Ahead of 2011 general elections, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega Tuesday in Lagos, said the commission has documented 87 ways politicians in the country rigged previous elections and has vowed to frustrate election manipulators in the forthcoming elections.
The commission also reiterated its readiness to prosecute electoral offenders during the elections.
Prof. Jega maintained that the resolve to depart from the past where electoral fraud was not punished shall be demonstrated during the compilation of new voters' register later in the year as INEC has concluded arrangement to ensure that anyone who perpetrated illegality during the registration exercise was appropriately sanctioned.
He made this known at a roundtable discussion on "The Importance and Sanctity of Votes in the Electoral Process in Nigeria" organised by the United States International Visitors Leadership Programme Alumni Association, Lagos, Nigeria.
The event held under the chairmanship of Senator Joy Emodi, while in attendance were Mr. Femi Falana, Vice Consul, US Consulate General, Lagos, Mr. Matthew Trumbull, director, Muslim Rights Concern, Prof. Is-haq Akintola, Rev George Ashiru, some aspirants, among others.
Speaking on "Electoral Process and New Expectations", Jega, represented by Lagos State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Adekunle Ogunmola, disclosed that during the registration of voters, direct data capturing machines will be assigned to each polling unit across the country and multiple registration will not only be detected by also sanctioned.
"The truth remains that the main trajectories of rigging elections in Nigeria have been well documented and studied and can be effectively countered.
"Let me inform you that when the new commission was put in place, there was a retreat at Obudu. The commission’s report was studied by members of the commission and in the report there was indication that there are about 87 ways of rigging elections that were discovered and since that time INEC has been doing everything possible block those loopholes", Prof Jega said.
He added: "Most of these things (rigging methods) has been documented and we are looking at all these ways and are blocking those loopholes and I want to assure you that there are several things in the registration procedure that will make us detect those who carry machines to their homes. There is no way they can remove the time the registration was done because if you register at 9 a.m. the machine will record it that you registered at 9 a.m."
He added" "INEC will make the registration exercise credible and ensure that the lapses of the past were completely removed. For example, the new direct data capturing machines is a clear departure from other machines used in the last registration exercise because, this time around, there are certain things that will be done to make multiple registration difficult, and also, there are sanctions for registration offences apart from the fact that the personnel the will be used will not be party agents and that will ensure that we capture a lot of people.
"One other unique aspect of it is the deployment of one machine to each polling unit. This will remove the problems of the past where people were always having problems during election time locating their names in specific polling unit. Since it is one machine per polling unit, it will remove such problems and you go to where you were registered definitely you will find your name there", Jega said.
According to him, following controversies generated by 2007 voters’ register, "INEC sampled 100 polling units from 19 randomly selected state. The results were alarming and include, among others massive inadequacies, underage registrants, hundreds of blank or blurred photographs and multiple registrations by the same persons. There is therefore the need for fresh voters’ register".
In tackling the problem, he disclosed that the commission has "developed new registration software that is completely owned by INEC for the exercise which has been and is currently being vigorously tested. The significance of the new software is that it will tackle many of the lingering challenges that had questioned the credibility of voters’ register. The system will no doubt lead to improvement in accuracy and convenience with which the Register can be revised and updated"
The INEC chairman furthered assured that over 3060, 000 ad-hoc staff required for the registration exercise will be traceable just as payment to them shall be done through their bank accounts, saying that "INEC has established a working relationship with the NYSC directorate and the NUC with a view to engaging youth corpers and senior Federal university students as ad-hoc staff".
Chairman of the occasion, Senator Joy Emodi in her remarks narrated how she was allegedly robbed her victory at the poll through judicial process, saying the court allegedly declared someone who did not campaign in the election winner.
She however call on women to join politics insisting that politics is not a dirty game as some people were made to believe saying, "when you sit in the comfort of your home and say that politics is dirty, charlatans and corrupt people will go there and they will rule over you".
On his part, human rights crusader and lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana in his keynote address at the event said: "Jega will not succeed until we deal with the culture of impunity in the country", adding that the role of the State Security Service and other security agencies in ensuring credible elections must be redefined.
According to him, "the sanctity of votes goes beyond INEC. Government officials, those of us who are privileged, ad-hoc staff of INEC and the media, have we come to the stage where we regard injustice to one as injustice to all? And until we get to that stage, we’re not going to get it right. And that is the problem of the sanctity of votes", Mr. Falana noted.
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