Some Lagos residents on Monday converged on
the office of the Independent National Electoral
Commission to protest what they termed the
poor and shoddy distribution of Permanent Voter
Cards in the state.
The residents, who came in batches under
different groups, said there was a ploy to
disenfranchise majority of Lagosians.
They carried placards bearing messages such as
‘INEC, do not disenfranchise Lagosians,’ ‘JEGA
jagajaga’, and sang abusive songs against the
commission.
Our correspondent observed that policemen from
Ibeju-Lekki, Sabo, Iponri and Surulere divisions
were mobilised to the INEC office in eight vans
to control the crowd.
Also at the scene were soldiers and officials of
the Department of State Service, armed with
guns.
There was almost a face-off between the
security officials and the protesters over the
obstruction of traffic, but the protest leaders
intervened and called for calm.
The President of the Vote for Service Initiative,
Adeola Ilori, said the group had come to demand
an explanation from the Resident Electoral
Commissioner, Dr. Ademola Ogunmola, on why
the PVC distribution had been shoddy.
He said, “We are a non-governmental
organisation monitoring INEC’s distribution of
the PVC for the past four days.
“To say the least, the exercise has been shoddy.
The arrangement was not what we expected.
Throughout Friday when we expected them to
start, nothing happened.
“I was in contact with the REC throughout
Friday, and he said the Abuja office had just
delivered the materials they were to share. He
said they had distributed cards in five local
government areas of the state. But my contacts
in those places told me nothing had been done.
“The REC later said activities would pick up on
Saturday morning. But on Saturday, I discovered
what they had done was merely a skeletal job.
Also, nothing happened on Sunday.”
He said many residents had been discouraged
about the exercise and may not show up again
at the polling units.
Another group, Movement for Democratic
Change, said INEC had no excuse not to perform
its duties well.
The convener of the group, Raji Rasheed, said,
“INEC does not have any excuse because they
had four years to prepare for this exercise, and to
whom much is given, much is expected.
“From my observation, their problem was that
they did not prepare for the exercise. As of 10am
today (Monday), they had yet to report at the
Agege LGA.
“We also believe that they lack enough staff.”
However, Odubero Olusola, one of the leaders of
The Nucleaus group, another NGO, said the
commission was acting out a script.
“We have our fear that there is a game plan to
disenfranchise many Lagosians.
“It is unfortunate that a programme that is
supposed to be transparent, and an organisation
that should be free and fair to everyone as a
non-biased umpire, is playing hide-and-seek.
“They have refused to address us. We believe
there is a foul play somewhere. We need them to
come out and explain to us why there are lapses
and what they want to do to rectify them,” he
said.
Convener, Activists for Good Governance, Mr
Declan Ihekaire, asked INEC to put its house in
order.
Ihekaire said, “Elections are rigged right from the
registration point. If the voter cards are not
given to eligible voters, they will be discouraged.
These abnormalities are ways of disenfranchising
many Nigerians in the 2015 elections. We are
saying that any attempt to manipulate the
elections will be resisted.”
The Resident Commissioner, Ogunmola, however,
said INEC was having problems with logistics
which were being addressed.
He assured the protesters that all eligible voters
in the state would be registered and issued the
PVCs before the general elections.
He said, “The easiest thing to do is to criticise.
It is easier to talk from outside, but as an
insider, I understand the nitty-gritty of the issues
involved. When we started on Friday, we didn’t
start well, but on Saturday it picked up and the
momentum is being sustained.
“Our initial plan was to make the exercise last for
a three-day period. A lot of people misconstrued
that to mean after the third day, the distribution
would end. But that is not so. We are only using
the three days to distribute at locations closest
to the people. After the three days, we will move
the materials to our local government offices and
set up tables for people to come and collect. And
collection will continue until very close to the
elections. This was what we did in Ekiti and
Osun states.”
Addressing the concern over the sharp drop of
voters in Lagos from 6.1 million in 2011 to 4.8
million, Ogunmola said the commission did it in
the interest of the voters.
He said, “Some people are talking about 6.1
million voters in 2011, and that it is now 4.8
million. If we maintain the 6.1 million figure, we
will be deceiving those whose names have been
removed. Some people did not have their
fingerprints captured in 2011, and the technology
that will be used in 2015 in accrediting people is
fingerprints-based.
“So when your fingerprint is taken by the card
reader, it will compare it with what you have in
your permanent voter’s card and either validate
or invalidate you.”
Ogunmola said the continuous voter registration
would begin in the state for residents whose
names did not appear on the voter register, while
the distribution of the PVC would hold from
December 3 to December 8. www.punchng.com/news/lagosians-protest-poor-pvc-distribution/

Sensing mass opposition to their failed party
in 2015, PDP’s game plan is to
disenfranchise voters by distributing few
permanent voters’ cards. We are ready for
them this time around!!!