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[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_row_inner el_id=”newsletters”][vc_column_inner width=”1/6″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”INEC Guidelines, Elections and Questions” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:22|text_align:justify|color:%236699cc|line_height:1.8″ use_theme_fonts=”yes”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/6″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”25px”][vc_column_text]
The drumbeats for the Nigerian elections seem to be sounding even louder and the frenzy increasing ahead of February 16th 2019. Any true and committed Nigerian should be talking about nothing else but elections at this time. We have seen the presidential debates come and go – the highpoint being the absence of the president and the consequential walk out by the presidential candidate of the People Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar. Atiku’s reason for excusing himself after being at the venue ahead of 7pm was that the debate hinged on the issues that affect the country and if the man at the helm is not available then it would be a candidates’ debate instead of a presidential debate. We have seen former President Olusegun Obasanjo issue a statement questioning the independence of the Independent National Electoral Commission. In his words the ex-president said: ‘’The track record of the present INEC is fairly sordid and all men and women of goodwill and believers in democracy must be prepared for the worse from INEC and their encouragers’’. The Ex-President also said ‘’Amina Zakari has become too controversial a figure to be able to give assurance of free, fair and credible elections’’
Amidst all the campaign rallies and debates INEC has released the Guidelines for the 2019 Elections dated 12th January 2019, which is available on the INEC website. Go to ‘’Resources’’ and on the drop down click ‘’Downloads’’. Some political parties are still not entirely satisfied with some of the provisions in the Guidelines. Like the ex-President, these coalition of parties are clearly calling out INEC and insisting that some of the provisions are designed to help the ruling party rig the elections, an allegation which the INEC Chairman denies vehemently.
As the 2019 Election guidelines stand today (unless anything changes) the election process shall be that the Smart Card Reader is mandatory so any person intending to vote shall be verified to be the same person on the register of voters by use of the smart card reader. There are however several exceptions to this general rule in the accreditation process and this is where it gets a bit sticky.
The first exception is ‘’where the voters PVC is read by the smart card reader but his/ her fingerprint is not authenticated’’. In such a case the voter would be requested to thumbprint the appropriate box in the Register of Voters and provide his phone number in the appropriate box. Such a voter shall then be allowed to accredit and vote.
The second exception is ‘’where the voters PVC is read but shows the details of another person, rather than the details of the cardholder as printed on the PVC’’. In such a case, the voter shall be allowed to confirm that the details of the voter in the Register of Voters correspond to those on the PVC. If the Polling officer is satisfied that the holder of the card is on the register of voters, then his phone number shall be recorded in the appropriate box and he shall proceed to accreditation and voting.
It is important to note that according to the guidelines voters who fall into these two exceptions shall only be ‘’issued ballot papers after consultation with the Polling Agents’’ who are the party representatives at each polling unit.
Another important issue to note is the question of what happens in the event of a sustained malfunction of the smart card reader. In such a case the INEC officers are supposed to request for a new smart card reader and suspend voting until a new card reader is made available. The INEC officers are supposed to inform voters of the situation. Where a replacement smart card reader is not available by 2pm the accreditation and voting shall continue the following day.
One of the most important points to note from a voter standpoint is that the guidelines are clear that at the close of voting the votes will be collated and the scores entered in the requisite forms. The results must be pasted at the polling unit once it has been collated. Voters are advised to wait behind to see the collation and pasting at your polling booth.
Away from the process on election day, there are still many questions for INEC. The budget for elections was 143 billion naira of which 27.5 billion was for technology. Given the budget for technology, voters wonder why we cannot simply have elections where the smart card readers are used for authentication without exception. After all, INEC has had 4 years to plan for more credible elections? Should we not have extra card readers handy at all the polling units to plan for any failures? Someone I was having a conversation with recently put this very succinctly when he likened the use of a card reader to drawing cash from an ATM machine. He said the failure rates at ATM machines is very negligible and anyone whose card does not work simply cannot draw cash.
There is also the issue of uncollected PVC’s. Can INEC publish the total number of uncollected PVC’s on a state by state basis? Should this not be updated weekly and published for people to see? There have also been complains about difficulty in collection of PVC’s. Some people have been told that their PVC’s are not available for collection despite having a collection slip. Lastly, the big elephant in the room remains the issue of Amina Zakari who is said to be related to the President and has been designated as collation officer for the 2019 elections. Would the call from an ex-President, Olusegun Obasanjo make the INEC chairman change his mind?
As citizens it is exciting to watch debates, listen to election jingles, be a social media e-ratand more. However, when all is said and done, we must not shirk our civic responsibility to cast our votes. Go out there and use your PVC in a responsible manner.
