· Fears of cash scarcity affecting INEC logistics
· APC govs, chairman in “crisis meeting”
By Sarah NEGEDU & Laraba MUREY
With barely 5 days to the 2023 general elections, Nigerians are divided as to the possibility of the elections holding and the success of the process, giving the myriad of challenges confronting the nation.
While some believe the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is well equipped and prepared for the exercise, others advised the commission to brace up for some logistical challenges owing to the recent Naira crisis being experienced across the country.
For human rights and development lawyer, Frank Tiete, the recent redesigning and currency swap policy introduced by the Federal Government will greatly impact on the voting patterns across the country.
Tiete who is also the Executive Director of Citizens Advocacy for Social and Economic Rights, CASER, is worried that the currency crisis may affect INEC’s logistics given the cash dependent nature of its operations in remote areas of Nigeria.
He said, “Nigerians have expressed a high enthusiasm in the elections by the increased number of registered voters however, the recent demonetization (Naira change) policy of the Federal Government will impact on the elections and cause a major shift in the voting patterns.
“Whereas, the Naira change policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, weeks to the general elections is seen by many and even acknowledged by the Federal Government that the policy is meant to tackle vote buying, a large section of the voting population see the policy as targeting the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, because he has been associated, in the past, with “bullion van” politics, the deployment of cash to influence voters’ choice as it was during the 2019 election in the bid to re-elect President Muhammadu Buhari.
“This development appears to be pleasing to the supporters of the opposition parties like the Labour Party and the Peoples Democratic Party, who believe that Tinubu’s strength in the coming elections lies only in the cache of funds he had stored up and that his inability to deploy money to influence voters in his favour during the elections will cause a major upset for him and lead to his ultimate loss. But the suffering and excruciating pains being experienced by Nigerians at the moment over the Naira change policy is beginning to win sympathies generally for Tinubu.
“Thus, the above development together with the hope that Northern APC governors keep their pledge of swinging their states in support of the APC, means a victory is likely for Tinubu in the coming presidential election if ever it holds.”
According to Tiete, “INEC is not certain whether it can meet the logistical requirements of transportation of personnel and materials during the elections because of the cash dependent nature of its operations in remote areas of Nigeria. That is a problem waiting to happen but more importantly, is that many voters would be tactically disenfranchised by their inability to have the cash to move to places where they registered to vote and sustain themselves during the elections. So the CBN cash policy would actually induce and create an unforeseen apathy among potential voters in the coming elections”
He is, however, optimistic that barring the possibility of postponing the elections on grounds of insufficient logistical preparations by the INEC, the coming elections will be successful.
Tietie expressed doubt about the level of preparedness by the police, noting that they are hardly ever ready to deal with security problems, especially during elections.
In his words, “The performance of police in curbing general insecurity facing Nigeria at the moment, even preventing attacks on INEC installations by curtailing activities of unknown gunmen in South-East Nigerian, is an indication of how ill-equipped the police is in tacking eventual violent situations that may arise during the elections”
Similarly, an Abuja-based lawyer, Barr. Ifeanyi Uche, says he expects nothing less than well-organized logistics by INEC.
In his words, “My expectations are two-fold; I hope and expect that INEC is ready for the polls in terms of their technical ability and personal management and ICT as well as personnel which includes both INEC staff and security personnel to ensure that there is a hitch-free election.
“Then on the other hand, I expect that Nigerians will be allowed to fully exercise their franchise and that politicians will not unleash thugs to ensure that their preferred candidate wins at the end of the day. I wish that Nigerians will be bold enough to put aside the issues on grounds of the hardship and political mismanagement of corporate existence by the political class and elect a leader that will lead us.”
On his part, Engr. Emmanuel Mishellia said, “The truth of the matter is that the way Nigeria has been ruled and governed has always shown balance in terms of appointment based on religious, ethnic, and political lines. That has been the bane of our existence even though sometimes it can be biased.”
A public servant, Mr. Austine Omoefe, wants the electoral commission to ensure the functionality of the Bi-model Verification and Accreditation System, BVAS, so as to build citizens’ confidence in the process as well as in future elections.
“I say this because this is the first time the system will be put to use in a large scale. Though, we have seen the functionalities in some state elections, but not without some obvious challenges. For instance, the FCT area council elections was marred by the malfunctioning of the BVAS in some polling units.
“Also, early arrival of electoral materials is key to any successful election. The umpire body should ensure that something is done to change the narrative from previous elections. More importantly, they should ensure the security of the ad-hoc staff especially corps members deployed to various polling units. It is the responsibility of government to ensure the safety of both the ad-hoc staff and the electorate.”
In a related development, the presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, governors of the APC, and national executive of the party led by the National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, met behind closed doors on Sunday over the elections and the crisis threatening the party over the naira redesign policy of President Muhammadu Buhari.
