INEC should insist on card-readers for today’s election – BARRISTER OKOYE

As Nigerians go to the polls today to elect governors and members of the State Assembly, a Kaduna-based law­yer and Executive Director, Human Rights Monitor, Festus Okoye said Indepen­dent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must insist on the use of card-readers for the conduct of the elections.

Okoye, a constitutional lawyer and a member of the 2014 National Conference in an interview with some group of journalists, noted: “If things go as projected, the election will witness a con­solidation of the democratic revolution ushered in on March 28, 2015 during the Presidential and National Assembly elections”. Continue Reading

Our correspondent, NOAH EBIJE, was there.

Excerpts

What is your take on the card-read­ers and April 11, 2015 gubernatorial and State Assembly elections?

We urge the Independent National Electoral Commission to stand firm and insist on the use of card readers for the gubernatorial and State Assembly elections today. The card readers had challenges during the March 28, 2015 Presi­dential and National Assembly elections. Some of the challenges revolve around the anxiety of the operators, lack of sufficient training of the presiding officers and outright sabotage of the process by those mortally opposed to the use of technology in the electoral process. The use of the card readers can only enhance the credibility of the electoral process and reduce the human errors and frailties that have characterized the electoral process in Nigeria. We cannot throw the card readers away just because of technical challenges. We should improve on it, perfect it and make it an integral part of the electoral process.

The Independent National Electoral Commission should firm up its transportation and deployment arrangements. Con­tingency plans should be put in place in the event of sabotage of its transportation arrangements. Sometimes, rowdy situa­tions develop at the polling units due to late arrival of sensitive materials and insufficiency in the quantity of some election materials. Adequate security should also be provided during the movement of materials and officials from the Super Racks to the polling units to avoid the hijack and diversion of person­nel and electoral materials to unauthorised places. It is also not acceptable that result sheets should for any reason be missing before and during elections. The full weight of the law should be brought to bear on all those responsible for the diversion or misuse of the result sheets.

Your appeal to security agencies in the states?

The securi­ty agencies must maintain the peace in all the states of the federation before, during and after the gu­bernatorial and state assembly elections. The neutrality of the security agencies is central to the success of the elections. Par­ties, candidates and individuals desperate for victory at the polls may try the resolve of the Nigerian people for credible elec­tions. The Nigerian people must not give in to the antics of political jobbers that have no interest in the sustenance of de­mocracy. Political parties contesting the elections must, therefore, rein in their sup­porters and embrace civility in the elec­toral process. Free, fair, transparent and peaceful elections must form part of our political culture.

Your advice to politicians on ac­cepting electoral outcomes?

Two eminent citizens in the current democratic dispensation have given the Nigerian people a blueprint on good electoral behaviour and it is a precedent worthy of emulation. Dr. Kayode Fayemi, former Governor of Ekiti State showed Nigeria the path of electoral strength and credibility. He conceded defeat to Gov­ernor Ayodele Fayose and the tension in Ekiti State went down. We owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Kayode Fayemi for en­graving the precedent for others to follow. He secured his name in history and we are grateful to him.

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has also by his action and conduct secured his place and name in the history books of Ni­geria. He is already being celebrated by Af­rica and the international community. He pulled the country back from the cliff a n d showed that at critical moments he has the capacity to take tough decisions and make the requisite sacrifice on behalf of the Ni­gerian people. Fighting dirty and using vi­cious means and tactics to thwart the will of the people will not take our electoral process to the next level. We must con­solidate on the gains made and push for a quantum leap in our electoral process.

Therefore, the symbolism of President Jonathan’s action on our electoral process is huge. We urge the various political par­ties and candidates in the April 11, 2015 gubernatorial and state assembly elections to show political maturity in the elections. Those that feel aggrieved and believe that the outcome of the election does not reflect the genuine wish and voting pat­tern of the Nigerian people in the various states should follow the constitutional and legal routes in seeking redress. That is the path of sanity and that is the path of genu­ine electoral progress.

What is your view on election pe­titions tribunal?

Electoral dispute resolution is an inte­gral part of the electoral process. Parties and candidates aggrieved by electoral outcomes are obligated to use the due pro­cess of the law in ventilating such griev­ances. Election Petition Tribunals are not set up for or meant to supplant the will of the people expressed through their votes. Rather, they are meant to affirm the genu­ine wish of the people expressed through their votes and prevent usurpers from stealing and keeping the mandate of the people. We, therefore, urge the chairmen and the members of the various election petitions tribunals to give judicial approv­al to the genuine winners of dem­ocratic elections based on the will of the people. They must resist inducements and blackmail aimed at using them to abort the genuine wish of the people or to af­firm the illegal usurpation of the will of the people.

What do you think the new re­gime will offer in future?

