Assistant Politics Editor, DANIEL KANU, writes on controversies arising from the proposal by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for creation of additional polling units in the country ahead 2015 polls.
Controversy continues to trail the proposal for the creation of new polling units ahead of 2015 by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The development has unarguably put the Chairman of INEC, Attahiru Jega, on the spot.
Those criticising the latest move by INEC in creating new polling units suspect it to be a wrap for hidden agenda.
Thus, political watchers and politicians, mainly Southerners, are raising alarm and are beginning to call for the immediate resignation, or sack, of Jega as a result of the action.
In creating new polling units, TheNiche learnt that the electoral body leaned on the 2010 Electoral Act, which stipulates that no polling unit should have more than 500 voters.
Long walk to the controversy
INEC recently approved the creation of additional 30,027 polling units to the existing 119,973 which brought the total number to 150,000 polling units.
Critics describe the new creation as phantom and whimsical, just as they argue that the allocation was a pro-Northern script to rig the 2015 presidential election against President Goodluck Jonathan, a Southerner, in favour of a Northern candidate.
Against this backdrop, Jega is now seen to be no longer neutral but biased and is out to favour the North in the coming presidential ballot.
Going by the proposal, the three zones in the North will have about 21,000 units, which is 70 per cent of the new units, while the three zones in the South will get about 8,000.
The South West gets 4,160; South South 3,087; and South East 1,167 (a total 8,414). The North West will have 7,906; North East 5,291; and the North Central 6,318 (a total of 21,615). The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is allocated 1,120.
More revelations indicate that while all states in the North will get more polling units after the initial 121 evenly distributed, some in the South, like Anambra, Bayelsa, Enugu, Ekiti and Osun will have none.
Lagos is allocated 2,870 units, bringing to 11,565 the polling units that will serve its 5,426,391 registered voters. Kano, with 4,751,818 registered voters, will have additional 2,053 units, bringing its total to 9,809.
Kaduna, with 3,743,815 registered voters, will get new 2,878 polling units, making a total 7,878. Bayelsa, which has the lowest number of registered voters (590,679), will only get the initial 121 polling units allocated to every state, bringing its total to 1,925, while Imo will have the least with 42.
Jega on defence
Jega had, however, countered at a press conference in Abuja penultimate Wednesday that he is not a religious or ethnic jingoist, as he appears to be portrayed, given his action, saying that the action is borne out of need rather than crude political arithmetic.
He had contended that the new units would not give political advantage to any zone, but would meet a collective aspiration for Nigeria to reform and improve upon its electoral process for peaceful and credible elections next year and beyond.
“INEC’s decision to re-configure the structure of polling units and create additional ones is driven by our collective aspirations as Nigerians to reform and improve upon the electoral process for free, fair, peaceful and credible elections next year and beyond. There is no sectional or parochial agenda in this decision and there will never be any such agenda under this commission.
“They know my antecedents. I am not a religious jingoist. It is only those who do not want progress, who are accusing us. Nigeria must move forward. We must not allow our fear to imprison us,” Jega had argued.
Explaining further, he said the need to factor more than political sentiments informed the patterns of distribution of the polling units, maintaining that the “the Commission has not been unmindful of the political nature of the exercise; and that is why it took the decision that no state will lose any polling unis from its stock of existing units, no matter the statistical outlook when voter population is exaggerated into units of 500 persons; and that every state will get some additional polling units from 15 per cent of the total being newly created on the basis of ‘equality principle’ regardless of the number of polling units already existing in each state in comparison to the voter population.”
What is obvious is that with the increasing division of the country along the very frightening burden lines of religion and ethnicity, Nigerian politicians, who seem to know that rigging election has gone beyond the crude forms of mere ballot stuffing and snatching to more sophisticated forms, are kicking, sensing dangerous intrigues ahead.
Notwithstanding, Jega’s critics are still of the view that there is more to the details which they say goes beyond the ordinary eye.
Denunciation galore
From Enugu to Umuahia, Owerri to Abakaliki, Port-Harcourt to Yenagoa, it has been rejection galore for the agenda.
Leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South East geopolitical zone shot the first salvo. They rejected in its entirety, the new arrangement, saying “it is completely against the spirit of one Nigeria and the progress of the country”.
They took the decision in a meeting in Umuahia, Abia State, recently where other matters of grave importance were discussed.
National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, who addressed journalists at the end of the meeting that lasted over four hours, said the zonal leaders could not come to terms with the decision of INEC to allocate 8,000 polling booths to the entire South as against 21,000 to the North.
