An alleged plot by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to disenfranchise Igbo voters in Lagos has set Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos on a collision course with the electoral umpire.
Ohanaeze alleged that many Igbo in Lagos State who registered to vote have not got their permanent voter cards (PVC) because the INEC has refused to release the cards.
It said many Igbo are unable to exchange their temporary voter cards (TVCs) for the new PVCs because INEC officials refused to release the cards in bulk to Igbo community leaders to deliver to their kinsmen whom they know, whereas the officials have released the cards to Yoruba community leaders.
Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos President, Fabian Onwughalu, alleged that on request, INEC officials issued in bulk to Yoruba community leaders the PVCs of those they could reach but refused to release the cards to Igbo community leaders.
He alleged that INEC officials are executing strategy to ensure Igbo do not get their PVCs to exercise their franchise.
“Having reviewed the situation for a very long time and after putting so much pressure on the INEC to make these cards easily available to our people to no avail, we have decided to tell Nigerians about this systematic strategy by the INEC to disenfranchise Igbo and ensure that the majority of our people do not participate in the coming elections,” Onwuhalu alleged.
“The act and systematic strategy to disfranchise our people is condemnable, unacceptable, and of course unconscionable.”
He urged the INEC to order its staff in Lagos, especially in councils, to apply equal and same measure to everyone by giving Igbo community leaders and leaders of recognised groups the cards for distribution to their members, as done for Yoruba leaders.
Hard evidence
Onwughalu alleged that selective bias is the trend, especially in councils inhabited predominantly by the Igbo, such Amuwo Odofin, Oriade, Ajeromi Ifelodun, Alimosho Local Council Development Area (LCDA), and Apapa Iganmu LCDA, where they are on the verge of being denied their PVCs.
He also listed Agboyin Ketu, Agbala Okendo, Badagry, Coker Aguda, Etiosa East, Ejigbo, Ilado Abulekun, Ikeja, Ikorodu, Ifelodun, Ikosi Ejirin, Isolo, Ifako Ijaye, Itire Ikate, Iba, and Kosefe, Lagos mainland, Leki, Mushin, Oshodi, Ojokoro, Ota Awori, Shomolu, Ojo, Ojodu, and Surulere.
Igbo community leaders took turns to share their personal experiences and findings in those areas to buttress the allegation.
Onwughalu’s experience
Onwughalu, a legal practitioner, disclosed that “other community leaders of Yoruba extraction were allowed to take their own cards in bulk to distribute to their people. How they do it, I don’t know; but I have witnessed it in Amuwo Odofin.
“Some of our members have also given us report about Shomolu. Damian Okoye, our Vice President representing Anambra State, is there to testify to that. He lives in Shomolu, and has given us similar report about the area.
“Someone also brought report too from Surulere, another brought from Bariga. It is important that the INEC should compel its workers in Lagos State to do the right thing, otherwise a sizeable number of South East indigenes resident in Lagos might be disenfranchised.”
John-Greg Ezebuadi
John-Greg Ezebuadi, National Publicity Secretary of the Association of Ndieze Ndigbo in the Diaspora and the Ezeudo Ndigbo of Iba LCDA, said the majority of Igbo in Iba are yet to get the PVCs.
He alleged that the INEC refused to release the cards to him even as he promised to write an undertaken to that effect.
He implored the INEC to ensure speedy delivery or shift the election by few days to enable those registered to collect their PVCs.
Damian Okoye, Vice President of Ohanaeze representing Anambra State, also brought report from Surulere, where he said the majority of Igbo who have TVCs whose names are on the list could not collect their PVCs.
He said they have been to the designated centres about 10 times to collect the cards without success.
“These were among the 2011 registrants and they voted with the TVCs in 2011. You can see the irony, someone else must have hijacked their PVCs and they are being disenfranchised,” he alleged.
“That is why we are saying that this punishment is selective. To address this lopsidedness and selective punishment, the INEC should extend this exercise further than the 13th of this month.”
Sam Emeka, representing South East Ndigboamaka, an association of 86 major market unions in Lagos, disclosed that as leaders in their respective places, they have discovered that most of their members are yet to secure their cards.
He recalled that before the voter registration exercise they undertook mass orientation of their members urging them to register in order to perform their civic duty.
“In the various markets in Lagos where they plied their businesses, they mobilised for registration to make sure they are not disenfranchised.
“Leaders of the major markets unions in the state participated in the exercise so as to mobilise their members at various markets to get registered,” Emeka narrated.
He disclosed that the Lagos State government sent a commissioner as a representative to witness the mobilisation, which was a huge success.
“The purpose of the sensitisation was to raise the bar. Before then, traders were known to have little or no time to participate in electioneering process.
“But time has changed. So, the message was sent out, and it was well received. And many people participated in the registration here in Lagos.
“There is a sizeable number of our members who live near the market. They all registered in the centre near the market.
“The majority of others registered in their places of residence because they were all made to understand why they should not register elsewhere.
“But, as we talk, none of those who registered in the centre near the market has got his or her PVC. But the irony is that their names are on the list. No single person has collected it at the Coker Building Materials Market.”
Way forward
The group suggested to the INEC to “give us the cards for onward delivery to our people because we know them and where they live.
“We are people with addresses and can always be called upon to return these cards or account for them in the event we fail to deliver the cards to the rightful owners.”
In the alternative, it appealed for extension by a few days to enable those who registered to collect their cards.
Asked whether they would seek legal redress if the INEC fails to resolve the issue, they said: “What is important is to draw the attention of the electoral umpire first and allow it to act. Legal threat or redress will make the public think that we are seeking a way to cancel the election. That is not our intention.
“We want the INEC to give us equal opportunity to use our PVCs to exercise our civic responsibility. That is all. We believe the INEC has listening ears and they are going to do something; that is why we are making this clarion call.
“Let them find an alternative way to ensure that eligible voters are not disenfranchised.”
The group also suggested that public holidays be declared if it will ensure that eligible voters collect their PVCs to perform their franchise.