
the NASS of stalling the passage of the bill on Electoral Act
for selfish interest.
“They will make sure the bill is not passed so that they will
continue with the practices that brought them in to power,”
he said.
In Ebonyi, stakeholders said that issues of effective
enforcement of guidelines and time table by INEC and delay
in passing the electoral act would pose serious challenges
to the conduct of the elections.
Chief Samuel Okobe, Secretary of a faction of the All
Progressives Congress (APC) in Abakaliki, doubted the
ability of INEC to effectively enforce the guidelines and time
table.
“The incessant crises rocking several political parties as a
result of factionalisation of leadership might affect the
timely nomination of candidates to fly their flags at the
polls.’’
Mrs Chinwe Iroha, a Civil Liberties Organistion (CLO)
member, decried the proposed deployment of the military by
INEC, for the elections.
“This is a brazen violation of the peoples’ rights and an
indictment on the police capability to discharge their
duties.’’
On the proposal for independent candidates, he said: “An
independent candidate would not be under any form of
pressure from anyone, as it was only when this provision is
made, that the country would produce good leaders.”
But stakeholders in Lagos State, particularly party leaders,
lawmakers and civil societies identified lack of regulation of
sale of nomination forms, 90-day campaign period and poor
enforcement as some shortcomings of INEC guidelines.
The National Secretary of the National Conscience Party
(NCP), Mr Ayodele Akele, said that INEC must regulate the
sale of nomination forms by parties.
He said that the cost of the forms made it difficult for an
average Nigerian with leadership qualities to contest for
election.
Akele said that the 90-day period which INEC provided for
electioneering campaigns was not enough.
He said that there was the need for the electorate to have
enough time to listen to manifestos and know candidates
better to be able to choose wisely.
Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, a human rights activist and
President of Women Arise – an NGO – said that adequate
funding of INEC would be critical to the success of the 2015
polls.
“I am hoping that the recommendations of the National
Conference which, I am a member of, would have been
adopted before the 2015 general elections,” she added.
Contributing, some Lagos State lawmakers condemned
non-adherence to electoral guidelines and timetable by
some politicians and political parties.
Mr Sanni Agunbiade, representing Ikorodu Constituency 1,
also noted that some politicians were not operating in line
with INEC guidelines.
A former Deputy National Chairman of the Alliance for
Democracy, Alhaji Musa Umar, said some politicians had
been campaigning for elections through some NGOs while
others were spending above the approved amounts.
“For INEC to be very effective, it must be totally independent
in its finances and operations which include enforcement,’’
he said.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Adekunle
Ogunmola, however, expressed optimism that the Electoral
Act would be passed before the end of December.
He stressed the need for a special tribunal to try electoral
offenders to promote justice, noting that the regular courts
were already congested.
Ogunmola said that INEC learnt from reports of observers
and they were put into consideration in making elections
better.
In Kwara, the All Progressives Congress (APC) condemned
the proposed deployment of military during elections, saying
that it would amount to an infringement of rights of voters.
Chief Wole Oke, an APC chieftain, said deploying military to
polling units would be counterproductive as it was sure to
scare people away from exercising their civic responsibility.
But Ekiti State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Alhaji
Halilu Pai, said INEC had no plan to tamper with the
guidelines and time table already set for 2015 elections.
Pai also said deployment of security agents before, during
and after elections was normal as it was aimed at saving
lives and property.
He urged NASS to expedite action on the passage of the on-
going amendments of the electoral act.
He warned that those without the permanent cards would
not be allowed to vote.
The issue of military deployment, however, in Nasarawa
State, was welcomed as the APC and the state chapter of
PDP expressed support for the idea.
According to Usman Mohammed, state Legal Adviser of the
APC, the security of lives was paramount in view of the
insecurity in the country.
“We all know that in recent time, insurgents target places
where people congregate and in order not to give them
opportunity, the military had to be on hand to protect the
lives of both the electorate and electoral officials,”
Mohammed said.
