NASS polls: How my family and others got disenfranchised
Last week Saturday April 9, 2011 was a day in the political history of Nigeria many, including myself, waited to see with great expectations. At about 8.30am on this day, I moved out with my family members to the polling center where we hitherto obtained our voter cards to get ourselves accredited as required by […]
Last week Saturday April 9, 2011 was a day in the political history of Nigeria many, including myself, waited to see with great expectations. At about 8.30am on this day, I moved out with my family members to the polling center where we hitherto obtained our voter cards to get ourselves accredited as required by the voting guidelines released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Accreditation began at our polling center (old post office polling unit at Agaie in Niger state) without the prospective voters queuing up; leaving the place rowdy. I looked around to locate the presence of a security agent that could help to bring order to the accreditation process. Unfortunately, there was none around. This, we suspected, was a deliberate attempt to probably allow irregularities that could have been forestalled by the presence of security agents to go on un-censured. Shortly, correspondents from the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) and the Bida FM station arrived at the scene. In the brief interview granted, I lamented over the abnormal situation at hand.
When accreditation began under the same disorganized circumstance at the polling center, I found the Presiding Officer selectively calling names of prospective voters as against INEC’s directive, which required voters to queue up. I found it amazing that the presiding officer was conveniently doing this under the instructions and guidance of the PDP agent by selectively calling names of those they have allegedly bought their voting rights; and disenfranchising others they doubted their political affiliations.
While wondering at the incompetence of the INEC ad-hoc staff, unconfirmed report reached me that the ballot papers brought to this particular polling unit was in short supply. The Presiding Officer claimed to have come with only 360 ballot papers as against 664, which is the number of registered voters at the polling unit. I requested two of my brothers to report to the Electoral Officer (EO) in the town who immediately followed them down. His presence, however, did not make any difference as neither did he instruct the Presiding Officer to stop the selective calling of names of voters nor could he explain why there was no presence of any security agent at the polling center. The EO who initially said the short supply was from Minna suddenly changed his words when I said I was going to quote him in the media. He later claimed to have been supplied with 91percent of the total electoral materials required.
The failure of the EO to address the issues presented became an impetus for the Presiding Officer to continue with accreditation of voters in his own way. After EO’s departure, the Presiding Officer capitalizing on the ignorance of voters misinterpreted INEC Chairman’s statement of 300 voters per polling unit by telling the crowd of accredited voters that only 300 of them would cast their vote. I tried to explain to him that Prof Attahiru Jega’s statement meant that only 300 votes would be in a ballot box which explains why they were given more than one ballot boxes. Of course, it became apparent that the Presiding Officer was either incompetent, not properly educated or a mercenary with some ulterior motives.
At about 11.30am when many of us were still waiting in the sun to be accredited because we were not part of the “selective register of voters” from which names were called, the Presiding Officer threatened to stop accreditation at 12noon. I insisted that it must continue because the guidelines for accreditation provide that accreditation will stop when the last person who joined the queue before noon had been accredited. When my voter card was finally collected, I was told that my name was not on the register. It was the same story for my wives and children. But I remember our names were found during the display of the voters register. Well, some conspiracy theories could be inferred from the situation. The powers that be probably felt I and my family should be disenfranchised because, as a known admirer of the ideals of General Muhammadu Buhari of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), I was not going to vote for PDP. Another family whose relation was a contestant in the election under the platform of an opposition party was also disenfranchised in the same manner.
It did not come as a surprise when news reached me that the PDP “won” in the House of Representatives election that took place in Agaie/Lapai constituency. What perhaps struck me was the bulk of votes that came from Baro; a community that the PDP-led government marginalized through the failed Baro port project, the only section of the dredging of River Niger that today remains uncompleted. Well, if the result so declared is a true representation of the wishes of the people of Baro community, it suggests that they are a people without a sense of the most recent history; in which case they remain identical with those described by Allah in Qur’an 18:17 “…He whom Allah guides is rightly guided; but he whom Allah leaves to stray, for him will thou find no protector to lead him to the right way”. However, if the result does not represent their wishes, then we leave the case for Allah to adjudicate. Soon, we will gather before Allah (SWT) to account for our deeds. In any case, ignorance and poverty (more seriously, poverty of the mind) have remained two strong evils through which the ruling party orchestrates bad governance and by which it also perpetrates itself in power.
It was rumored in my community that voters were wooed to cast their votes for PDP because a PDP politician in the area had been promised a ministerial appointment by President Goodluck Jonathan if the former delivers PDP in all the elections. Our belief is rooted in Qur’an 3:26 which states that Allah (SWT) alone gives and takes power. We therefore reserve further comments on this until the outcome of the presidential election holding today. We are prompted by events in the last 48 hours to observe that those who label themselves as northern political leaders including some past heads of state have explanations to give to their respective constituencies about why they individually or collectively refused to declare support for the presidential candidate of the CPC who is today adjudged as the most credible and popular politician in Nigeria.
As the presidential election takes place today, we urge opposition parties and election observers to focus their monitoring on rural areas where desperate politicians find it easier to conspire with electoral officers to manipulate electoral procedures or rig election results. Voters are advised to be vigilant and lawfully defend their votes. May Allah (SWT) establish the popular wishes of the Nigerian masses over the self-serving desires of those who have resolved to hold on to power, amin.
Tears of Disappointment:
The Daily Trust edition of Thursday April 14, 2011 reports that General Buhari ended up in tears at the grand finale of his electioneering campaign in Abuja. Of course, the least a patriotic Nigerian who knows the miserable situation Nigerians are subjected to will do would be to weep for the masses of this country! I better conclude this column so that I do not also end up in tears.