By Ayoni M. Agbabiaka
Middle Belt youths in their thousands, under the aegis of FCT Middle Belt Concerned Youths, have called for the removal of the Chairman Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega.
The youth who stormed the INEC headquarters in Abuja yesterday protested the use of Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) and the card readers in the rescheduled March 28 general elections.
The group said they were at the INEC premises to register their grievances against the use of the PVCs and card readers judging from the failure recorded during the recent mock exercise conducted by the electoral body to test the efficiency of the two instruments ahead of the elections.
Addressing the aggrieved youth, the president of the group, Comrade Yunusa Yusuf, said the insistence of INEC and the opposition party to go ahead with the electronic card readers in spite of battery problem noticed during the mock exercise may marred the credibility of the electoral process.
He said: “Judging from what transpired during the exercise, it has been proven that batteries of these card readers do not function for more than three hours. The question therefore is what happens if the battery fails during the election proper, especially in the rural areas?”
He accused both the opposition party and the electoral body of plans to rig the forthcoming elections, adding that the claims of APC supporters in Kano and Lagos state that the machines are working are mere cover-up.
“For the simple fact that APC and INEC are on the same page on the use of PVC’s and card readers speak volumes about their plans to rig the forthcoming polls, which all right-thinking and well-meaning Nigerians must resist with vigour.
If the All Progressives Congress (APC) supporters in Kano and Lagos states claimed that the electronic machines did not fail during the mock exercise in their states, they are simply playing to the gallery; it is a cover-up and a far cry from the ugly reality starring everybody in the face.”
He added: “In as much as we appreciate the steadfastness and enormous innovations institutionalised by INEC to bequeath free and fair elections to the nation, it is still the contention of majority of Nigerians that such efforts must not be sacrificed on the altar of a fool-hardy insistence of proceeding with the use of PVC’s, despite the glaring imperfections inherent in them. Insisting on using them for the elections will only end up disenfranchising a huge segment of Nigeria’s voting population.
“We frowned at (sic) this orchestrated plot to disenfranchise a high preponderance of eligible Nigerian voters by INEC as epitomised in its determination to go ahead with the use of PVC’s and card readers regardless of the genuine concerns expressed by relevant stakeholders in the polity, a development that is likely to compromise the integrity of the elections.
“Unlike the TVCs, which are easy to obtain and use during elections, PVC”s are a bit technically-complicated for an average rural dweller. Instead of this straight-jacketed insistence of using PVC’s and card readers, INEC should rather be thinking of fashioning out alternative measures of ensuring the success of the elections that will not only be acceptable to Nigerians, but also meet international standards.”
The group called on INEC to suspend forthwith the use of PVCs and card readers till 2019 general elections, noting that the success and credibility of this election is so crucial to the survival of Nigeria’s democracy that whatever will cast a blur on it should be resisted by all lovers of democracy.
No INEC official has addressed the youth at the time of filing in this report.