He, however, said the military should only be deployed to
troubled spots and volatile areas.
Similarly, Mr. Yunana Iliya, state Chairman of PDP, lauded
the proposal.
Iliya said with the level of fear in the country, the people
needed to be assured of their security, to perform their civic
responsibility.
In Kano, the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Alhaji
Abdullahi Danyaya, said prosecution of election offenders
was not part of INEC’s responsibilities but the security
agencies.
He called for the setting up of a panel to prosecute offenders
to serve as a deterrent to others.
Also, a onetime Military Governor of Katsina State, and a
Senator in the Third Republic, Retired. Col. Isa Kachako,
said it was a disgrace to Nigeria to deploy military during
elections.
In Jigawa, INEC Head of Voters Education and Publicity,
Alhaji Surajo Kore, called on civil society organisations to
assist in voters’ enlightenment and mobilisation, to ensure
a successful election in 2015.
Kore said that INEC was fully prepared for the next year’s
elections because people were fully mobilised and voters’
cards were also distributed.
In his contribution, a legal practitioner in Dutse, Mr Muktar
Usman, said that the only way to ensure a credible election
was people should be allowed to vote and stay around the
polling centres for their votes to be counted in their
presence.
He rejected the idea of deploying military personnel to
supervise election, stressing that they would not help in
anything.
A legal practitioner in Bauchi State, Malam Isma’ila Idris,
said unless the bill for further amendment of the electoral
act was passed, the situation would not augur well for the
people who were expecting changes.
He added that time was running out, therefore, the
lawmakers should understand the importance of the act and
pass the bill for it to be a reference guide to the general
elections.
Reports from Enugu State indicated that political parties
decried the non-existence of special tribunal to try electoral
offenders.
The state Chairman of Kowa party, Mr Chinedu Anuche, said
that establishment of such tribunals would discourage
electoral malpractice and violence in Nigeria.
The chairman, however, commended election observers for
their roles in promoting democracy and governance in the
country
He said that their recommendations had contributed to
some of the electoral reforms in the country.
The chairman called for more collaboration among INEC,
political parties and security agencies
Also, the Secretary of the PDP, Mr Steve Oruruo, said the
delay in the passage of the act would not disrupt the 2015
elections.
“With the quality of administration that I have seen under
Prof Attahiru Jega, we are hitting standardisation.“
Religious organisations, including the Christian Association
of Nigeria (CAN) in Borno, also expressed the view that
politicians should avoid rancour by playing politics
according to the rules.
Borno CAN chairman, Rev. Titus Pona, told NAN:
“Politicians should play a fair game of politics without
bitterness with one another.’’
On the state of preparedness by the police, the Borno Police
boss, Mr Clement Adoda, said that the command was ready
to provide a level playing ground to all political
stakeholders.
Adoda warned politicians against thuggery political
recklessness usually associated with electioneering in
some parts of the country.
The recurring issue of the passage of the electoral law
played out in Osun when a lawmaker, Abiodun Awolola,
said the delay would not have any effect on the 2015
general elections,
Awolola, a member of Osun House of Assembly, said that
although the elections were fast approaching, the law could
not be implemented immediately if finally passed before the
conduct of the elections.
“Even if the bill is passed, it will not have any effect on the
election because its implementation will not start
immediately.’’
Sharing a similar view, Mr Kamil Oyedele, another law
maker, said 2010 Electoral Act was still valid.
Meanwhile, Mr Adegboyega Adebayo, the state Coordinator
of Civil Progress Group (CPG), expressed the fear that
democracy might not be sustainable with the heavy
deployment of security personnel during elections.
In Oyo State, Alhaji Nasir Ayilara, the Resident Electoral
Commissioner (REC), said in Ibadan that the polls would be
better than the 2011 edition adjudged to be free and fair by
international observers and monitors.
“We have very high hope that the 2015 general elections
will be better than that of the 2011. You know 2011 was a
departure from previous ones,” he said.
