2015 Elections: Party Agents Dare Jega

The two leading political parties have shrugged of the postponement of the February 14 presidential elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and are re-strategizing on how to win the elections come March 28, 2015. One of the dirty games being allegedly played by both the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the main […]

The two leading political parties have shrugged of the postponement of the February 14 presidential elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and are re-strategizing on how to win the elections come March 28, 2015. One of the dirty games being allegedly played by both the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the main opposition All Progressive Congress (APC)is the trade in Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs).

Yemisi Adebanjo, a middle aged housewife who resides at Obantoko area in Odeda local government area of Ogun State is now at loggerheads with her husband over a ‘deal’ proposed by the latter in relation to her permanent voter card. According to the woman, her husband, who is a strong member of the PDP in Ogun State, had returned home one day armed with ‘mobilization forms’ courtesy of ‘Gboyega Nasir Isiaka (GNI) for Governor’ which he persuaded her and her son to fill and provide their PVC details.
“About three weeks ago, he (referring to her husband) rushed home from work to give me a form to fill, insisting that I should not forget to add my PVC number on it. He also requested for my son’s voter’s card with the same request adding that he would come back to pick the forms. Although I initially smelt a rat, I later yielded when he convinced me that the two forms could fetch him the sum of N100,000, because they were pre-election empowerment forms.”
Yemisi, a petty trader, said she decided to make photocopy of her form before filling it, because if her husband did not get the money before the February 14 earlier scheduled for the election as promised she would make trouble with him.
The elections were postponed, and since February 9, Yemisi had been on the neck of her husband insisting that it is either he provided the money he promised or he should return the forms which she and her son had been persuaded to fill with details of their voter cards.  
Since then, Yemisi had been engaged in a domestic conflict with her husband over the ‘pre-election empowerment forms’.  The questions she has been seeking answers from her husband are: “Why do you need the number in my card? Why you want to know the polling booth number? If I vote for another party, will they know? I cannot understand, but, I have told him that nothing must happen to my son because I am worried,” she said.
Yemisi is not the only victim of the illicit trade in PVCs by political party agents who are now on the prowl. Oladeinde Joseph, a resident of Oke Ata Housing Estate, in Abeokuta North local government area, was also one of those approached by the GNI foot soldiers. “When I went through the pre-election empowerment form, I suspected foul play. You said you want to empower me if I join the GNI group and you are giving we a form to fill, requesting details of my polling booth and card numbers”, he said, adding: “I turned it down and started alerting my people in the community to be wary because they had actually captured a number of unsuspecting victims.”
Also, Afusat Ayodele, a member of APC from Olubo village in Ayetoro, in Yewa North council area said: “I was approached and I collected the form. My suspicion is that when you are telling me to come and join your group and that you want to empower me, won’t you ask for a guarantor? Even if you give me N5000, there must be a guarantor and not just what I told you. I was shocked but as a politician too, I suspected foul play and reported to my ward leader who immediately swung into action by informing other members.”
Even in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, suspected party agents are said to have embarked on a house-to-house drive to lure people into selling their permanent voters cards for prices ranging from N5,000 to N10,000. One of those  contacted at Jikwoyi  area, Faith Obembe, told Sunday Trust how she was almost tempted by the amount they  promised to give her once she handed her PVC to them.
“Yes, one Ibo woman came to our compound last month and asked me to sell my voters card to her. I was shocked to hear that so I asked her why anybody would want to buy voters card. She told me once I agreed it would be destroyed after use.  It means I cannot get it back again. When I heard what would happen to my PVC, I declined.  Why I took pains to collect it in the first place was because I was told they might ask for it when I apply for a government job in the future. I refused the N5,000 she offered me”, Faith said.
Faith added that the woman is still going around the area to buy PVCs from people.  “I still see her around the neighborhood trying to talk to other people but I have made up my mind never to give my PVC to anybody for any amount. Last week, one Hausa man here told me some people also approached him with N5,000 to sell his voter card but he refused. That is the situation here. They have been going about to get people who are willing to sell their voting cards,” Faith said.
Another woman who simply gave her name as Comfort in the same area said she ‘stupidly’ gave her PVC to two men who offered her N10,000. She said: “I stupidly gave my voters card to them, my husband was very angry with me because of that. I thought I would not need the card because I am not ready to vote for anybody. They told me they would return it after but it is almost a month now and I don’t even know where they came from.”
