Card Reader: Jega’s last card.

Last week, Tuesday June 16-Friday June 19, 2015, the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) in the 36 states of the federation including Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), converged at the Le Meridien Hotel, Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State for a retreat to enable them to reflect on the March 28 Presidential/National Assembly Elections as well as the April 11, 2015 Governorship/House of Assembly Elections with a view to identifying areas of conflict and to ventilate on how to improve on those vexed areas in subsequent elections.

The retreat which had the theme: ‘2015 General Elections: Lessons and the Way forward’ which was presided over by the outgoing Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, also had other senior staff of the commission in attendance to assess each other.

By the assertion of the INEC boss, the RECs determination and commitment to the commission’s resolve to conduct the most credible, free and fair elections in the history of Nigeria had preponderance over the isolated criticisms and failures recorded in some places and so, they deserved commendations.

But pathetic was Prof. Jega’s observation and consequent condemnation of pervasive and fragrant rebuff of the commission’s directive concerning the use of Card Reader Machines for the governorship and the House of Assembly elections by electoral officers in some states.

The chief electoral umpire could therefore not manage his feelings or gloss over the fact that there would be sanctions against the states and places where the directive to use Card Readers were flouted.

Chairman of the Commission, Professor Attahiru Jega

Prof. Jega explained that prior to the state elections sufficient warnings were issued to the effect that where Card Readers were found to be dysfunctional, elections in such poling units should be deferred to the next day and on no account should the electoral officers resort to manual accreditation of voters. He thus expressed disappointment that this directive was adamantly rebuffed in preference for manual accreditation which was tolerable only in the Presidential elections.

However, sounding taciturn on the sanctions that would be meted out to the states and places where the directive on the use of Card Readers were disregarded, the INEC boss said the Elections Petitions Tribunals have been instructed on what to do.

“The states that suspended the use of Card Readers for manual accreditation for governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections, breached INEC directives that on no account should manual accreditation be administered on both elections.

“The tribunal would look into the areas where card readers were put aside for manual accreditation because there is a difference between using Card Readers and using incident forms.

“If a person used card readers and his fingerprints were not read; once his details had been verified, he or she would be accredited to vote upon completion of an incident form.

“What we meant by saying that Card Readers must be used is that we did not expect in any polling unit, any person to say that the Card Readers were not functioning and as a result, opted for manual accreditation, no!

Card Readers failure

“We asked those who had experienced Card Readers failure to come back the following day, assuring them that we would replace the card readers for the election to take place and as far as I know, virtually in all the places, where the Card Readers actually failed, we came back the following day and conducted the elections. So, if there is evidence of any place where they just put aside the card readers and used manual accreditation, that election can be examined; I am sure the tribunal will look at the evidence clearly as to what happened”, Jega explained.

The implication of Prof. Jega’s position, it was gathered, could spell doom for states that massively deployed manual accreditation in the governorship and Houses of Assembly elections. Thus, it may be dangerous for states and political parties that are already singing melodies of claimed tsunamic victory over their rivals.

But a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stakeholder in Akwa-Ibom State, Mr. Iberedem Ekong is confident that his state would not be engulfed in the speculated annulment of the governorship elections on account of disregard for the Card Readers by electoral officers.

According to Ekong, the issues of setting aside and non-use of Card Readers were isolated and not massive to warrant outright annulment of the elections in the state.

Conversely, Mr. Anietie Solomon, one of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who functioned as returning officer for the party in the said elections said the developments in Akwa-Ibom State concerning the 2015 general elections were deleterious as it went beyond the issue of setting aside the Card Readers to massive high-jacking of election materials where a few individuals were paid to thump-print over 1,000 ballot papers.

Equally, the Accord Party (AP) governorship candidate, Bishop Sam Akpan alleged bestial attacks, brutality, terrorizing, maiming and killing of opposition parties supporters where they found those parties’ strongholds to be impregnable.

Senator Helen Esuene of the Labour Party is also disposed to the agitation for the cancellation of the April 11 Governorship and House of Assembly polls in the state because of gross irregularities and criminal disregard for human lives and existence.

Aside from the issue of Card Readers, the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, has expressed contentment with the over-all outcome of the 2015 general elections attributing the success of the exercise to the selfless sacrifice, hard work and tireless efforts by the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs).

One of such sacrifices by the commissioners Jega noted was the untimely death of the Kano State REC, Alhaji Munkaila Abdullahi.

He noted that the retreat offered them the opportunity to review what they had done from 2011 to 2015 and to focus attention on areas in which the commission needed to improve upon.

He said further that the retreat was an important vehicle for feedback which they needed to give to the next commission and to those who would remain in INEC with a view to contributing to refurbish electoral processes and deepening Nigeria’s democracy.