The REC said INEC had been tackling the challenges facing
the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) distribution and
Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) in line with
international standards.
“The major threat to the conduct of 2015 elections is
insecurity as hoodlums and thugs may want to perpetrate
violence,” he said.
Commenting on INEC activities towards the elections, a
Kaduna-based frontline politician, Alhaji Balarabe Musa,
said the electoral body was not ready.
Musa said in Kaduna that the absence of an amended law
would negate the 2015 election.
According to him, the election time table released by the
commission will have very little binding effect since there is
no law guiding the electoral process.
“INEC is not prepared for the 2015 election; we are going to
have a mess; we are going to have imperfect election, bad
election and it will be called elections, and winners will be
allowed, which means there will be no legitimacy,” he said.
He said NASS granting of INEC request to use military for
elections was unconstitutional.
Musa cautioned that ceding such powers to INEC would
compromise the neutrality expected of the commission and
portray it as “part and parcel of the ringing system”.
He said the commission did not require a special tribunal to
prosecute offenders if it was serious in doing so based on
existing laws.
The former governor also spoke on the operations of civil
society organisations in the country, saying they had failed
woefully in the discharge of their responsibilities.
The need for INEC to have “constitutional autonomy’’ was
stressed by political stakeholders in Delta.
The state Chairman of the Labour Party, Chief Tony Ezeagu,
said for INEC to deliver on its obligation to the nation, it
must have a capacity to operate independent of the
government.
“The electoral body cannot be said to be independent as
long as it depends on the government of the day for funding.
The constitution should make provision for INEC to have its
own budgetary allocation.
“Also, the appointment of the chairman of the commission
should be rested in the hands of the chairmen of the various
political parties, not the government.’’
Politicians in Anambra, however, said the time table and
guidelines for the elections, if strictly followed, would build
better political orientation and advance the political culture
of the country.
The electorate in Rivers also kicked against deployment of
troops in 2015 general elections as undemocratic.
Mr Ben Orlu told NAN in Port Harcourt that deployment of
troops was capable of triggering voters’ apathy.
Orlu, who is a community leader, said that presence of
soldiers would undermine the tenets of democracy as well
as truncate electoral values.
‘’If INEC is sincere, it should engage the services of police
and other para-military, who I believe could maintain peace
and order during the election.
Also commenting, the Zamfara Commissioner for
Information, Alhaji Ibrahim Birnin-Magaji, said non
prosecution of electoral offenders had created more avenues
for election crimes and offences.
Birnin-Magaji noted that if INEC and other election tribunals
could carry out their duties effectively to arrest and
prosecute offenders, the rate of violation of guidelines would
reduce.
The commissioner therefore called on INEC, election
tribunals, and other enforcement agencies to ensure
prosecution and punishment of electoral law offenders.
In Abia, Prof. Etannibi Alemika, a lecturer in the Department
of Sociology, University of Jos, urged the Federal
Government to ensure timely release of funds to the relevant
agencies concerned with the 2015 elections to enable them
to discharge their responsibilities.
Alemika said the delay in the release of funds to police in
past elections always resulted in the non-payment of
allowances to policemen on election duty.
He said the amendment of the electoral act ought to have
been completed early by the NASS to enable Nigerians to
study it before the commencement of the elections.
Alemika lauded INEC’s proposal for the use of the military
during the polls, saying that ‘’the military can be used in the
distribution of logistics and election materials.’’
Reacting to the issues at stake ahead of the election, the
INEC’s Director of Education and Publicity, Mr Oluwole
Osaze-Uzi, said there was need to establish special
commission to handle electoral offences.
Osaze-Uzi said in Abuja that INEC’s roles did not include
punishing the offenders but to present them in court for
prosecution.
“It will be good to have special tribunal within the exciting
judicial framework, or we can have special tribunal to do
the same,’’ Osaze-uzi said.
He said that the commission would continue to do all within
its mandate pending when the appropriate decisions would
be taken on the matter.(NAN)
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