A young boy in the area, Jimoh Dauda, corroborated that people were approaching them in search of PVCs for sale: “It is true some people came here to ask people to sell their PVCs to them for N5000. My mother was against it.  Since they cannot tell us why they wanted it I just told them I am not interested in selling mine. One of them, a woman even met me some days after and told me they meant no harm with my voter’s card but I told her I cannot give it out to anyone.”
In Plateau State, it was the All Progressives Congress (APC) that first alerted members of the public last month that some political agents in the state were intimidating civil servants to submit the serial numbers of their PVCs in exchange for money or a bag of fertilizer. The PDP through the Jos North council chairman, Alh. Yaro Mairake had debunked the accusation calling it hearsay, since no one had been arrested on the alleged crime.
The alleged illicit trade in PVCs assumed a dramatic turn in the north-central state when a middle aged woman simply identified as Cecilia was nearly lynched in Jingir, Bassa local government area for targeting and collecting PVC serial numbers of house wives in the area. Eye witness account indicated that Cecilia and her agents claimed to be members of Women for Change Initiative; a non-governmental organization initiated by First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan and deceived women into releasing their serial numbers with promise of women empowerment benefit.
“She claimed she was a member of Women for Change Initiative and confessed to angry youths who accosted her that she was sent by some top politicians in Bassa and we gathered that she and other agents had already collected over five thousand serial numbers before she was arrested and there are other agents going around Mista Ali doing the same thing”, Ado Jingir, an eye witness said, adding: “She was targeting women and when she visited one house, the woman was suspicious and alerted the attention of youths. The situation got tense but the police intervened before any harm was done to her.
“What worries us is that the police did not go after the sponsors she claimed sent her. In fact when the police in Jingir arrested her, we heard that she was later released until the Commissioner of Police intervened and asked that she be rearrested. But there is a rumour making the rounds that she has been released or granted bail. The people of Jingir are tensed up and insist that should they be unable to vote by March 28, they will blame the police,” he said.
Plateau command Public Relations Officer, DSP Emmanuel Abu said the suspect had not been freed but was still in police custody. He said investigations into the matter had started but stressed that “the woman in question was not arrested with PVCs but what was found in her possession was a book with the serial numbers of PVCs and as soon as we conclude investigations into the matter, we will let the press know.”
Ahough the electoral umpire in Plateau State had expressed worry on alleged prevalence in the selling of the PVCs, the head of voters’ education and publicity of INEC, Mr. Osaretin Imahinyereobo had said that those engaged in the exercise were only wasting their time as the chip used in the PVC reading machine cannot be cloned. He also said those collecting serial numbers will not be able to use the numbers independent of access to the physical card.
In Kebbi, the PVCs were allegedly being  ‘purchased’ from local women in villages across the state at the initial rate of N10,000 within a week before the postponement. The rate was said to have been subsequently reduced to N5,000 and dropped finally to N2,000.
The illicit trade is said to be more rampant in places like Shanga, Yauri and parts of Sakaba and Zuru local governments in Kebbi south senatorial zone.
A source who does not want to be named said: “There was a case of one lady called Roza who was almost beaten up by an angry mob when trying to collect PVCs from women in Tadurga, a village in Zuru local government. There was also a case in Rafin Zuru where the PVCs were purchased from local women at the cost of N2,000,” the source said, adding that such illegal activities where women were deceived into handing over their PVCs with empty promises were also reported at Nasarawa and Rafin Koka in Yauri LGA.
APC Kebbi South Senatorial candidate Hon Bala Ibn Na’Allah, exonerated his party from the incident, saying: “Definitely it would not be the handiwork of APC as a party and whoever engages in that would not derive any benefit from that anti people conduct.”
Efforts to contact the PDP Kebbi south senatorial candidate, Abubakar Sadiq Ahmed to respond to the incidents proved unsuccessful as he could not be reached on phone and did not reply text messages sent to his number. But a former PDP member who represented Danko/Wasagu in the State House of Assembly, Hon Mohammed Abubakar Shindi, dismissed the allegation as a mere propaganda against the ruling PDP, saying: “I have made inquiries of some alleged cases and discovered same not to be true.”
Kebbi State INEC spokesperson, Abdullahi Bello Kebe, confirmed that allegations of PVC racket were raised by some political parties during some meetings, but the Commission demanded for evidence. “Some parties have raised that issue, but there is no evidence to prove that such incidents are happening,” he said.

