MEMBERS of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) engaged in the ongoing voter registration have slammed the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, for blaming the lapses currently being experienced in the exercise on corps members.

Some of the NYSC members, who spoke to Saturday Tribune in some registration centres in Abuja, on Friday, noted that rather than blame them for the slow pace of the exercise, the INEC boss should take responsibility for importing substandard direct data capturing (DDC) machines for the exercise.
Displaying computers which have no brand, names except “INEC” written on them, they accused the electoral body of procuring poor quality equipment from China which trip off frequently and consequently delay the registration of voters.

The corps members expressed bitterness over the statement credited to INEC, noting that it was capable of discouraging them in future assignments.
“The only thing that is working here is the inverter which provides power for the machines. Everything else is epileptic,” a corps member said.

Problems continue to dog the exercise in a number of places visited on Friday, raising fears that many people may not register unless there is a substantial extension of time.

Saturday Tribune investigations revealed that many centres request prospective voters to put down their names in exercise books and tell them to come back days later for an opportunity to be registered.

In spite of the resolution of the initial computer software hitch, some of the registration centres have, therefore, piled up such names running into several hundreds each with no idea of when they will be attended to.

Another common problem noticed was the inability of many of the registration points to print out voter’s cards to those that were successfully registered because of lack of printer’s ink.

Like Mikeansy once said, JEGA is either extremely incompetent or corrupt

Ibime:

Like Mikeansy once said, JEGA is either extremely incompetent or corrupt

I don't agree with this, and i think these statements are unfair to the man.
One man cannot change everything in Nigeria. The buck must stop at Jega's table as the INEC lead, yes, but i think INEC a body is being overwhelmed with logistics.

Let's examine this; by the numbers, he did what was the 'right' thing.

1. he solicited an obtained the required funds from the FG
2. He was able to identify the equipment needed to capture and record voter information
3. He gave the contract to procure the equipment to a Nigerian company (Local content development)

did the man ever envisage that Zinox would supply underpowered, overpriced laptops with many cases of hardware failure, overheating and software glitching? Would he think that a fingerprint scanner that GSM firms have been using happily to register subscribers would cause issues? Would he have thought that Zinox's software would refuse to play nice with the fancy scanners they purchased?

Let's not be too quick to put the 'corrupt' tag on jega's head.

@texazzpete

I dont think you really understand how these things work.

with this sort of incompetence in other countries, he would have been sacked straightway. let us stop making excuses for rubbish performance like we nigerians are always good at doing.

Jega failed in Delta state and has failed again now. And must be asked to step down before the elections


Over 100B Naira spent, and it is this rubbish he is presenting to Nigerians, even blaming poor corpers for his lack of know how. Jega might be a decent man, but this task is way beyond him. He is really out of his depths on this one, and whsould do the sensible thing and step down.

I would suggest that the press start doing thier work. he must go

False, he won't go, u dn't hunt people that way. Instead the companies that won the contracts for the supply of the ddc machine shld face a legal action from inec for supplying substandard products to us.

sochan:

@texazzpete

I dont think you really understand how these things work.

with this sort of incompetence in other countries, he would have been sacked straightway. let us stop making excuses for rubbish performance like we nigerians are always good at doing.

Jega failed in Delta state and has failed again now. And must be asked to step down before the elections


Over 100B Naira spent, and it is this rubbish he is presenting to Nigerians, even blaming poor corpers for his lack of know how. Jega might be a decent man, but this task is way beyond him. He is really out of his depths on this one, and whsould do the sensible thing and step down.

I would suggest that the press start doing thier work. he must go

I don't think YOU understand how things work.
Jega was hired to conduct, supervise and oversee the 2011 elections. The elections haven't happened yet.
Here's an idea. Why don't you guys wait to see how the elections pan out before you people criticize him?

Remember people, there are hitches so far in the registration process. But calling him incompetent before the elections he was hired to supervise is just really silly.

@texazzpete,

You really dont get it do you. So all this fiasco about the disasterous elections in delta state and the rubbish of a Voters registeration is not worthy of a sack in your opinion?

Listen Jjega was not hired for the elections alone. His job spec states that he is in charge and oversees INEC. That includes effectively running the organisation. Now for anyone to suggest that he should not be critisize for a terrible job so-far, smacks of the typical Nigerians mentality, which says "we dont sack or take resposibility for phuck-up, we just pat them on the back"

Nigeria can only move forward if anf only when we are prepared to tell ourselves the truth.

if Jega was in the UK, US or wherever besides Nigeria, he would have been sacked.

