Exposed ballots won’t affect elections, says Jega

Will the exposure of several ballot papers during last Saturday’s botched polls compromise the integrity of the coming elections? 

This is one of the many questions being asked by the public, following the sudden postponement of the National Assembly elections. But Prof. Attahiru Jega, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has dismissed such fears, saying the integrity of the polls remains intact.

Jega and all INEC National Commissioners were yesterday reviewing last Saturday’s disappointing outing and re-assessing plans for the elections now re-scheduled to take place on April 9, 16 and 26.

Jega is sure that the in-built security device in the ballots will prevent them from being used.

The INEC chief spoke at a meeting with a coalition of more than 40 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) under the aegis of the Nigeria Election Situation Room. 

A statement given to reporters in Abuja, signed by Clement Nwankwo, the Executive Director of Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, relayed a meeting with Jega at the INEC Headquarters on Sunday.

It said: “Regarding the sensitive materials already used, Prof. Jega assured that because of the in-built security features, there was no possibility of unscrupulous people being able to make use of them to carry out their nefarious activities.

“Jega first explained why it was necessary to postpone the election. In the first place, the vendor with the material for Northcentral, Southsouth and Southeast was supposed to have delivered materials to Abuja on Friday 1 April 2011, but kept postponing the delivery time and finally delivered the materials in Lagos at 9.00 a.m of April 2, which already compromised the exercise, given that they then had to be moved to Abuja before being dispersed to the various states.

“In the second place, there were problems with the accreditors in the field, all of whom had been trained but some of whom never turned up. Again, at some polling stations, there were more people than anticipated, over 1,000 in some cases.

“Finally, and most importantly of all, was the widespread absence of results’ sheets, which rendered the whole exercise redundant.” 

Nwankwo recalled the INEC chairman’s explanation of how new dates were chosen for the elections, why some parties’ logos and candidates’ names were missing on ballot papers and the inability of some Resident Electoral Commissioners to halt voting, until after some ballot papers had been issued to voters.

“Jega then explained that his initial thought was that the postponed National Assembly elections should have held on Monday  April 4, in order not to leave too much time between the initial exercise and the re-scheduled one, given that sensitive material was already in the field, but this turned out to be unfeasible. Political parties, security agencies and election observers all objected to the new timetable, with the result that it was imperative for him to postpone the NASS elections to April 9, the presidential election to April 16 and the governorship, state Houses of Assembly elections to April 26th (April 23 being Easter).”

On the inaccurate or missing party logos, Nwankwo noted: “Jega explained that part of the problem was caused by the incessant changes of candidates following court judgments, but that some of the problems were caused by INEC not supervising the process sufficiently.

“On the issue of RECs carrying on with the election after the announcement of the postponement, Jega explained that although they were informed about the postponement a full hour before it was made public, they were pressured by the electorate to continue with the exercise and, in most cases, had little choice in the matter,” he stated.

On possible sabotage within INEC, he said: “Jega said he needed hard evidence before he could act. He also cautioned that such allegations were just that – allegations – and might in some cases be levelled to cause distraction. 

On the issue of NYSC members, Jega explained that INEC had decided to give all authority to the zonal commanders in order to instill discipline following the lapses that occurred during the registration.

“On the issue of people monitoring the exercise by hanging back at the voting centres and taking photos, Jega said INEC was clear about this and has encouraged people to do so. “

Jega commended the role of the security agencies, in particular the Army and Navy, being extremely helpful. However, he promised to look into the report that soldiers allegedly beat up observers in Nassarawa State.”

Nwankwo said the INEC chairman praised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for rendering critical help. Its vaults in various states were used to safeguard election materials, adding that the Federal Road Safety Corps similarly played an important part – and will continue to play an important part – in tracking vehicles.

“Jega assured that INEC will be more pro-active in keeping observers informed of developments and will beef up its public relations, although it is unfortunate that its own Situation Room has managed only 20 phone lines of the 200 originally anticipated due to the failure of the supplier to deliver. 

“It was suggested, however, that they might think in terms of a toll-free line with much greater capacity.”

According to Nwankwo, while CSOs want Nigerians to give INEC another chance, it was obvious that the election management body has failed in certain areas and there is a clear need to hold those responsible for last Saturday’s hitch accountable.

“However, we would also urge Nigerians to give INEC another chance, especially in the light of experiences, but it is crucial that INEC demonstrates that it is fully in control of the situation.

“We believe that there has been a failure of the part on the election management body, for which the responsible officials in INEC should be held to account,” Nwankwo said.