Oath-taking for PVCs
In Kaduna State, desperate politicians were allegedly buying biometric voting cards from the people in a bid to rig the impending elections even as some people were made to take oaths after the card-buying deals. Most of the deals were allegedly being done secretly to avoid police attention, Sunday Trust gathered. Other politicians were said to have signed pacts with voters after giving them huge sums of money to vote in favour of their candidates.
Malam Naanti, a source said:  “Party leaders are procuring PVCs mostly from elderly women and uninformed voters in Kaduna North and South local government areas. I know a woman who sold her card for N1,800 and I was reliably told that two of my friends sold theirs for N2,000.” He said card buying which was common late last year had almost stopped after INEC announced that no one will be allowed to vote twice adding: “Politicians now pay monies to voters and record the details of their cards including a code number.”
Another source in Kagarko, Peter Bako, said influential politicians in the area paid voters huge sums of money after making them swear on oath that they will vote for particular candidates. “In Jere town and other places voters received up to N10, 000 after taking oath or signing the pledge of allegiance to vote in favour of a preferred party.” In another twist, politicians were reportedly scheming to deprive a large number of people from voting by buying their cards, especially in places perceived to be the stronghold of their opponents.
Ahmed Gamji said voters in Amana, Igabi local government area received up to N5,000 in return for their cards, adding that a number of people may not be able to vote in the area because they sold their cards.” In Saminaka, headquarters of Lere local government, people refused to comply with card buyers”, he said.
In Sokoto state, there were allegations that members of a syndicate were going round the state and buying up  PVCs from unsuspecting eligible voters. However, luck ran out on some of them as the Sokoto state police command arrested 19 suspects for unlawful possession of multiple PVCs.
Sokoto Police command public relations officer, Almustapha Sani, who disclosed that all the PVCs were recovered from the suspect said the cases were recorded in the Sokoto metropolis, as well as in villages in Tambuwal, Shagari, Bodinga and BInji local government areas of the state.
Sunday Trust checks showed that in many cases, those involved in the act convinced their victims that they were sent by their masters to collect PVCs with promises of reward for the owners.
An elderly woman (names withheld) was said to have been given N100 for her PVC but her child who got wind of the illicit deal quickly rushed to get back the PVC.
Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of zone 10, Sokoto Alhaji  Bala Hassan warned members of the public  against selling or buying the PVCs, saying anyone involved in the act risked imprisonment,  stressing that whoever was caught buying or selling permanent voters cards  would be liable to a fine not exceeding N500,000 or imprisonment not less than two years under the Electoral Act 2010 as amended.
Similarly the Bauchi State Police Command arrested a teenager for being in possession of multiple PVCs, three of which were in his name.
The command’s spokesman, DSP Haruna Mohammed said the 19-year-old suspect, one Bashir Umar of Kobi ward in Bauchi metropolis, was arrested by detectives attached to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID).  Mohammed said items found on the suspect included multiple PVCs, three bearing his name, a police warrant card, a Guaranty Trust Bank Automated Teller Machine (ATM) a  Master Card bearing the name of one Ibrahim Aminu Zayyad and a T-shirt belonging to the Nigerian Immigration Service. He said investigation was in progress after which the suspect would be charged to court for prosecution.
There were also alleged cases of buying PVCs in Bauchi, Misau, Katagum and Dambam local government area. Some residents that spoke with our correspondents said the buyers of the cards paid N50,000 and gave a wrapper each to the women in the villages and collected their cards.
State Publicity Secretary of the APC Awwal Jallah said the party had reported cases of buying voters cards by politicians, adding that the cards would not work considering the use of card reader by the electoral body.
In Benue State, Sunday Trust learnt that party chieftains and even thugs are deeply involved in the illicit trade. An APC politician who spoke to our reporters on condition of anonymity said the ruling PDP has been purchasing the PVCs at the rate of N10,000 per one in order to disenfranchise APC supporters, especially in places where the opposition appears to be strong. He explained that while they have joined the game in order not to be disadvantaged, they (APC) are playing it differently.
“You know that the PDP hardly wins elections here in Vandeikya and this time it is going to be worse so they started going from house-to-house looking for PVCs to buy. They were even going to INEC’s office to mop them up so we said we have to do something. We also decided to go to INEC and collect as many PVCs as they were available and we are distributing them to the owners with the warning that they should not sell them no matter the price they are offered,” he said.