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[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”INEC Guidelines, Elections and Questions” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:22|text_align:justify|color:%236699cc|line_height:1.8″ use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
The drumbeats for the Nigerian elections seem to be sounding even louder and the frenzy increasing ahead of February 16th 2019. Any true and committed Nigerian should be talking about nothing else but elections at this time. We have seen the presidential debates come and go – the highpoint being the absence of the president and the consequential walk out by the presidential candidate of the People Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar. Atiku’s reason for excusing himself after being at the venue ahead of 7pm was that the debate hinged on the issues that affect the country and if the man at the helm is not available then it would be a candidates’ debate instead of a presidential debate. We have seen former President Olusegun Obasanjo issue a statement questioning the independence of the Independent National Electoral Commission. In his words the ex-president said: ‘’The track record of the present INEC is fairly sordid and all men and women of goodwill and believers in democracy must be prepared for the worse from INEC and their encouragers’’. The Ex-President also said ‘’Amina Zakari has become too controversial a figure to be able to give assurance of free, fair and credible elections’’
Amidst all the campaign rallies and debates INEC has released the Guidelines for the 2019 Elections dated 12th January 2019, which is available on the INEC website. Go to ‘’Resources’’ and on the drop down click ‘’Downloads’’. Some political parties are still not entirely satisfied with some of the provisions in the Guidelines. Like the ex-President, these coalition of parties are clearly calling out INEC and insisting that some of the provisions are designed to help the ruling party rig the elections, an allegation which the INEC Chairman denies vehemently.
As the 2019 Election guidelines stand today (unless anything changes) the election process shall be that the Smart Card Reader is mandatory so any person intending to vote shall be verified to be the same person on the register of voters by use of the smart card reader. There are however several exceptions to this general rule in the accreditation process and this is where it gets a bit sticky.
The first exception is ‘’where the voters PVC is read by the smart card reader but his/ her fingerprint is not authenticated’’. In such a case the voter would be requested to thumbprint the appropriate box in the Register of Voters and provide his phone number in the appropriate box. Such a voter shall then be allowed to accredit and vote.
The second exception is ‘’where the voters PVC is read but shows the details of another person, rather than the details of the cardholder as printed on the PVC’’. In such a case, the voter shall be allowed to confirm that the details of the voter in the Register of Voters correspond to those on the PVC. If the Polling officer is satisfied that the holder of the card is on the register of voters, then his phone number shall be recorded in the appropriate box and he shall proceed to accreditation and voting.
It is important to note that according to the guidelines voters who fall into these two exceptions shall only be ‘’issued ballot papers after consultation with the Polling Agents’’ who are the party representatives at each polling unit.
Another important issue to note is the question of what happens in the event of a sustained malfunction of the smart card reader. In such a case the INEC officers are supposed to request for a new smart card reader and suspend voting until a new card reader is made available. The INEC officers are supposed to inform voters of the situation. Where a replacement smart card reader is not available by 2pm the accreditation and voting shall continue the following day.
One of the most important points to note from a voter standpoint is that the guidelines are clear that at the close of voting the votes will be collated and the scores entered in the requisite forms. The results must be pasted at the polling unit once it has been collated. Voters are advised to wait behind to see the collation and pasting at your polling booth.
Away from the process on election day, there are still many questions for INEC. The budget for elections was 143 billion naira of which 27.5 billion was for technology. Given the budget for technology, voters wonder why we cannot simply have elections where the smart card readers are used for authentication without exception. After all, INEC has had 4 years to plan for more credible elections? Should we not have extra card readers handy at all the polling units to plan for any failures? Someone I was having a conversation with recently put this very succinctly when he likened the use of a card reader to drawing cash from an ATM machine. He said the failure rates at ATM machines is very negligible and anyone whose card does not work simply cannot draw cash.
There is also the issue of uncollected PVC’s. Can INEC publish the total number of uncollected PVC’s on a state by state basis? Should this not be updated weekly and published for people to see? There have also been complains about difficulty in collection of PVC’s. Some people have been told that their PVC’s are not available for collection despite having a collection slip. Lastly, the big elephant in the room remains the issue of Amina Zakari who is said to be related to the President and has been designated as collation officer for the 2019 elections. Would the call from an ex-President, Olusegun Obasanjo make the INEC chairman change his mind?