“We reject entirely the alleged allocation of polling booths by INEC. We view it as a great disservice to the unity and progress of this country if only 8,000 be allocated to South East, while the North gets 21,000. We demand that the issue be suspended forthwith,” he said.
It was a very sensitive meeting that had in attendance Governor Theodore Orji of Abia, his Ebonyi State counterpart, Martin Elechi; Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu; Ministers of Aviation, Osita Chidoka; Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu; and Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu, as well as representative of Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State; PDP National Women Leader, Mrs. Kema Chikwe; all PDP national officers and states chairmen from the South East, among others.
The Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly (SNPA) has equally decried the action, demanding the immediate removal of Jega.
The group said the INEC boss has lost his credibility and is unfit to continue in such sensitive position which requires an unbiased umpire.
SNPA questioned the rationale behind increasing polling units when the number of registered voters has reduced from 70 million to 57 million.
The group had argued that “as plausible as the reasons may sound, the voodoo and arbitrary allocation of polling units, the people of Southern Nigeria and indeed the Southern Nigerian Peoples Assembly, view this invidious act as a script crafted for Jega to implement, in continuation of the well-known hegemonic agenda, by the enemies of our hard-won democracy.
“The people of Southern Nigeria are not only appalled, but also strongly reject Jega’s claims and averment, whatever persuasions may have motivated this callous, insensitive, disparate, oppressive and inconsonant decision to give the North a clear political advantage over the South, contrary to the reality on the ground.
“If this concocted manipulation of polling units is his clever design to give undue political advantage to the North, having in mind the 2015 presidential election, we wish to remind him that he has failed in his decrepit mission.”
Also piqued by the action, former Anambra State Governor, Chukwuemeka Ezeife, said Jega’s plan is akin to a coup against Ndigbo in particular and the South in general.
For him, the action seems to be a clear indication that Jega has been armed with a pro-Northern script to rig the 2015 presidential election against Jonathan, and in favour of a Northern candidate.
He said: “The South as a whole has taken a position that Jega must go and we are not changing our mind on that. What is going on shows that there is underground agenda and we know it. By the action of Jega, the 2015 election has been rigged in favour of some people, against President Jonathan.
“How can the North West have over 8,000 new polling units and the entire South East get a mere 1,000 units, the same figure for Zamfara and the FCT. That is impossible and we will resist such agenda.”
Acting National Chairman, United Democratic Party (UDP), Godson Okoye told The Niche that there is the problem of wrong timing by INEC, which made most stakeholders to be apprehensive of the action.
He said INEC would have connected properly with the political parties and that they would have done enough sensitisation campaign. This he argued would have made the action more acceptable to the people as they would have been convinced that the action was in the best interest of our electoral growth.
‘’I think the controversy is as a result of the wrong timing by INEC. The action was not properly timed so it is bound to generate suspicion. They would have connected with the political parties who would have properly educated their people. They would have sensitised the people enough so that they will know that there is no hidden plan. As for Jega, of course he remains one with integrity. I think the controversy was a result of bad-timing’’ Okoye submitted.
A call for reason
Renowned rights activist and legal practitioner, Tunji Abayomi, has, however, called for caution in passing quick judgment on Jega’s action.
He said there must be enough proof to justify that Jega has mischief up his sleeves before sending him to the gallows, warning that “it will be bad to sensationalise the issue that may at last be in the best interest of our electoral growth. We should not criticise for criticism sake, but to ensure we have our facts right”.
He added: “My understanding of INEC’s action is that the creation is essentially to reduce pressure in the existing units. I do not believe it is detrimental to election population because I understand from the chairman of INEC that in some units you have over a thousand voters, whereas a unit is supposed to have just 500 voters. If we have such bad situation in the North and we don’t have such kind of bad situation in the South, I think there will be justification for creating more units in the North.
“As long as the creation of more units has not disadvantaged the South or any part of the country, I do not think we have a reason to complain or protest. But if it can be shown that the creation of these units disadvantages any part of the country, then it’s a separate situation. I have read about the complaints by some zones and groups, but I haven’t read that the creation of these units in order to reduce pressure on existing units has any negative impact or effect on any part of the country.”
Last line
Jega has admitted that the INEC has not yet created the additional polling units, but has simply approved the framework and guidelines to facilitate their creation by Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) and the state offices of INEC.
For now, it is uncertain given the cacophony of protests mounting each passing day, whether the INEC chairman will want to continue with the controversial agenda, considering that his credibility now appears to be at stake.
