Barrister Festus Okoye is a household name in election monitoring in Nigeria, having monitored local and international elections in the last 17 years. In the last Anambra state gubernatorial election, the activist lawyer was the chairman of Nigerian Bar Association Election Working Group(NBA-EWG) that observed the poll. In this interview with IBRAHEEM MUSA, Okoye gave insight into the role of police, political parties and Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) as well as sundry stakeholders during the election.
In spite of the anxiety and threats by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the Anambra state election was peaceful. As someone who has been monitoring elections in the last 17 years, what factors did you think play out on or before the election?
The November 18, 2017 “stand alone” governorship election in Anambra state represents a clear affirmation of the resolve of the people of Anambra State to find solution to the challenges of governance within the context and ambit of the federal republic of Nigeria. The election is a clear and direct repudiation of separatist agitations in favour of a federal republic of Nigeria governed within the principles of justice, equity and fairness.
The election was a clear message that the people of the south east have serious governance challenges, serious issues of neglect, serious issues of bad roads and decayed infrastructure and serious issues of exclusion and that the leadership of Nigeria should listen to them and design policies and programs aimed at addressing some of the challenges. The election is a clear and unequivocal understanding that election boycott and scare mongering is a strategic and tactical mistake and blunder that will alienate them from the rest of Nigeria and erode the sympathy for their cause.
The federal government on its own part saturated Anambra state with security forces and made it clear that no group or organization will be allowed to threaten the corporate existence of Nigeria in the guise of achieving its objectives.
Fundamentally, the people of Anambra resolved that they wanted to vote and they went out to achieve their set purpose. It is also very clear that the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is ideologically impotent and it had exploited the frustrations of the people relating to the issue of marginalization.
It is my view that the ordinary people of Nigeria from all parts of Nigeria are marginalized and demand urgent remedial measures that address their issues. I also believe that the federal government should fix some of the roads in the south east and make its presence felt.
Was the mass deployment of policemen responsible for the peaceful poll?
The mass deployment of security forces contributed in assuring the people of Anambra state that they could go out and vote without losing their lives. You know that prior to the elections; the slogan of IPOB was “vote and die” and this heightened tension and apprehension amongst the people of Anambra state.
However, it must be acknowledged that the people took their destiny in their own hands. IPOB had called on the people to boycott the election and they refused to heed to their call. The 37 candidates and the political parties invested time and resources campaigning and it would be incongruous to expect them to go home and not reap the benefits of their struggle. Furthermore, the peculiar dynamics of Anambra politics and the question of power shift from one zone to the other contributed to the success of the election and its peaceful nature.
Although the heavy security presence on election day brought about peace but it is alleged that it was also responsible for the reported low voter turnout. How true is this allegation as someone who was on ground?
I don’t subscribe to the view that the November 18, 2017 gubernatorial election in Anambra state witnesses low turnout of voters. The results and the figures recorded are consistent with the voting pattern of the people. In 2015, the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) registered a total of 1.9million voters and in 2017 just before the conduct of the governorship elections, it registered a total of 2, 158, 171,000 voters.
In the November 18, 2017 governorship election, the total number of valid votes stood at 422, 314 and the total number of rejected votes stood at 26, 457. However, the votes cast in the election stood at 448, 771. In the 2013, governorship election, the total number of valid votes stood at 425, 254 while the total number of rejected votes stood at 16, 988.
The total number of votes cast stood at 442,242 and the number of registered voters stood at 1, 770, 127. The 2017 figure shows an increase of 6, 529 above that of 2013.
Are you not worried about what people have criticized as the militarization of elections, with these mass deployments of soldiers and security agents during elections as if the nation is preparing for war?
In Nigeria, election is low intensity warfare. Political parties and the candidates in the election deploy arsenals of warfare for purposes of contesting elections.
Thugs are hired and drugged to compromise the integrity of elections. In some places, guns, machete and other dangerous weapons are used to scare people away from the polling units. Election materials and election person are snatched and abducted. People’s houses are burnt.
During the 2011 elections in Bauchi state, 10 NYSC members along with 50 other innocent persons were killed. Local government area offices of INEC were burnt and properties worth millions of naira were destroyed in Jama’are, Gadau, Bauchi, Dambam and Missau.
Given the threats, given the anxiety and apprehension relating to the activities of the separatists, it would have been irresponsible on the part of the Ffederal government and INEC to fold their hands and allow those threatening a boycott of the election and those advocating “vote and die” to have a field day. It would have been irresponsible on the part of the critical stakeholders to succumb to threats, intimidation and violence. While Nigeria should avoid the militarization of elections, the case of Anambra state should be treated as an exception given the threats posed by separatist agitators.
However, we must gradually de-escalate the use of the military in our elections. We should gradually allow the police and other security agencies to play “a laid back role” in the elections. Elections must be treated as an ordinary civic responsibility of the citizens. We cannot continue to disrupt the economic and social life of states and its contiguous neighbors with stand alone elections.
