10 Reasons Jega is failing and How Politicians Rig Voter Registration

Sunday, 23 January 2011

Revelations coming from informed sources have indicated that Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, could fail to deliver on his promise of credible elections in April having fallen for some web of intrigues and power play within the commission.

A number of technical incapabilities are also set to hinder the performance of the INEC Chairman, who is said to have fallen into the perceived trap of an “axis of evil” at the commission.

One of the factors that could derail Jega’s plan for credible election according to sources is his reliance on structures left by his predecessor, Prof. Maurice Iwu, many of whom are said to have been angered by Jega’s emergence as the commission’s chairman.

Although, Jega had attempted to restructure the commission twice since his appointment mid last year, a source said that his efforts have not got to the roots of the problems.

One other reason associated to the above is what a source called insider saboteurs. The said saboteurs were said to be the brains behind the problems associated with the Direct Data Capture (DDC) Machines being used in the conduct of voter registration.

It was also gathered that Jega could fail because of a fundamental error committed by the commission at the start of the voter registration exercise.

Sources confirmed that no new polling units were created and that data being used were collated before the last voter registration exercise in 2006. As a result, many new communities, new estates and settlements which sprang up since then are not captured and their residents would not get registered.

A source said that Jega, being a teacher also lacks knowledge of how elections are practically conducted.

When he was in the Senate to interact with the Committee on Electoral Matters, one Senator asked whether he would review polling booths nationwide as some polling centres were deliberately created for rigging, he stated that he will review the location of polling centres but has relied on the 120, 000 units used under Iwu.

The Senator at the hearing had told Jega that some of the polling units created in the markets would be inaccessible on election days and that fraudulent politicians corner ballot papers from such centres to rig.

A source said: “Curiously, Jega has retained all the wrong polling centres and refused to create new centres in new estates and settlements. This is bound to disenfranchise millions of Nigerians.”

The INEC Chairman is also said to be working towards failure by his refusal to identify the true reasons for the slow pace of DDC machines. It was gathered that the machines were deliberately sabotaged with the intent to rubbish the exercise.

A source had hinted ahead of the start of the registration that machines sent to hinterlands and states can only register one person in a minimum of 30 minutes and that only those retained in Abuja and some key areas were made to function properly.

In parts of Ogun state, especially the boundary areas with Lagos, most machines only register 10 persons a day, while residents converge on the registration spots from 5.am.
Jega’s failure to check the much talked about romance between governors and Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) has also been described as a major failure as this may impact negatively on the conduct of elections.

Some INEC staff also believe that Jega has overbearing attitude and that he does not allow them to express their professional expertise.

A source said that the budget prepared by Jega for the National Assembly last year had problems because he insisted that the budget must be done his own way. The budget had a separate column for profit margin, which is alien to government process. National Assembly had to order that it be done properly.

It was also gathered that Jega has refused to fight growing indiscipline in the system, especially among some middle level staff who had made huge financial benefits in the system. Sources said that while many who have cases to answer have been left to continue the business as usual, some of the diligent staff are being persecuted with demotions and other forms of victimization.

Sources said that failure of Jega to promptly pay allowances including Duty-Tour-Allowances (DTAs) has also influenced a drop in morale among the staff.

It was gathered that those who embarked on election related supervision roles in the past months have not been paid their allowances.

Another reason for Jega’s possible failure according to sources is the failure of the system to properly train the youth corps members who are being used to conduct the voters register. While they are supposed to be trained for four days, the trainings were collapsed to one day in some places and did not take place at all in some states.

A source said that some of those trainers who were sent to the states have never handled computers in their offices and that they merely added their names to the trainers’ list so as to benefit from the DTA.

It was also gathered that corps members who are participating in the voter exercise have not been paid their allowances, leading to protests among some of the participants.

How politicians hijack registration exercise
When the report filtered out that politicians in Nigeria were planning to hijack the ongoing voter registration exercise for their selfish ambitions, many Nigerians doubted the claims. But one week after the exercise started, the allegation may not be false after all as investigations conducted by Sunday Tribune have shown.

The inability of INEC to secure an absolute control of the recruitment of the ad hoc staff for the registration may have given the politicians the opportunity to perfect their rigging plans ahead of the general elections in April.

In many states, it was discovered that many of the corps members trained for the exercise were not eventually used. This is said to be common in many states of the federation including Plateau, where many of the corps members trained were not eventually recruited.