By the way which top Nigerian official has ever been sacked for incompetence? Same mentality that slaved nigeria for over 6 months without a president

when the contract was awarded for the computers,what inec should have done was to inspect the first deliveries n finding out they were substandard,either rejected them or re-awarded the contract to another company.jega n inec should be blamed for accepting substandard computers,or were the companies not given specification?why cant we ever do things right for once in nigeria?this is another show of corruption plaguing every sector in the country.jega n inec officials cannot deny collecting part of the contract money,that is why they turned blind eye.

Let us start by why was the contract awarded to Zenox? Do they have a history of delivering such projects?

Due diligence got it wrong from the start. And that should lead to questioning the judgement of those incharge Period.

Many of you can't read. Where did the article say Zinox? Is Zinox now a chinese company? Do you know a chinese firm supplied some of the computers?

This is why Nigerians keep failing WAEC in large numbers.

^^^^The contract was awarded to zinox n one other company who shared the bulk part of the contract money with inec officials,and then used a few change to import cheap,unbranded n substandard computers that can be bought for 20k each in nijja*laughs*

udennaa:

^^^^The contract was awarded to zinox n one other company who shared the bulk part of the contract money with inec officials,and then used a few change to import cheap,unbranded n substandard computers that can be bought for 20k each in nijja*laughs*

1. It's not 2 but 3 companies.
2. Are you privy to the deal?
3. Have you seen all the machines and none has Zinox logo?

On the contrary, INEC has performed well under Jega if we all are reasonable enough not to expect a completely perfect registration process.

INEC might have made a few mistakes in the deal with Zinox, Zinox might have supplied substandard devices and the corps members knowledge of usage of a computer is obviously below par. All these are results of our past and we will be insane to see change as a magic wand rather than a progressive process.

Let out Universities produce competent graduates, INEC gain more experience under the new leadership to ensure better dealings next time. after all this and more, we all can look forward to a hitch free voters registration come 2015,

udennaa:

^^^^The contract was awarded to zinox n one other company who shared the bulk part of the contract money with inec officials,and then used a few change to import cheap,unbranded n substandard computers that can be bought for 20k each in nijja*laughs*

How u take sabi all this. *smh*

sochan:

Let us start by why was the contract awarded to Zenox? Do they have a history of delivering such projects?

Due diligence got it wrong from the start. And that should lead to questioning the judgement of those incharge Period.

Which other indigenous PC company would you have preferred to be awarded the contract? Or would you have preferred a foreign company?

@Hodaya,

Yes, if a foreign company can do a better job, and we nigerians learn from it, then my answer is yes.

You have world class compnaies who have done biometric registeration in large numbers successfully, probably at the fraction of the cost. So yes.

One thing for sure is that the quality, planning and execution would have been of a high standard. not this rubbish you and i have had to pay for

I guess the so-called “international community” shall be happy with Nigerian officials for throwing billons of dollars for this idio.tic exercise.

Even though this election process could be the worst ever conducted in the colonial contraption called Nigeria, the members of EU, UN, Americans and others will broadcast to the world that Nigeria had conducted “free and fair election”.

Dede1:

I guess the so-called “international community” shall be happy with Nigerian officials for throwing billons of dollars for this idio.tic exercise.

Even though this election process could be the worst ever conducted in the colonial contraption called Nigeria, the members of EU, UN, Americans and others will broadcast to the world that Nigeria had conducted “free and fair election”.

Can you STFU about 'international community' and 'western world' for a moment? How did this even enter the discussion?

Secondly, you're spreading FUD. We've spent billions of NAIRA not dollars. There's a difference, you know.

sochan:

@texazzpete,

You really dont get it do you. So all this fiasco about the disasterous elections in delta state and the rubbish of a Voters registeration is not worthy of a sack in your opinion?

Listen Jjega was not hired for the elections alone. His job spec states that he is in charge and oversees INEC. That includes effectively running the organisation. Now for anyone to suggest that he should not be critisize for a terrible job so-far, smacks of the typical Nigerians mentality, which says "we dont sack or take resposibility for phuck-up, we just pat them on the back"

Nigeria can only move forward if anf only when we are prepared to tell ourselves the truth.