Money was reportedly freely used to influence voters by all the major political parties, will you say that the election was really free and fair?
The use of money and the conversion of state resources and their deployment for elections has become a part of the negative political culture of Nigeria. But vote buying and inducement are not new in our electoral history. It is a notorious fact that candidates and political parties influence voters prior to the day of the election. Some of the parties and candidates induced voters with wrapper, rice, semovita, motorbikes, tricycles and money.
The challenge with the election in Anambra is that most of the parties kept the bulk of their monies and took the monies to the various polling units on election day. The three dominant parties in Anambra State engaged in wholesale and retail buying of voters cards and bought the votes of the people. Some of the votes were sold to the highest bidder. Some of the voters consciously sold their votes. Some of the voters considered the money being offered as their only dividend of democracy.
The buying of votes and the sharing of money in the polling units disrupted the process of voting in some polling units. This is a new negativity and narrative of our elections and must be nipped in the bud before it becomes a dominant feature of our electoral process.
How has INEC improved over its last outing in Anambra state which led to inconclusive election last year?
The Independent National Electoral Commission prepared well for the election. The Resident Electoral Commissioner for the State, Dr. Nkwachukwu Orji injected integrity and confidence in the process. Those that specialize in buying and selling of elections devised new strategies of winning elections since they could not buy the elections. The commission delivered the non sensitive materials on time. The commission trained the collation officers and the presiding officers on time. The commission delivered the sensitive materials to the “super racs” on time.
Unfortunately, in some registration areas, the security agents could not report to duty on time due to transport challenges. In some local governments, the commission did not deploy the support staff on time and this led to the late commencement of elections. The Independent National Electoral Commission must find creative and lasting solution to its deployment challenges as we approach the 2019 elections.
The commission should also, as a matter of national security, investigate the alleged challenges faced in the use of the Smart Card Readers. In some polling units, the Presiding Officers complained that the Smart Card Readers were very slow and resorted to the use of Incident Forms.
Nigerians want to know whether this is a Card Reader challenge or a deliberate sabotage of the process and the Smart Card Readers.
Smart Card Readers were first used two years ago in 2015. Nigerians expect that staff of the Election Management Body to have either mastered the use of the device or have corrected whatever defect some of them have. What really is the problem?
The Supreme Court in numerous judgments after the 2015 elections hailed the introduction and use of the Smart Card Readers in the electoral process. Unfortunately, a section of the political elite with specialization in electoral fraud opposed its use. The same forces that held our electoral process hostage are the same forces sabotaging the success of the Smart Card Reader.
Some of them recruited and switched trained for untrained Presiding Officers in the 2015 election. Some of them continue to corrupt Presiding Officers thereby promoting incident forms as the dominant form of accreditation and the Smart Card Readers as the auxiliary or back up mechanism.
Make no mistake about it, technology must be injected into the electoral process for accreditation and results transmission. We must consciously drive the electoral process towards regional and international compliance. We cannot be slaves to manual and analogue electoral processes when other countries have digitalized their electoral process. I agree that the Smart Card Readers still have difficulty reading finger prints, it is therefore the responsibility of INEC to upgrade the Smart Card Reader Technology, given the fact of the recurrence of the same problems.
How do you rate INEC generally, in terms of preparation and conduct of the election?
I think that the Independent National Electoral Commission conducted a good election in Anambra state. I believe that some of the lapses and shortcomings in the election should have been foreseen and plugged before the election. Some of the police personnel that could not be deployed, believe that it was the responsibility of the commission to provide them with transportation.
I also believe that the initial difficulty of moving Youth Corps members from the contiguous states to Anambra state should not have arisen in the first place given the level of preparations that went into the election. May be in future there should be multiple layers of supervision for critical challenges with high impact on the electoral process. We must recognize that the issue of vote buying and the provision of election security and the protection of lives and property are completely outside the control of the Commission.
But it was reported that materials didn’t arrive in some polling units till 12 noon. How correct is that information?
Anambra state has a total of 4,608 polling units and 5,339 voting points. The challenge of late opening of poll occurred mostly in the urban centers and affected very few polling units. At the end of the day, all those that presented themselves for the election voted. From the reaction of the 37 parties that contested the election, it is clear that the outcome of the election reflects the voting preferences of the people of Anambra State.
Yes, the conduct of the election cannot be said to be perfect but it was a good election and we should consolidate on the gains of the election and still work hard on logistic challenges and improving on the technology of election.
Are you optimistic that the electoral commission will conduct free, fair and credible elections in 2019?
It is my hope and prayer that the Independent National Electoral Commission will conduct credible election in 2019. The National and Resident Commissioners are working hard. To complement their efforts, the National and State Assemblies should complete the alteration to the constitution and the Electoral Act by the first quarter of 2018, to enable the commission plan and plan well. The political Parties must also clean their acts and conduct credible party primary elections.
