Electronic voting not likely in 2015, says Jega

Jega

 

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chair Prof. Attahiru Jega has technically ruled out electronic voting in the 2015 elections. He said permanent voter cards would soon be distributed. He also hinted of a restructuring of the operations of the election umpire. Jega rated the conduct of Edo State governorship election very high and promised fairness in the October 20 governorship election in Ondo State. He also spoke on a wide range of issues in this interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)  

Permanent voter’s card coming soon 

“As you know we did biometric data registration; before the end of this year, we will start issuing the permanent voter cards and these permanent cards that we are going to issue are chip-based, just like many of our own bank cards.

“So they carry all the information on a microchip which is embedded in the card of the voter.

“So what we believe we can achieve at the minimum by 2015, is that we can achieve 100 per cent authentication at the polling units.’’

“If a voter comes to the polling unit and brings out his or her card, we will be able to determine 100 per cent whether he is the legitimate holder of the card.

“So the issues of people using other people’s cards to go and vote; the issues of stealing cards or even buying cards will be squarely dealt with and that, we believe we can achieve, God willing by 2015.

“We already have all the data in our database; we are now going to issue the permanent voter cards; all we need to do between now and 2015 is to buy what I call card readers in which we will store all the information,’’ Jega said.

The INEC chair explained further that card readers would be available in all the polling units to ascertain the legitimacy of the holder.

Jega also said that the process of identifying valid owners of the card would go a long way in terms of improving the credibility and the transparency of the electoral process.

Electronic voting in 2015

“Technically, there is no proposal by INEC that it should be adopted in 2015.

“Right now, if we are to introduce electronic voting in this country, we have to do a lot of piloting.

“We have to do a lot of sampling of existing machines right now, because of that prohibition, we can’t even attempt to do it.

“Now, if that is done in good time, and we are able to explore the possibility and it seems feasible, then obviously at that time we will tell Nigerians that it is feasible, and then maybe we should try it.

“But right now, we haven’t gotten to that stage; right now what we want is the removal of a major hindrance for INEC to even begin to explore the possibility of electronic voting.

“But what INEC is trying to do and then we are really again improving the use of technology in elections is that as you know we did biometric data registration.’’

Restructuring 

“The problem is that in Nigeria, anytime you talk about restructuring and reorganisation, people think you are talking about retrenchment; it needs not be so.

“In INEC, our restructuring and reorganisation is not synonymous with retrenchment. We are doing everything possible to bring efficiency and effectiveness and it can be done without the kind of massive retrenchment that people fear and expect.

“We also need to motivate people. So, a lot of the reform efforts we are trying to bring has to do with what levels of motivation and adjustments in the conditions of service.

“In a matter of a month, maximum two months, we will have the kind of restructuring and reorganisation that we would be pleased with in terms of actualising that vision of having the best election management body in Africa.’’

Transparency

“We believe we have done quite a lot to lift the bar in terms of transparency and credibility of the electoral process.

“The challenge for us as we move toward 2015 is to learn the lessons of all the elections which we have conducted and to continue to plan and improve upon the conduct of subsequent elections.

“Many Nigerians want perhaps a perfect electoral system and it is possible to have near perfection in planning election, but unfortunately in the Nigerian context, things have been so bad for so long. As I quite often say, it takes a lot of time, energy and resourcefulness to be able to get there.’’

 On Edo election

 “So, by all credible standards and measures, there was a high turnout this time around in Edo State than there has ever been in the election in the state since 1999. So, it is not correct to say there was voter apathy in Edo State.

“We did our best to prevent it, but it was caused by a combination of factors and in Edo State, the delay was experienced in only two out of 18 local government areas.

“We deployed a strategy in which we sent materials to the most difficult terrain areas first; to the farthest local government area first and then we distributed to the nearest local government areas last.

“That’s why Oredo Local Government Area and the other local government areas which are within Benin City were the last where materials were distributed.

“But by 3am, the materials had been distributed to what we call Supervisory Presiding Officers, who were supposed to go to the wards and distribute to the other Presiding Officers who go to the polling units.

“But there was no security coverage, and we cannot move election materials unless there is security coverage.

“Some of the Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) were posted to Edo on Thursday by the Inspector-General of Police and most of them did not get to their stations until almost mid-night on the preceding Friday.

“The police could not mobilise for a very long time. Though the posting of the senior police officers was done with the best of intentions, it affected timely deployment of security to some areas.

“The Supervisory Presiding Officers in Oredo Local Government Area, on the eve of the election, demanded that they must be paid in full before they proceeded for the election; it was unusual, it has never happened, but we had to pay them to ensure that materials now go to the field.

“We must do everything possible to ensure that materials arrive in good time, but sometimes in spite of everything you do, challenges emerge in the field and they obstruct smooth conduct of the process.

“In Edo State, no voter was disenfranchised. Where there were delays, the Resident Electoral Commissioner extended the time for accreditation and voting.’’

Ondo governorship election 

“Ondo State is not as riverine as any of these three states that I have mentioned and you can see that there was no complaint in the Bayelsa election about difficulty because of the place being riverine.

“Wherever there is difficulty in terms of either security challenges or in accessibility these security agencies provide the support that we need.

“Where it is necessary to lift materials by boat, the Navy provided the assistance. Where it is necessary to transport by air, the Air Force also provides the necessary assistance.’

 Money politics 

“Obviously, it is unfortunate that in Nigeria there is a lot of use of money in politics.

“It is unhealthy, it is illegal and we have to do quite a lot to minimise the role of money in politics and, we in INEC, it’s is one of the reforms measures that we hope to introduce long before 2015.

“We in INEC are committed to ensuring that by 2015, we would have even more effective mechanism in place to be able to monitor campaign financing; to be able to monitor candidates’ expenditure and to also monitor a party’s expenditure.

“You know it is a constitutional responsibility and we will continue to do it. I think a few months ago, we issued the results of the last audit and we pointed out parties that were in default and so on.

“So really parties are not also serious about accountability, and we have our responsibility to keep on pushing them so that they become more transparent and more accountable in the way in which they keep their finances.

“But I think it is part of politics that members of a party will become aggrieved and when they are aggrieved sometimes, they think the only option available to them is to actually leave that party and move to another party.

“There is no doubt that the level of internal party democracy in our political parties leaves much to be desired

“And we are doing our best to improve on our engagement with political parties so that we can encourage them to be more democratic in their outlook. 

De-registration of political parties

“The Constitution and the Electoral Act gave INEC the power to de-register political parties and we have commenced that process and it is ongoing.

“So, until there is a change in the legislation, obviously, any political party that does not comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act, we are obligated to de-register it.

“So, it is an ongoing process. It’s a continuous process and we will do it.

“I think there are very useful models of registration of political parties in other countries that we can learn from.

“‘It is good to have a multiparty system and to allow as many parties as possible to register, but we really need to sanitise the process of registering political parties.

“This will ensure that only the most deserving in terms of their programmes, their constitution, and their physical presence in states and in localities that are registered.

“But being a registered political party does not necessarily mean that you must field candidates in all elections.

“It may be necessary for some parties to bid their time until they are ripe enough to field candidates at elections.

“So, we think that’s the way to go rather than to limit the number of registered parties to just a few.

“The fact of the matter is that INEC does not have the capacity to prosecute all offenders successfully because of the magnitude of offences.

“There are still many cases which are still pending in the courts, but a successful prosecution is predicated on INEC prosecution.

“Then the police must do the investigation and provide the necessary evidence, and the courts should hasten the process of prosecution.”