The Delta state elections was not 'disastrous'. Only childish minds will believe the rubbish lies Sahara Reporters was spreading. There were cases of electoral fraud, but it's totally wrong to classify it as 'disastrous'. Uduaghan won that election.
The voters registration exercise is still ongoing. The primary purpose is to register all eligible Nigerians who want to vote. It's anyone's guess if everyone can be registered before the due end-date. If there are gaps in the registration exercise, the date can be extended. At the end of the day, it's possible that all eligible voters WILL be registered. Will that be a 'rubbish' exercise then?

No one said Jega should not be criticized for lot of the lapses so far. But sack? that'll be a brainless move, sorry.

sochan:


if Jega was in the UK, US or wherever besides Nigeria, he would have been sacked.

By the way which top Nigerian official has ever been sacked for incompetence? Same mentality that slaved nigeria for over 6 months without a president

Wrong. You need to broaden your mind.
In the US or UK, they'd wait until AFTER the voters registration exercise, then hold an inquest into the lapses, launch an investigation into the root causes of all the issues. Any decision would be taken after that detailed review, not based on the rantings of over excitable forum posters and bloggers.

@Texazzpete,

Once again you got it all wrong. So you really believe that fraud of an election in Delta state right?

What about this danming condemnation from the guadian

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=34951:the-april-2011-elections&catid=67:you-report-lagos&Itemid=583

Abi you have a problem wuth them as well.

Listen, people like you are the reason why we are where we are. Not prepared to face up to the truth.

Once again, if it was the UK or US after the sham of an election in Delta state and the rubbish voters registeration so far, whoever is at the helm would be sacked straight. so stop kidding yourself. they understand when matters are serious of which this is one and all due care and attention would have been taken

texazzpete:

I don't agree with this, and i think these statements are unfair to the man.
One man cannot change everything in Nigeria. The buck must stop at Jega's table as the INEC lead, yes, but i think INEC a body is being overwhelmed with logistics.

Let's examine this; by the numbers, he did what was the 'right' thing.

1. he solicited an obtained the required funds from the FG
2. He was able to identify the equipment needed to capture and record voter information
3. He gave the contract to procure the equipment to a Nigerian company (Local content development)

did the man ever envisage that Zinox would supply underpowered, overpriced laptops with many cases of hardware failure, overheating and software glitching? Would he think that a fingerprint scanner that GSM firms have been using happily to register subscribers would cause issues? Would he have thought that Zinox's software would refuse to play nice with the fancy scanners they purchased?

Let's not be too quick to put the 'corrupt' tag on jega's head.

Please stop . . . you are so wrong! I can't imagine any government agency here doing the same, and the people involved not getting fired for such incompetence on their part.

udennaa:

when the contract was awarded for the computers,what inec should have done was to inspect the first deliveries n finding out they were substandard,either rejected them or re-awarded the contract to another company.jega n inec should be blamed for accepting substandard computers,or were the companies not given specification?why cant we ever do things right for once in nigeria?this is another show of corruption plaguing every sector in the country.jega n inec officials cannot deny collecting part of the contract money,that is why they turned blind eye.

For the amount of money the man had available to him, he could have hired independent consulting firms to stress test the machines/applications to ensure they are even capable of handling the work. This is about the SIMPLEST setup possible but the degree of failure so far is just unbelievable and unacceptable by any standards.

I don't feel this whole set up, and idea, was seriously tested. I mean a lot of the problems people have posted could have easily been caught during the testing period. The way I see it, INEC probably assumed that buying a computer, a scanner, and a piece of software that CLAIMS it does a particular job is all that is necessary, in much the same way INEC supposedly assumed that our NYSC corp members will, without sufficient training, know how to use computers and this particular software. IF this isn't INCOMPETENCE, I don't what else qualifies.

I am not saying he is corrupt but so far he has shown he was not the person for the job at all.

Hodaya:


Which other indigenous PC company would you have preferred to be awarded the contract? Or would you have preferred a foreign company?

Was he in anyway RESTRICTED to just indigenous companies? For the amount budgeted, I actually expected he would go for WORLD CLASS MACHINES already used in other countries for this exercise.

By the way, this is a question . . . where does all the data collected go? Do we have thousands of laptops floating around carrying sensitive data around?