The politicians have also seen the electoral umpire as a porous body that can be easily penetrated.

Investigations conducted by Sunday Tribune revealed that many top politicians in Nigeria have successfully placed their supporters, who are now helping them to perpetrate their nefarious acts, in INEC.

According to an insider in INEC, the inability of the Direct Data Capturing (DDC) machines to detect and void multiple registration on the spot has also given the desperate politicians an advantage. They now encourage their supporters to proceed on multiple registration with a view to getting the highest number of voter’s cards as possible.

Another way the politicians are now using is the use of passport photographs to register. This is said to be common in places where non corps members are being used for the exercise. In a state, some politicians were said to have appeared at some registration units with hundreds of passport photographs with white backgrounds. With the process, hundreds of names were said to have been registered with fake fingerprints and names.

Lack of power to charge batteries that are being experienced in some registration centres has also resulted into a marriage between the politicians and INEC staff. In many units, they were said to have voluntarily donated generators, fuelled them and persuaded them to get the battery charged in their apartments. In the course of this, they were said to have developed “an alliance” with some INEC staff.

Sunday Tribune’s findings also revealed that some top politicians are already aware of some sub-standard DDC machines that may not be eventually used on the day of the elections. As a result, the politicians have worked in tandem with some INEC staff to ensure that the sub-substandard machines were taken to their rival’s strongholds.

Sunday Tribune’s finding revealed that while some corps members have since collected their training allowance immediately the training was completed, some in some local government have not. One of this is Ibadan South East Local Government, where the corps members downed tools over the non payment of their allowance last week. The situation has also made the corps members to go cap in hand to the politicians who are promising them financial rewards.

NBA, Jega disagree on conduct of exercise
Meanwhile, the slow pace of the ongoing voter registration might not augur well for the forthcoming general elections, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has warned.

But Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega disagreed with the NBA, saying although the Direct Data Capture machines were manufactured abroad, their major problems were detected and rectified and the exercise would continue without any hitch.

Jega, while speaking on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Hausa Service, monitored in Kaduna, said that initially, the company that manufactured the DDC machines presented a sample to them which was satisfactory.

“But the company had programmed how the machine would be capturing thumb prints, and it made it in such a way that not every thumb would be compatible to the machine. But it can be adjusted, we have done that and whoever visits the registration centers now and compared it with what was observed on the first day, will notice that truly we have achieved victory and that problem had been rectified,” he said.

However, President of the NBA, Chief Joseph Daudu (SAN) said at a press conference in Kaduna, on Saturday, that it would be inimical to the validity of the forthcoming general elections if all Nigerians who present themselves for the exercise are not registered.

He said the exercise since it began, had been plagued by problems, ranging from the inability of INEC personnel to operate the machines, slow pace of the exercise as well as uncoordinated location of the venues of the data captured, stressing that the effect of the lapses is the possibility that millions of Nigerians who are eligible to vote during the elections would be disenfranchised.

Daudu warned INEC not to sacrifice constitutional and civic rights of Nigerians to vote in the coming elections on the altar of security and sanctity of the registration exercise.

“There had been complaints ranging from inability of INEC personnel to operate the Data Capture Machines, malfunctioning of the machines to slow pace of the entire exercise and uncoordinated location of the Direct Data Capture Machines. The effect of these lapses is that there is a strong probability that millions of Nigerians who are eligible to vote at the elections will be disenfranchised.

“The INEC has just ruled that any registration that is not accompanied by the taking of finger impressions is void. It was thought that jettisoning the requirement for finger impression will hasten the entire process by increasing the number of persons that can be captured by the machine daily,” he said.

“The issue now is how all the eligible voters can be captured and registered, having regard to the forgone scenario. Will INEC sacrifice the constitutional and indeed civic rights of all Nigerians to vote at the general elections on the altar of security and sanctity of the exercise?

“It therefore behoves on INEC to begin to work on a fall back situation of a hybrid measure, that is, take manual details of all prospective voters and close that exercise by Saturday January 29, 2011 and use additional week to capture the finger impression and photographs of those persons whose details have been recorded within the two week period.
“Anyone who is unable to present himself or herself for the data capture within that period will have such initial registration nullified and accordingly deleted,”he said.

http://tribune.com.ng/sun/index.php/front-page-articles/3015-10-reasons-jega-is-failing-and-how-politicians-rig-voter-registration

Hmnn _{Takes a very deep breathe}. Ayayayaya!