………..Atiku
….AS INEC CLARIFICE POSITION ON VOTERS REGISTRATION
From Francis Emeka
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said Voter Registration will only be meaningful with far reaching Electoral and Judicial reforms.
In a statement in Abuja on Sunday whiche he personally signed Atiku saud “The enthusiasm of Nigerians in the ongoing continuous voters registration of PVCs is commendable and indicative of the commitment of Nigerians to take their destinies in their hands in choosing their leaders in the next elections cycle.”
However, it is not just enough to demand that eligible voters register for their PVCs.
“It is pertinent that far-reaching electoral and judicial reforms are undertaken to ensure electoral integrity, strengthen public confidence, and promote judicial independence.”
The former Vice President who was also the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 Presidential election now a chieftain of African Democratic Congress ( ADC) said “Over time, the quality of our elections has continued to depreciate with voter turnout at an all-time low during the 2023 elections. Of the total 93.47 million registered voters, only 24.9 million persons voted in the last presidential and National Assembly elections. This represents a meagre 26.72 per cent voter turnout, the lowest since the return to democracy in 1999.”
“Something needs to be done to check this slide if citizens are to continue to have an appetite for the democratic processes and the prospects that it holds. The issues of BVAS, electronic transmission, and all other associated issues need to be addressed to the extent that they’re constitutionally provided for in order not to leave it to the whims and caprices of judges. As Prof. Chidi Odinkalu warned in his book, “The Selectorate: When Judges Topple The People,” Judges, “once constrained arbiters of electoral disputes, have become increasingly unconstrained in determining who holds power — shifting legitimacy from voters to the courts. In some cases, this influence has extended beyond the courtroom, creating a system where a small, connected elite decides leadership under the cover of legal process.”
He said “The envisaged electoral and judicial reforms will return the power to the people to choose their leaders and not a conclave of interested parties. “
“There should be an amendment in the 2022 Electoral Act, providing for: First, mandatory use of BVAS for accreditation of voters and upload of election results from all the polling units and collation centres across Nigeria without any provision for discretion to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for manual accreditation of voters.”
“Second, mandatory electronic transmission of election results from the polling units to the iREV without any provision for discretion to the Independent National Electoral Commission for manual transmission of election results.”
“Third, collation of results at the Ward Collation Centers on the basis of the results already electronically transmitted to the iREV from the polling units without any provision for manual collation of results at the Ward Centers.”
“Fourth, collation of results at the Local Government or Area Council Collation Centers on the basis of the results already electronically transmitted to the iREV from the Ward Collation Centers without any provision for manual collation of results at the Local Government or Area Council Centers. “
“Fifth, collation of results at the State Collation Centers on the basis of the results already electronically transmitted to the iREV from the Local Government Collation Centers without any provision for manual collation of results at the State Center. “
“Sixth, collation of results at the National Collation Center on the basis of the results already electronically transmitted to the iREV from the State Collation Centers without any provision for manual collation of results at the National Council Center. “
Seventh, at no point shall manual accreditation of voters, transmission of results, and collation of results be allowed.
Eight, the position of the Chairman of INEC, Resident Electoral Commissioners, and the National Electoral Commissioners shall be subjected to a democratic voting by the people.
Ninth, INEC to prove substantial compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act and the Constitution in the conduct of the election in an election petition and not the petitioner.
Meanwhole the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has clarifies position on misleading claims by a political party over CVR distribution
The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, has urged Nigerians to take caution by not succumbing to the misleading claims made by a certain political party over the distribution of pre- online registrants in Osun State noting that the Commission had followed a 2021 pattern when it launched its online pre-registration for the first time.
In a statement signed by INEC Chairman’s Chief Press Secretary, Rotimi Oyekanmi over a press statement attributed to the spokesperson of a political party on the data published by the Commission on the online pre-registration of voters claimed that the number of pre-registrants in Osun State defies “historical patterns and demographic realities explaining that If the party were proactive enough, a simple search of past records already in the public domain would have revealed these facts. Rotimi said the Commission was upfront during the last CVR exercise by releasing the data on a weekly basis, until it was concluded in 2022.
He said: ” In its usual tradition, the Commission released the data of online pre- registrations from 18th to 24th August, totalling 1,379,342. In the figures released, Osun State led the pack with 393,269, followed by Lagos State – 222,205. The Federal Capital Territory was third with 107,682.
” With regard to Osun State, the pattern is similar to what occurred in June 2021 when the Commission launched the online pre-registration for the first time. Within the first 24 hours of launching the portal on 28th June 2021, 59,331 accounts were created. By the second week on 12th July 2021, a total of 456,909 accounts were active.
Interestingly, Osun state led with 154,893 pre-registrations at the time. In the third week, 752,011 persons had pre-registered and Osun State was at the front with 232,880.
” By the eighth week on 23rd August 2021, 2,215,832 persons had pre-registered with Osun State still leading with 365,412. In the 11th week of the exercise on 13th September 2021, 2,953,094 individuals had pre-registered, with Osun State still in the lead with 402,619. By 18th April 2022, a total of 8,271,647 Nigerians had pre-registered, and Osun was ahead of all States with 708,782 registrations.
” If the party were proactive enough, a simple search of past records already in the public domain would have revealed these facts. The Commission was upfront during the last CVR exercise by releasing the data on a weekly basis, until it was concluded in 2022. Besides, all persons who pre-registered online were required to physically visit a designated centre to complete their registration process during which their biometrics were captured”, he stated.
The CPS revealed further that throughout the CVR exercise, the Commission paused after each quarter to display the preliminary voters register for claims and objections in order to enable citizens draw to any individual not qualified.
He added: ” Throughout the last CVR exercise which lasted over four quarters, the Commission paused after each quarter to display the preliminary voters’ register for claims and objections, to enable citizens draw attention to any individual not qualified to be on the register. At the same time, the Commission applied its robust Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) to detect and isolate double registrants.
“:After all the processes and due diligence, over 14 million Nigerians were added to the National Register of Voters for the 2019 General Election, pushing the figure from almost 70 million to 84,004,084 voters. In the same manner, after the 2021/2022 CVR, over 9.4 million new voters were added to the Register, totalling 93,469,008 for the 2023 General Election.
” While it is not in the Commission’s place to develop conjectures on why any state has more registrants than others on our CVR portal, our duty as a Commission, which we take seriously, is to ensure that only real persons, who meet the criteria stipulated in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Electoral Act 2022 are allowed to register.
” The Commission will continue to make information available to the public on the progress of the current online and in-person CVR. We appeal to all well-meaning citizens to be circumspect in going public with information based on sheer conjecture when they can rely on authentic and verifiable data available from our official repositories for both ongoing and historical record of our activities”, Oyekanmi noted.
