Politics
Consolidating Nigeria’s Electoral Successes
On September 19, the nation’s electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), proved book makers wrong by conducting what has so far been termed as one of the freest and most credible elections in the country.
The election was devoid of the usual violence and conspiracies to steal the mandate of the electorate to choose who governs them.
INEC, in just 24 hours delivered a verdict from the Edo polls, that returned incumbent Governor Godwin Obaseki of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for a second term in office.
That day, Edo, The Heartbeat of the Nation, was calm and the fear that the state would experience bloodletting was doused by the conduct and carriage of most of the political stakeholders, before, during and after the governorship polls.
Months before the exercise, following the utterances from political gladiators, Edo was almost torn apart, as hoodlums masquerading as party loyalists, fought at the gate of the palace of the Benin monarch.
The Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, had prior to the incident, said that he would call his sons, Obaseki and his main challenger, Pastor Osagie Ize Iyamu, to a peace meeting, in order to ensure violence-free election in Edo.
The Oba did. With the National Peace Committee, led by former military Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar, and Bishop Matthew Kukah, its secretary, following immediately after, a peace accord was eventually signed, setting the stage to what came out of Edo.
The questions now are: After Edo what next? Will INEC do an encore in the next election already scheduled for Ondo State on October 10? Will the votes of the Ondo State electorate count and will it also be non-violent?
INEC already knows that all eyes are on it and that if it achieves the same feat as it has done in Edo, it would have fully restored credibility in the nation’s electoral system.
In Edo, INEC used its newly created Z-pad, a technology-driven visual portal to upload all results collated at the polling units to a central portal to remove any act or attempt to manipulate the outcome of the results at the various collation centres.
The Z-pad was akin to the strategy adopted by then Chairman of the National Electoral Commission (NEC), Prof. Humphrey Nwosu, for the June 12, 1993 Presidential Election.
The Commission mounted a bill board at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja, where collated results were published in quick sequence.
Available results showed that Chief MKO Abiola, the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party was coasting to victory before the election was annulled.
The Z-pad adopted by INEC for Edo governorship election worked as the usual cobwebs which hitherto festooned the dusky beams of form EC8, the document for the recognised manual transmission of results, were removed.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, on September 23 began a three-day visit to Ondo State to assess the preparedness of his men to replicate the feat in Edo.
He assured Nigerians, especially Ondo State electorate that the Commission was fully ready for October 10.
The reassurance has been a soothing balm to the people, after a wild fire on September 10, torched more than 5,000 card readers for the polls stacked in containers in the state INEC office.
“We have already recovered. Unfortunately, we lost 5,000 smart card readers, but we recovered by getting the prerequisite number of card readers from the neighbouring Oyo State, and they have been delivered.
“They have arrived, been charged and configured and are ready for the election on October 10, in Ondo State.
“ We will use the Z-pads to upload results on election day real-time and we have moved those Z-pads from Edo to Ondo State for the election.
“So, the same preparations that we made for Edo, we have also made for Ondo State, so we are prepared for the election,” he said.
Yakubu said he would also meet with the council of traditional rulers, security agencies, and officials of the Commission in the 18 local government areas of the state for the purpose of the election.
“This is the first visit. We are still coming back a week after for the main stakeholders’ visit and the signing of the peace accord,” he said.
INEC achieved success in Edo, but remaining on top is usually a major challenge for persons and institutions that must be exposed to tests.
It is expected that the umpire will not relax as it must gather all information on what transpired in all previous elections, assess what went wrong in some instances and do its possible best to correct them.
Available records showed that Edo has 2.21million registered voters, 1.73 million qualified to vote, as 483,796 persons failed to collect their voter cards.
The winner emerged with 307,955, votes, while the state’s population from a 2014 estimate is five million.
Obviously, it was not 100 per cent success in Edo as there were still cases of poor voters’ turnout, intimidation by the presence of 30,000 police men, harassment of mostly female voters and various allegations of vote-buying.
Various groups, politicians, diplomatic community and ordinary Nigerians have hailed Edo polls and want its lessons to spread to Ondo State and other subsequent polls.
The U.S., which had issued a no visa order on any person that could undermine the Edo polls, on September 24, endorsed the processes that led to a successful Edo polls.
The country lauded INEC and the security agencies on the positive roles they played during the election, which it said, strengthened democracy in the country.
It called on all stakeholders, including INEC, political parties, and the security agencies to improve the electoral process during the October 10, Ondo State governorship election.
“The United States remains concerned with reports of some violence that did emerge during the election, and reports of vote-buying and intimidation of both voters and civil society domestic observers.
“We will continue to encourage all stakeholders, including INEC, political parties, and the security services to improve the electoral process in the upcoming Ondo State governorship election.
“As a democratic partner of Nigeria, the United States remains committed to working together to achieve our mutual goals of peace and prosperity for the citizens of both countries,” it said via the Facebook page of the United States Diplomatic Mission to Nigeria.
The U.S. stressed the need for all Nigerians and other stakeholders to give its support in anyway, to make the system better for posterity.
Analysts recall that former President Goodluck Jonathan, demonstrated statesmanship and sportsmanship after the 2015 Presidential Election as he put a call to President Muhammadu Buhari to prevent endless tussle at the election tribunal and usher in peace to the electoral space.
Buhari had since built on this by making sure that there was improvement in conduct of elections so that the opposition, no matter who, has the hope that victory can come its way.
Nigeria cannot afford to disregard the already established principles; the country should continue marching forward. It can never be late.
Ugwu is of the News Agency of Nigeria.
The Chairman, Caretaker Committee of Asari Toru Local Government Area, Hon. Orolosama Amachree, has attributed the emergence of Sir Siminalayi Fubara as Governor of Rivers State to divine intervention.