Our source who explained that he has over 200 PVCs in his possession and shall distribute to the owners before elections, said he had to tip INEC officials in Vandeikya before he could collect them.
He said the PDP were doing it and if they (APC) had relaxed, many of their supporters wouldn’t have got their cards and would subsequently have been disenfranchised and unable to vote for ‘change.’
Meanwhile, in Makurdi, a PDP stalwart and a former deputy chairman in the local government is the henchman for his party in his ward. He told our reporter off record that when he discovered the distribution of the PVCs was not going on smoothly, he had to step in and do something in order to help his party.
 “I went and collected on behalf of my people to the INECs office because most of the people who registered at the Ayisa polling unit couldn’t get their PVCs at the airport, which is supposed to be the collection centre for Fiidi 1 ward,” he said.
Asked how he was able to collect in bulk at INEC’s office he said: “It is our business and we know how to do it. The important thing is not how we get the PVCs; it is how it is going to help us win elections. We have a lot of supporters and we simply don’t want them disenfranchised.”
He however dismissed the rumour that his party was buying PVCs at opposition strongholds as “rubbish and lies from the opposition.”  

Confiscation of PVCs at gunpoint
Although there are no reported cases of buying  of permanent voter cards in Adamawa State, the APC raised alarm over confiscation of the cards at gunpoint.
 Publicity Secretary of APC in Adamawa, Rev. Phineas Padio alleged that a gang of four gunmen raided the house of a female APC campaigner and carted away seven PVCs belonging to her and some of her relatives. According to him, four armed men had  visited the home of a female APC campaigner, Hajiya Hauwa Liman in Jambutu ward in Yola and demanded her and other  residents of the compound to surrender their PVCs at gun point, adding that the attackers threatened to kill the woman if she dared campaign for APC again.
He said the party had lodged a complaint with the police and informed the INEC of the development. “ As a party, we have petitioned the state Commissioner of Police and copy the Inspector General of Police, the AIG in charge of Zone 3, the state Director of SSS as well as  INEC”, Padio said.   
However, the Public Relations Officer of the Adamawa State Police Command, DSP Othman Abubakar said he was not yet briefed on the matter. “I heard about rumours of PVCs snatching from voters but I have not received any formal report about the incidents. I am advising members of the public to report such cases to the nearest police station”, he said.
In the politically volatile Rivers state the issue of buying up PVCs is said to have become a profitable trade among party agents even as the leaderships of the PDP and APC are trading blames on who is responsible in the PVC trade.
The secretary general of Nyeson Wike’s Grassroots Development Initiatives, GDI, was alleged to have been arrested by the police at Isiokpo over possession of illegal PVCs but was later released and the matter closed.
The APC had in a press statement issued in Port Harcourt accused PDP of paying N10,000 to each PVC owner to collect card his/her while the PDP on its part accused the APC of bulk buying of PVCs.   
The Buhari Campaign Organization said the effort by the PDP to mop up PVCs in Buhari strongholds was designed to reduce their margin of victory, especially in the North.
The spokesman of the organization, Malam Garba Shehu said: “We aware that PVCs are being bought and destroyed. That would surely hurt. Anyone procuring these cards with the mind of using them to rig the votes is merely wasting his or her time.
“We are convinced that INEC’s investment in the PVC will in the end handsomely pay off. It is reassuring that the card readers are going to be configured to be polling unit-specific, which in effect means that cards from polling unit “x” cannot be transported to polling unit “y” because they would not be recognized by the other machines”, Shenu said.
“Trying those cards by non-holders will equally be futile and can only lead to embarrassment to anyone who attempts to do that. It is the bio-metrics, that is your finger prints, that will allow you access to voting. So this collection of numbers at a fee by the PDP and their outright procurement in exchange for agric loans is not going to help them in anyway.
“On this cards issue, we stand by the INEC in the belief that they have done something good that will enhance the integrity of the polls.
The INEC is also convinced that the activities of party agents in the illicit purchase of PVCs would be a mere futile exercise. The Commission had maintained that the PVCs so purchased would serve no use to the buyers. The INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, who appeared before the Senate to defend the use of the card readers said the card readers were programmed in such a manner that only legitimate owners of the cards would be recognized at a particular polling unit. He, therefore, advised politicians allegedly buying the cards to desist as they were doing so at their own detriment.  The question some analysts have asked is that if the purchased PVCs would not be beneficial to the buyers, why then are they not unrelenting in the illicit trade?