FEATURE ARTICLE

Nnanna IjomahTuesday, July 14, 2015
[email protected]
New York, New York, USA

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ABIA ELECTION TRIBUNAL AND INEC

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hen the Nigerian Federal Government set up the Independent National Election Commission they intended for it to, among other things, conduct free and fair elections without any undue interference or influence by government officials, the legislatures or political parties, hence the acronym INEC started with the word 'INDEPENDENT'. Unfortunately that word 'INDEPENDENT, judging by the performance of INEC in the 2015 general elections, have been so bastardized so much so that it is not worth the paper it is written on. A cursory look at the conduct of the last elections by any fair minded observer will undoubtedly reveal even to the most illiterate, uninformed and uneducated Nigerian that the 2015 elections was far from free and fair. A careful analysis of the process and execution of those elections will also reveal that in every case of electoral fraud and malpractice that took place , INEC officials were inextricably involved one way or the other. As a matter of fact most of the electoral shenanigans that took place would not have occurred or succeeded with the assistance of INEC officials.

Some of the ways by which they facilitated these electoral mischief include showing up 2 to 3 hours late in some polling stations, inadequate electoral materials, intentional tampering with the card readers, resulting in the subsequent non- use of the card readers, the sale or provision of voting cards and result sheets to political parties and their polling agents and the authentication of result sheets without any effort to crosscheck if the figures are in agreement with other benchmarks such as the number of voters registered in the district as well as accredited by the card readers. Despite all the assurances by Alhaji Jega regarding the promise of a free and fair elections , supposedly to be enhanced by the introduction of the PVC cards and the electronic card readers, the general consensus amongst most Nigerians is that the 2015 elections was probably the most rigged in the history of Nigeria's electoral process.

It is most unfortunate that the so called Independent National Election Commission, rather than own up to its mistakes, has decided to constitute a clog in the wheels of justice by the various election tribunals now sitting in the various states of the federation. Instead of accepting and acknowledging their crimes of electoral malpractice and using the opportunity offered by the tribunals to make amends and reclaim some degree of probity, they have instead continuously constituted an obstacle to the judicial process. A good case in point is what is presently happening in Abia state , where it is reported that INEC officials in Umuahia have consistently denied forensic experts from Dr Otti's/APGA legal team from examining Abia state voting materials as ordered by the tribunal judge. An act that prompted one of Dr Otti's lead counsel Mr Ndionyenma Nwankwo to, at a recent hearing at the tribunal accuse Dr Ikpeazu, the PDP and INEC of a 'blatant conspiracy 'to frustrate the efforts of the forensic experts and to cause a delay in the speedy dispensation of the case.

The same thing is said to be happening in Rivers state where once again INEC is refusing to cooperate with litigants from the APC. It seems not to be enough that INEC bungled the elections in Abia state when they declared Dr Ikpeazu of PDP the winner in the gubernatorial elections despite overwhelming evidence to the fact that the election figures from Obingwa, Osissioma and Isiala Ngwa North were far from accurate nor did they correlate with the number of accredited voters in the said local government councils, they seem to have doubled down to once again deny the Abia people justice. The fact that they reversed themselves after cancelling the elections in the above mentioned LGA's, the fact they accepted the result sheet from Obingwa stamped with the Umuahia INEC official stamp instead of that of Obingwa despite the protestations of Dr Otti's representative and the fact that 8 INEC officials from the same office were arrested for stealing the card readers supposedly used in the said LGA's with the intention of tampering with them, there is no doubt that by their recent actions which includes the filling of 3 motions at the tribunal last week, INEC is bent on covering up its mistakes from public scrutiny and does not care if justice is served.

The unfortunate aspect of INEC's continued refusal to abide by the tribunal's orders is the revelation of the total impotence of Nigeria's judicial system. What it tells us is that the principle of checks and balance which is the key element in Nigeria's latent democracy as in most democracies can be ignored with no consequence to the guilty branch of government. It is only in Nigeria that a judge's court order can be ignored or refused to be enforced by the executive arm. No wonder Nigeria's judiciary has been aptly described as a toothless bulldog whose bark is better than its bite. Despite INEC's continued defiance and road blocks I will want to believe that justice will eventually prevail. Like the saying goes, "darkness cannot be driven away by darkness. Only light can. The truth is that 'there are only two kinds of facts. The one you look up and the one you make up". INEC's made up facts will never stand under scrutiny and despite their best efforts to conceal the real facts, justice somehow will prevail because you can hide the truth only for so long. Eventually the true facts will be looked up and reveled thereby bringing an inglorious end to the electoral mischief of Umuahia INEC.

I make the above assertion because I have absolute faith in the Abia state tribunal judge and his colleagues , whom I regard as men of honesty, ability and integrity considering the way they have conducted the affairs of the tribunal .It is my wish and hope that when the time comes, they will base their rulings on the merits of the case taking into consideration the avalanche of evidence of electoral malpractice presented to them. As to the teeming number of Dr Otti's supporters , I will implore them to keep the peace, be patient and be prayerful for justice will be theirs in the end. Dr Otti is a man of exceptional determination ,and a great reservoir of personal courage who no doubt will see this case to fruittion and when that day comes our collective memory will fade with time as it is with all things borne of misfortune.

In conclusion, it is my sincere wish ,though it could just be wishful thinking to hope that INEC under the Buhari administration and new leadership will cease and desist from its present wayward ways of constituting an obstacle to the judicial process at the various tribunals , reorganize itself, acknowledge its mistakes, make amends as well as focus on the various other functions for which it was set up to handle as their counterparts in developed economies, some of which may include the following:-

  1. Regulate political party funding. Something that is absent in Nigeria.

  2. Ensure integrity and transparency of party and election. Something they failed woefully in ensuring during the 2015 elections.

  3. Monitor campaign donations, financing and spending.

  4. Maintain and update a public and searchable register of party donations and spending on its website.

  5. Impose financial and civil penalties on political parties who fail to account for their donations, loans and expenditures.

  6. In preparation for the 2019 elections reverse the practice of wasting highly needed voting hours of accrediting voters first before actual voting commences. Voters should be allowed to vote right after accreditation, that way most voters will not be kept waiting to vote, a practice that caused most voters to leave the polling booth to go home after getting tired of waiting for the accreditation process to end.

INEC needs to build some degree of credibility so as to gain public acceptance by the Nigerian citizenry most of whom highly distrust the agency. It owes that much to a great multitude of Nigerians who watched helplessly as candidates of their choice were systematically rigged out of victory by unscrupulous politicians, aided and abetted by INEC officials. The agency needs a complete overhaul with a system put in place to adequately investigate the background and integrity of those under its employ. The time for action is now s the agency cannot wait till 2019 to make the changes expected of it.

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