According to him, Governor Fubara’s leadership was ordained by God to liberate the Kalabari people from underdevelopment.
Hon Amachree made this statement when the Ido Community Council of Chiefs paid him a courtesy visit.
He highlighted Governor Fubara’s numerous contributions to the Kalabari people, including the award of the original Trans-Kalabari road project worth N225 billion.
The CTC Chairman emphasized that the Kalabari people had no option but to support Governor Fubara’s administration wholeheartedly.
He criticized the defected former Rivers State House of Assembly members representing the five Kalabari state constituencies for aligning with enemies of the state government.
Hon Amachree praised Governor Fubara for declaring Asari-Toru as his second home and demonstrating immense love for the people, citing the completion of the Emohua-Kalabari road and approval for the reconstruction of the Buguma-Degema-Abonnema road project as examples of the Governor’s commitment to the ethnic nationality.
The CTC Chairman assured the Ido Council of Chiefs that his administration would continue to prioritize the wellbeing of the people and announced the approval for the provision of three public conveniences for the community.
Earlier, the spokesman of the Ido Community Council of Chiefs, Chief Igbigioyibo Emmanuel, expressed the loyalty and support of the Chiefs and people to Governor Fubara’s administration.
He thanked the Governor for his love and the appointment of Hon Amachree who has embarked on various empowerment programmes, as well as the rehabilitation of key infrastructures to better the lives of the people at the grassroots.
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has reassured stakeholders in Edo State that the commission is prepared for the upcoming governorship election on September 21.
Addressing the stakeholders in Benin on Wednesday, Prof. Yakubu emphasised the importance of cooperation to ensure a credible election process.
He highlighted that the meeting, traditionally held before major off-cycle governorship elections, is co-hosted by the INEC Chairman and the Inspector-General of Police to discuss election preparations.
Prof. Yakubu detailed that the session aimed to engage with political parties, candidates, accredited observers, media, and other stakeholders to review preparations for the election.
He noted that the Inspector-General of Police would address security preparations, while he himself would cover electoral preparations. Together, they would address any issues or concerns raised by the attendees.
The INEC Chairman outlined that preparations for the election began last year with the release of the timetable and schedule of activities, in accordance with legal requirements.
Out of 13 statutory activities listed from the publication of the election notice to election day, 11 have already been completed.
Prof Yakubu reported that the final list of candidates had been published, with minor adjustments made following court orders. The Labour Party’s running mate was replaced as directed by the court, and the National Rescue Movement (NRM), which missed its nomination deadline, was included on the ballot after a court order.
With the conclusion of the recent Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in Edo, 184,438 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) have been issued 119,206 for new voters and 65,232 for various updates and transfers.
Edo State now has a total of 2,629,025 registered voters. A detailed breakdown of PVCs collected for each of the 4,519 polling units will be published soon, while uncollected PVCs will be secured in the Central Bank of Nigeria until after the election.
Prof Yakubu also revealed that INEC has accredited 134 groups (124 domestic and 10 international) to deploy 1,836 observers and 114 media organisations with 721 journalists.
Thousands of agents representing candidates and political parties will be present at the 4,730 polling and collation locations across the state.
The BVAS machines will be used for voter accreditation and uploading results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.
Dr. Greg Igbinomwanhia, Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC), urged political parties to adhere to the rules to ensure a free, fair, and credible election. Political party chairpersons and candidates also delivered goodwill messages and raised concerns regarding the election.
More than two million voters will be participating in the November 16 governorship election in Ondo state.
They would determine the fate of 17 governorship candidates of the political parties participating in the election.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state, Mrs. Toyin Babalola, disclosed this in Akure, at a seminar organized by the International Press Center (IPC) and funded by the European Union (EU).
The programme was part of the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGNII) project, with IPC serving as the lead partner under Component 4, which focuses on support to the media.
Mrs Babalola also said that the INEC has said it would deploy the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and INEC Result Viewing (IReV) during the election.
According to her, “Ondo State has a total of 2,053,061 registered voters. They would be participating in the governorship election scheduled for November 16, this year. INEC has made necessary arrangements to ensure a free election”.
The REC noted that efforts and preparedness were in place to ensure a credible, inclusive, free, and fair gubernatorial election.
Mrs Babalola added that the portal for media registration for the election had opened.
Speaking on BVAS and IREV, the REC, said that the commission would ensure the use of BVAS and IREV during the election to ensure a free, fair, and credible poll.
She said similar arrangements have been made in Edo State for the September 21 governorship election.
In his welcome address, IPC Executive Director, Mr. Lanre Arogundade, emphasized the essential role of the media in promoting electoral integrity.
Mr Arogundade noted that elections were the cornerstone of democratic societies, highlighting the importance of capacity training for journalists in preparation for election coverage.
He said that the dialogue aimed to foster collaboration among critical stakeholders, ensuring that the media remains fair, accurate, ethical, and professional in covering the upcoming Ondo State election.
The Executive Director, also underscored the importance of journalists’ involvement in voter education, helping to inform the electorate about their rights and responsibilities.
A Senior Lecturer at Elizade University, ilara- Mokin, Dr Tunde Fajimbola, spoke on the media’s role in addressing key issues in the governorship election.
The Founder of the Journalism Clinic, Mr Taiwo Obe, guided participants on asking the right questions and telling impactful stories during electoral coverage.
In his remarks, CEMESO Executive Director, Dr Akin Akingbulu, emphasized that off-cycle elections had become a significant feature of Nigeria’s electoral calendar. He highlighted the need for journalists to be well-equipped to contribute to credible electoral processes.
The State Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Prince Leke Adegbite, commended IPC for its efforts in building journalists’ capacity through training.
Adegbite acknowledged that the media dialogue came at the right time and assured the organizers that participants would strive to achieve set goals.
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