As citizens it is exciting to watch debates, listen to election jingles, be a social media e-ratand more. However, when all is said and done, we must not shirk our civic responsibility to cast our votes. Go out there and use your PVC in a responsible manner.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/6″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”vc_default” full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces” css=”.vc_custom_1500547593342{padding-right: 100px !important;}” el_class=”noPaddinRow”][vc_column el_class=”noPaddingLeft” offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm” css=”.vc_custom_1533215258743{padding-right: 75px !important;padding-left: 60px !important;}”][vc_raw_html]JTNDZGl2JTIwY2xhc3MlM0QlMjJtb2ItbWFpbi1zdHJpcCUyMiUzRSUwQSUzQ2RpdiUyMGNsYXNzJTNEJTIybW9iLWJsdWUtc3RyaXAwJTIyJTNFJTNDJTJGZGl2JTNFJTBBJTNDZGl2JTIwY2xhc3MlM0QlMjJtb2ItYmx1ZS1zdHJpcDElMjIlM0UlM0MlMkZkaXYlM0UlMEElM0NkaXYlMjBjbGFzcyUzRCUyMm1vYi1ibHVlLXN0cmlwMiUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRmRpdiUzRSUwQSUzQyUyRmRpdiUzRQ==[/vc_raw_html][vc_empty_space height=”25px”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/6″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]
[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”INEC Guidelines, Elections and Questions” font_container=”tag:h1|font_size:22|text_align:justify|color:%236699cc|line_height:1.8″ use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]
The drumbeats for the Nigerian elections seem to be sounding even louder and the frenzy increasing ahead of February 16th 2019. Any true and committed Nigerian should be talking about nothing else but elections at this time. We have seen the presidential debates come and go – the highpoint being the absence of the president and the consequential walk out by the presidential candidate of the People Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar. Atiku’s reason for excusing himself after being at the venue ahead of 7pm was that the debate hinged on the issues that affect the country and if the man at the helm is not available then it would be a candidates’ debate instead of a presidential debate. We have seen former President Olusegun Obasanjo issue a statement questioning the independence of the Independent National Electoral Commission. In his words the ex-president said: ‘’The track record of the present INEC is fairly sordid and all men and women of goodwill and believers in democracy must be prepared for the worse from INEC and their encouragers’’. The Ex-President also said ‘’Amina Zakari has become too controversial a figure to be able to give assurance of free, fair and credible elections’’
Amidst all the campaign rallies and debates INEC has released the Guidelines for the 2019 Elections dated 12th January 2019, which is available on the INEC website. Go to ‘’Resources’’ and on the drop down click ‘’Downloads’’. Some political parties are still not entirely satisfied with some of the provisions in the Guidelines. Like the ex-President, these coalition of parties are clearly calling out INEC and insisting that some of the provisions are designed to help the ruling party rig the elections, an allegation which the INEC Chairman denies vehemently.
As the 2019 Election guidelines stand today (unless anything changes) the election process shall be that the Smart Card Reader is mandatory so any person intending to vote shall be verified to be the same person on the register of voters by use of the smart card reader. There are however several exceptions to this general rule in the accreditation process and this is where it gets a bit sticky.
The first exception is ‘’where the voters PVC is read by the smart card reader but his/ her fingerprint is not authenticated’’. In such a case the voter would be requested to thumbprint the appropriate box in the Register of Voters and provide his phone number in the appropriate box. Such a voter shall then be allowed to accredit and vote.
The second exception is ‘’where the voters PVC is read but shows the details of another person, rather than the details of the cardholder as printed on the PVC’’. In such a case, the voter shall be allowed to confirm that the details of the voter in the Register of Voters correspond to those on the PVC. If the Polling officer is satisfied that the holder of the card is on the register of voters, then his phone number shall be recorded in the appropriate box and he shall proceed to accreditation and voting.
It is important to note that according to the guidelines voters who fall into these two exceptions shall only be ‘’issued ballot papers after consultation with the Polling Agents’’ who are the party representatives at each polling unit.
Another important issue to note is the question of what happens in the event of a sustained malfunction of the smart card reader. In such a case the INEC officers are supposed to request for a new smart card reader and suspend voting until a new card reader is made available. The INEC officers are supposed to inform voters of the situation. Where a replacement smart card reader is not available by 2pm the accreditation and voting shall continue the following day.
One of the most important points to note from a voter standpoint is that the guidelines are clear that at the close of voting the votes will be collated and the scores entered in the requisite forms. The results must be pasted at the polling unit once it has been collated. Voters are advised to wait behind to see the collation and pasting at your polling booth.
Away from the process on election day, there are still many questions for INEC. The budget for elections was 143 billion naira of which 27.5 billion was for technology. Given the budget for technology, voters wonder why we cannot simply have elections where the smart card readers are used for authentication without exception. After all, INEC has had 4 years to plan for more credible elections? Should we not have extra card readers handy at all the polling units to plan for any failures? Someone I was having a conversation with recently put this very succinctly when he likened the use of a card reader to drawing cash from an ATM machine. He said the failure rates at ATM machines is very negligible and anyone whose card does not work simply cannot draw cash.
There is also the issue of uncollected PVC’s. Can INEC publish the total number of uncollected PVC’s on a state by state basis? Should this not be updated weekly and published for people to see? There have also been complains about difficulty in collection of PVC’s. Some people have been told that their PVC’s are not available for collection despite having a collection slip. Lastly, the big elephant in the room remains the issue of Amina Zakari who is said to be related to the President and has been designated as collation officer for the 2019 elections. Would the call from an ex-President, Olusegun Obasanjo make the INEC chairman change his mind?
As citizens it is exciting to watch debates, listen to election jingles, be a social media e-ratand more. However, when all is said and done, we must not shirk our civic responsibility to cast our votes. Go out there and use your PVC in a responsible manner.
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