2015: Nigerians in Diaspora warn Jega
A group of Nigerians in the United States have once again urged the
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC,
Professor Attahiru Jega, to redouble the efforts of the Commission
towards achieving a smooth execution of the Continuous Voter
Registration (CVR) exercise and distribution of the Permanent Voters
Card (PVC) rather than dissipating energy and resources on the discredited and lopsided creation of polling booths.
In an open letter to the INEC Chairman, jointly signed by Dechi. P.
Dariye, Abayomi. F. Adeolu and Osahon Matthew, and available to Sunday
Sun by email, the group said that the electoral body’s fixation on
creation of new polling booths based on spurious data is an evident
demonstration of “faulty priority-setting” and clear case of doing last
things first and muddling the electoral management process.
Shedding light on its objection to creation of the polling units the
group said: “We had hoped that our intervention, along with those of
other individuals and institutions including the august body of the
Nigerian Senate Committee overseeing electoral matters, will elicit a
review of the new polling units creation process in such a way that your
Electoral Management Body will prioritize its resources and endeavors
to more pressing electoral matters, such as the implementation of the
Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise and the issuance of the
new Permanent Voters Card (PVCs) which will facilitate authentication of
voters using the much publicized electronic card reader.
Without
doubt the adaptation of information technology at that level of election
management is a worthy innovation in Nigeria that ought to have been
pursued with utmost attention, unfortunately, from recent events which
we have observed in the Nigerian media reports, it is clear that this
very important process, which has the potential to illuminate the
actual data of eligible voters in Nigeria with more accurate evidence
trail of how they presented for voting as traceable voters than
previously, has been ruined by the distraction of trying to create new
polling units with controversial data.” The group cautioned Jega not to
lose sight of the fact that the rifts engendered by the spirited effort
to create the controversial polling booths could seriously harm his
“commendable and exemplary work, which has elevated election quality to
new heights in Nigeria despite the many pitfalls that remain
unaddressed.”
Against the background of protests that have trailed
the launch of the PVC in several states, the group noted that it was
disappointing that INEC failed to utilize the abundant tine it had to
fine all issues associated with the PVC.
“It is therefore on a very
disappointing note that we observe the recent protests by voters, which
attended the attempted launching of the PVC distribution and CVR
process in places such as Lagos. In truth we empathize with the angry
voters, because four years was adequate to have put all that was
required for the exercise in place, with enough time for piloting. We
fail to see how polling units which will be used only after registered
voters are authenticated will receive such muscular attention despite
reservations on their creation by a diverse and significant cohort of
electoral stakeholders, whereas processes which are conditions
precedent, such as the registration of voters and the issuance of
Permanent Voters Cards to the eligible voters receive such anemic
efforts.
11/10/2014
2015: Nigerians in Diaspora warn Jega
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