Nigeria: Voters Flock to Polls to Elect National Assembly

2 April 2011

The 2011 general election kicks off Saturday with Nigerians trooping out across the country to elect members of the National Assembly.

It is the first of three elections over three successive weekends to choose a new legislature, president and state governors.

The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, in a nation-wide broadcast Friday night said the nation “can not afford to fail as everything has been put in place to get it right this time.”

Jega said adequate security arrangement had been put in place by various security agencies to make the election hitch-free.

Meanwhile, hopes that the directive of the police that voters should not stay behind after casting their ballot to monitor the outcome of the poll would be rescinded, have been dashed by the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Hafiz Ringim.

Ringim told THISDAY in an interview Friday night in Abuja that staying behind may generate tension.

Saturday’s landmark election, whose outcome is expected to shape subsequent elections in the next two weekends, will see voters choosing 109 Senators and 360 members of the House of Representatives.

“The election we are about to commence tomorrow, (today) Saturday, 2 April, provide the chance for us as a nation to get it right. It is incumbent upon all of us to join hands together to conduct elections that are free, fair and credible,” Jega said in his broadcast.

On how to get it right, Jega said: “The commission has worked tirelessly to put infrastructure, people, and procedures in place to make sure that we have prepared adequately in terms of logistics, the training of our staff and in terms of effective liaison with security agencies to provide security before, during and after the elections.

“The commission is very confident that the security agencies are sufficiently mobilised to ensure that there is security cover for both INEC personnel and materials and for those who will come out to exercise their right to vote.”

The INEC boss announced that the commission had recruited and trained approximately 400,000 staff to ensure an average of three officials per polling unit, plus a number of supervisory officials.

“We are also doing our best to see that within 48 hours, the results are announced. This is the target timeline we are working on, in spite of the fact that Nigeria is a very vast country with many difficult terrain”.

Jega also announced the planned deployment of Electronic Surveillance Technology to help monitor activities in strategic areas. “It is not nation-wide, but I think with time, we will keep on scaling up.”

He said that even though the challenge of conducting good election was a shared task, “it remains principally our duty as a commission, but it is not exclusively a task for INEC.

“It is a shared task. With shared democracy comes shared responsibility. If Nigeria is to get it right with elections, all Nigerians – voters, candidates and INEC officials – must do their part in ensuring the success of the process. We have decided to use the Modified Open Ballot System of voting that was largely successful in previous elections.”

Jega said that to ensure free and fair election, the commission had also placed a sacred trust in the National Youth Service Corps “to assist our great country in conducting the elections.”

Jega has some words of advice for the political parties and the politicians: “I wish to offer an advice to the political parties and the candidates. Nigeria has manifold needs and there are a number of places and opportunities to serve our country. We should therefore not view elected office as the be-all-and-end-all of public service; we should not see these elections as a do-or-die affair. As aspirants to lead our country it is incumbent upon you to conduct yourselves in a way that sets an example for constructive and congenial political discourse and contestation in the common interest of Nigeria.”

Ringim said: “While the Nigeria Police is determined to ensure a violence-free election, voters are advised to cast their votes and leave the immediate voting area and allow their various party representatives to take care of guarding and watching all votes cast until they are duly counted and recorded by the INEC officials”.

He said the police would not condone any acts or conduct that is inimical to the smooth conduct of the election as any trouble maker would be arrested and dealt with according to the law.

“It was not an instruction from the INEC chairman. INEC did not instruct that voters should stay behind after casting their votes. Imagine a scenario where about 500 people belonging to different political parties stay back to count votes at a polling booth. There will be tension, distrust, and of course exchange of hot words which will eventually degenerate to fight.

” Immediately you vote, go back home and leave the counting with the political party representative and the INEC officials, who will eventually take the boxes to collation centres. We don’t want anything that will cause unnecessary tension. We should all take precaution,” he explained.

For most of Friday, officials of INEC worked round the clock in all the states, distributing voting materials to all the nooks and crannies.

Jega, whom sources said had not had a sound sleep in the last 48 hours, spent most of yesterday at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja getting feedback on the distribution of election materials.

He was said to have charged the state resident electoral commissioners to ensure a hitch-free polls.

Security was also tightened nation-wide yesterday ahead of the election. The nation’s land borders were shut yesterday morning in conformity with the instruction of the federal government while the police commenced the deployment of the promised 240,000 personnel for the election.

In Jos, there is palpable tension in the city ahead of the elections because of its recurrent religious and sectarian crises. The military Special Task Force (STF) on Jos crisis warned that there would be heightened security during the elections.

“Whatever inconvenience or irritation these measures may cause are insignificant in relation to their goal of guaranteeing safety of lives and property,” the STF said.

In Ekiti State, the deputy commissioner of Police, Musa Adamu, read the riot act to all election riggers and perpetrators of violence, warning them to stay away from the state or be ready to face the wrath of the law.

The police boss cautioned politicians to shun violence as law enforcement agents will deal ruthlessly with any person or group of persons found committing electoral offences, fomenting trouble or behaving in any way that could cause the breach of the peace.

In Abia State, the Zone 9 Command of the Nigeria Police has mobilised 23,000 men to provide security during the election in all the five states that constitute southeast geopolitical zone.

Deputy Inspector general of police (DIG) Ivy Uche Okoronkwo, made this known while briefing newsmen after her meeting with the commissioners of police in all the five states of the South-east at Zone 9 headquarters Umuahia.

The Kwara State Police Command has deployed 8,000 men for today’s election to ensure the successful conduct of today’s poll while the 22 Armoured Brigade, Nigerian Army Sobi Cantonment, Ilorin, assured that the army will execute their constitutional functions by protecting lives and properties of the citizens, during and after the election.

The Taraba State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Abba-Kyari Sadiq, expressed the readiness of the commission to conduct a free and fair poll, assuring that all the sensitive and non-sensitive materials needed for the smooth conduct of the election in the state were already in the state.

Sadiq disclosed that all the materials such as cubicles, ballot boxes and vehicles to facilitate the smooth movement of men and materials meant for the 16 local government councils in the state have already been dispatched to their various destinations.

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