@Kobojunkie,

For a second time we agree. I owe you big stout and dry fish

Kobojunkie:

Please stop . . . you are so wrong! I can't imagine any government agency here doing the same, and the people involved not getting fired for such incompetence on their part.

Please clarify. What 'people involved' and what 'government agency'?

Also when you say 'here' you're obviously referring to the US. Clarify whether anyone would be fired DURING the voters registration and while the final outcome of the exercise is still uncertain, if this had happened in the US.

Kobojunkie:

Was he in anyway RESTRICTED to just indigenous companies? For the amount budgeted, I actually expected he would go for WORLD CLASS MACHINES already used in other countries for this exercise.

By the way, this is a question . . . where does all the data collected go? Do we have thousands of laptops floating around carrying sensitive data around?

Local content. He'd have been verbally slaughtered if he went with a foreign company while a local alternative was in place. I can just imagine the press conferences Zinox et al would have been holding to lambast the Government.


From what i gather, the data is actually stored in external hard disks (connected via USB) and not actually on the laptop. They probably have to turn in the hard disks every night for data dump into a central repository.

sochan & texazzpete

For goodness sake, INEC awarded the contract to 3 companies, including a Chinese company, and not only Zinox.
Zinox computers and equipments bear Zinox logo and name and have "Made in Nigeria" on them.

The computers in question have no name, no company logo, no indication where they were made, they only have INEC on them.

@Texazzpete,

So you are saying for fear of being slaughtered verbal he decide to make such a terrible decision. Well in that case he is not fit for the job.

he has to make intelligent decisions at this level, without fear or favour. He's judgement has been called to serious questioning, and I am afraid I stand by the decision that he should be relieved of his position, he is just not up to it.

@Obiagu,

It doesnt make much difference. For the sort of money we are talking of, there is really no reason why Jega should be compromising on standards. The reason why the sort of money was thrown at this excersize was for it to be a world class event, not this showdy, backstreet alley nonsense we are getting.

And yes everyone, including you must question how our money has been spent, to me we have all been short changed.

^^^


Yeah, it does make a difference. You guys are only shouting Zinox as if Zinox was the problem. Chinese products are known to bear no name, no logo, and place they were made on them.
So before you blame Zinox, check to know if the ones Zinox supplied have these problems.

Kobojunkie:

For the amount of money the man had available to him, he could have hired independent consulting firms to stress test the machines/applications to ensure they are even capable of handling the work. This is about the SIMPLEST setup possible but the degree of failure so far is just unbelievable and unacceptable by any standards.

I don't feel this whole set up, and idea, was seriously tested. I mean a lot of the problems people have posted could have easily been caught during the testing period. The way I see it, INEC probably assumed that buying a computer, a scanner, and a piece of software that CLAIMS it does a particular job is all that is necessary, in much the same way INEC supposedly assumed that our NYSC corp members will, without sufficient training, know how to use computers and this particular software. IF this isn't INCOMPETENCE, I don't what else qualifies.

I am not saying he is corrupt but so far he has shown he was not the person for the job at all.

Wrong.
This setup has been used successfully by MTN, Glo and Airtel to capture and store subscribe data. It works! And why shouldn't it? On a base level, there's no reason why this should not work. This isn't even about stress testing. A $450 HP laptop from Best Buy can handle the workload EASILY. An $80 USB biometric sensor from Futronics inc comes highly recommended and is reputed to be able to capture fingerprint data from even scarred and calloused hands.
Jega made the right moves as far as identifying (at a high level) the equipment needed.

So what went wrong? I think the answer must still lie with Zinox. The laptops they supplied have been described as unreliable, often slow and crash-prone. Also heating problems. The software also was not properly optimised.
This is why i am calling for a detailed inquest into what went wrong before calling for Jega's head. It's fine to criticize him now, though.

I am not a "jega supporter'. I am even now doing some investigation into the scanner being used. 234next says jega's budget requested for Futronics USB Biometric scanner at $97 per unit. However, it seems the scanners being used are made by Haier, a chinese company. I am currently pursuing this investigation with the aid of some people on ground. Also i'm trying to get the actual specs of the laptops in use. We'll see.

@Obiagu
Give it a rest, willya. ALL the laptops were supplied by Zinox. Every single one of them. This fact confirmed by Zinox themselves. Please refrain from exposing your ignorance so recklessly.