The Nigerian people are eager and des­perate for a genuine change in their lives and fortune. They believe that the new regime offers hope and possibilities for genuine transformation of their economic, political and social fortunes. The take-off of the regime must, therefore, be careful­ly and systematically planned. Priorities must be set and genuine patriots assem­bled to drive this revolutionary process.

The regime should focus attention on the main challenges facing the Nigerian people. The security challenges of Nige­ria must be de­cisively dealt with. The economic challeng­es have to be carefully managed and the unfinished busi­ness of electoral and constitutional reforms pursued with vigor.

What should Nigerians expect from the new regime on the security chal­lenges in the country, particularly in the North-East?

The regime must encourage, empower and motivate the armed forces of the Fed­eral Republic of Nigeria to fully secure the North Eastern part of Nigeria that has suf­fered so much from insurgency and insur­gency related matters. Families have been destroyed and or dislocated. Thousands of lives have been lost. Widows and orphans are swarming the camps of internally dis­placed persons. It is, therefore, in the sover­eign interest of Nigeria that Nigerian troops should lead the battle for the recovery of all Nigerian territories. They have the capacity to carry out this operation and we must not allow our neighbours that look up to us to secure our territories and maintain peace in our communities.

We urge the new regime to re-establish governance structures in areas already lib­erated. These places have to be secured for human habitation. Houses must be re­built and public places secured while the pervading atmosphere of fear and anxiety must be calmed.

To this end, we suggest that the presi­dent-elect should roll out a North East Sta­bilization, Reconstruction and Rehabilita­tion Plan (SRRP) to decisively take care of the humanitarian challenges of the North East. This plan must include the evacua­tion back to Nigeria of those who are now refugees in neighbouring countries.

He must also set up a Policy Dialogue and Reconciliation Committee (PDRC) to heal the wounds occasioned by the hate and dangerous speeches during the cam­paigns. In other words, all parts of the country must feel the impact of his presi­dency and he will no doubt be a President for all. This is the only path to building a country deriving strength from its diversi­ty. Genuine democratic elections are based on people’s choices and these choices are the exclusive preserve of the voters.

What should government do about arms proliferation in Nigeria?

There is the need to stop the endless flow of arms into Nigeria. The North East is awash with arms, the Niger Del­ta is awash with arms. The South East and South West are having challenges of armed robbery and kidnapping and siege by cult and vigilante groups. The new President must stem the flow of these arms into Nigeria by securing our borders, our armouries. The National Assembly should also take a second look at our Fire Arms Laws to see whether they still meet with the current challenges and realities of our nation. Our people are entitled to feel safe again.

What should the new government do to Constitutional and Electoral Reforms?

The new regime should as a matter of national priority use its first two years in office to complete the unfinished business of constitutional and electoral reforms. Leaving the process too close to an elec­tion period distorts its essence, imports partisan political considerations into their consideration and produces outcomes that hurt rather than enhance the quality and credibility of the electoral process.

But before the current regime exits the seat of power, the President should do the Nigerian people a favour by signing the Constitution (4th Alteration) Bill 2014 which the National Assembly transmitted to him for his assent. The said Bill amends 71 sections of the Constitution. Part of the proposed amendment relates to the pre­scription of a timeline for the disposal of pre-election matters.

It is also important for him to sign the amendment of section 134(4) of the Con­stitution that creates a window of 21 days rather than seven days for the conduct of a second presidential election if no winner emerges after the first election. It will be an operational and logistical nightmare for the electoral management agency to re­mobilize and conduct a mandatory second election within a period of seven days of the announcement of the result of a presi­dential election.

…And also the Report of the 2014 National Conference?

The new regime should set up a com­mittee to review the report of the 2014 National Conference. It is possible that the current regime convoked the National Conference for purposes of gaining polit­ical mileage. It is possible that the com­position was skewed in favor of certain interests. It is also possible that some of the recommendations are at variance with the thinking, realities and dynamics of the Nigerian federation.

However, there are some recommenda­tions of the National Conference that have little political undertone and can help the development of the Nigerian federation. The present government can benefit from the Report of the Committee on Public Finance and Revenue Generation; Com­mittee on Public Service; Committee on Science, Technology and Development; Committee on Energy; Agriculture and Water Resources; Economy, Trade and In­vestments; Law, Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Reforms; Religion and Trans­portation. Our nation will benefit through a targeted implementation of the report of some of these committees.

The National Conference Review Com­mittee can then take a second look at the Report of the Committees on Political Par­ties and Electoral Matters; Committee on Devolution of Power; Citizenship, Immi­gration and Related Matters; Civil Society Organisations, Labour, Youths and Sports; Environment; Foreign Policy and Diaspo­ra Matters; Land Tenure Matters and Na­tional Boundaries; Political Restructuring and Forms of Government; Politics and Governance and Social Sector.