These are not the elections Nigerians expected | Nairalaw

These were not the elections Nigerians wanted; they were not the
elections Nigerians expected; and, most importantly, they were not
the elections Nigerians deserved.

Our electoral commission must improve its capacity to deliver
credible elections and our political parties must play according to
the rules. Failure to do so could fundamentally threaten our
democracy”. These are the words of the YIAGA AFRICA’s Watching The
Vote Board Chairman, Dr. Hussaini Abdu , at a press conference on
the preliminary findings from the 2019 Presidential and National
Assembly elections.

Nigerians continue to ask the questions on when an election can
be conducted with a 100 per cent early deployment of materials and
zero per cent violence as delays in logistic deployment along with
the perennial electoral disruptions reportedly featured in
Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections. Having
been postponed for one week due to logistic challenges,
expectations from the Independent National Electoral Commission and
security agencies skyrocketed with the belief that everything must
have been fixed before the new date.

Delay in deployment of election materials and issues relating to
ballot box snatching, attacks on polling officials, disruption of
election materials seem to remain in constant competition for
prominence in virtually every major election in Nigeria. The
hydra-headed issues bedevilling Nigeria’s elections always feature
even after all stakeholders declare their readiness to ensure the
elections are hitch-free. This leaves several questions regarding
the competence of agencies responsible in ensuring peaceful and
credible elections in the country.

For instance, credible election data released by arguably the
largest movement committed to credible elections, YIAGA AFRICA,
says as of 12pm on Election Day, at least 110 critical incidents
across the country primarily concerning late arrival of election
materials to polling units took place. While electoral officials
are expected to be at polling units by 7.30am so that set-up can
commence ahead of the 8am commencement of simultaneous
accreditation and voting, statistical reports by YIAGA AFRICA’s
#WatchingTheVote observers reported that INEC officials arrived at
only 31% of polling units as of 7.30am. Furthermore, statistical
reports say as of 10am, only 41% of polling units had opened across
the country while even as of close to 12pm in the afternoon, INEC
had not achieved 100 per cent logistic deployment as statistics say
74% of polling units had opened nationally. This is even trying to
overlook the seven per cent polling units where YIAGA AFRICA
reported that the card reader was not used for accreditation either
due to lack of availability or deliberate violation of the
electoral guidelines.

In this vein, elections went into the nights in a handful of
polling units with apparently no proper preparation for logistics
for a conducive environment which leaves the credibility of the
process in jeopardy. In addition to logistic challenges is the
security issue which has marred Nigeria’s elections over time.
Report has it that at least 90% of polling units recorded the
presence of security personnel which in itself is not a complete
standard when it comes to conducting credible elections as it is
expected that security agents will be seen at all close to 120,000
polling units across the country.

But despite the presence of security checkpoints across the
country, reports of political thugs moving in motorcycles in Lagos
disrupting the process at will left a lot to be desired. A lot of
questions are being asked on how political thugs accessed polling
units, collation centres and Registration Area Centres to either
cart away ballot boxes, destroy election materials and assault
voters and election materials. Verified reports from media and
election observers show that, citizens, observers or election
officials were harassed, beaten, intimidated or even killed in some
states across Nigeria. More so, at the risk of propagating
unverified reports, social media footages of injured citizens and
burning of electoral materials remain a real cause of security
concerns.

It is difficult to understand if security officials deployed at
polling units gave way for hoodlums to execute their heinous plans
or this was done with the support of security officials as alleged
at some quarters. While it remains surprising that the acting
Inspector-General of Police, Adamu Muhammed, confidently reiterated
the force’s readiness to protect every life especially during this
period, Nigerians have yet to see major arrests of these electoral
offenders.

Recommendations are not always far-fetched but their
implementation to the later remains a major challenge the nation
has faced over time. Election and security analysts have called for
a comprehensive framework for the prosecution of electoral
offenders in the country.

Moshood Isah is the Media Officer of YIAGA AFRICA

Misah@yiaga.org