Thursday, 28th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search
Breaking News:

Epileptic BVAS, poor turnout mar FCT Poll

By m Sodiq Omolaoye and Matthew Ogune (Abuja)
13 February 2022   |   2:39 am
Thousands of voters, yesterday, turned up to elect chairmen and councillors for the six area councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

[FILES] FCT. Photo: FI

Vote-buying Very Rampant – CDD
• Election Defined By Operational Deficiencies – YIAGA Africa

Thousands of voters, yesterday, turned up to elect chairmen and councillors for the six area councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). 
 

 
But a good number of them were left disappointed, agitated and stranded as the Biometric Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) devices deployed for the polls worked in fits and starts in an exercise that witnessed immense operational deficiencies.
   
The epileptic operation of the BVAS saw many residents complaining bitterly about being denied the opportunity to cast votes for their preferred candidates.
  
A total of 1, 373, 492 registered voters were expected to participate in the exercise in the 2, 229 polling units, but it was gathered that only 103, 68 voters collected their Permanent Voters Card (PVCs). 
  
Over 400 candidates were drawn from 14 political parties cleared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and their running mates contested these positions.
  
Though markets and shops were closed, at Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), the restriction of vehicular and human movements was partially observed.
  
At some polling units visited by The Guardian, INEC officials were seen on the ground but voters were absent as of 9.30 am. 
   
Earlier in the day, the FCT’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Alhaji Yahaya Bello, after observing the election at PU018, Post office, Municipal Area 10 described the process as smooth, noting that there were no reports of violence. 
  
He hailed residents for maintaining a peaceful atmosphere while urging more citizens to come out and exercise their rights. 
  
But Yiaga Africa decried the disenfranchisement of voters and the widespread malfunctioning of the (BVAS) devices in some areas. 
   
It also decried what it described as the imbalance in the distribution of voters to new polling units and inconsistent communication on election security.
   
The organisation said that the names of the majority of voters who had valid PVCs assigned to their polling units were missing from the voter register. 
   
The Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo, said its election observers deployed to the six area councils observed the disenfranchisement of voters as a result of missing names on the voter registers that were deployed at polling units.  
 
 
Itodo, while presenting the Midday Situational Statement, said the election was defined by operational deficiencies, election security challenges, and abysmal voter turnout. 
   
He said: “Yiaga Africa observers reported disenfranchisement of voters as a result of missing names on the voter register that was deployed to the polling unit. 
  
The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) in its preliminary statement on the conduct of the exercise, pointed out the late commencement of votes due to poor logistics, noting that “over fifty per cent of poll officials arrived after 9 am, leading to late commencement, which was eventually exacerbated by the hiccups encountered with the BVAS.”

The group stressed that the functionality of BVAS continued to be a significant source of hitches and delays in the polling process,” adding that voters’ turnout, particularly in the Abuja Municipal, was low, “with a polling station with four polling units in Ward 5 in Abuja Municipal Council (AMAC) not recording a single voter turning out to cast any vote.”
  
The CDD, which implored INEC to address the BVAS challenges before the Ekiti and Osun elections scheduled for later this year,” added that “as in previous elections, vote-buying was very rampant in the polls. CDD Observers reported cases of vote-buying in Gwagwalada, Abaji, AMAC, Kwali, Bwari and Kuje. However, vote-buying was pronouced in the five other area councils compared to AMAC, with vote trading for as low as N1, 000 and up to N3,000. CDD finds it disturbing that the security agents looked away as the party stalwarts canvassed and bought votes during the elections. In fact, in Abaji/ward 001 PU 003, party agents were seen doling out money to voters who displayed their ballot papers indicating the party they voted for.
Also, the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, yesterday, has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to watch out for hotspots identified by the Nigerian Police, and document evidence of any violation of the Electoral Act to bring offenders to book.
 
Situation Room Co-Convener, James Ugochukwu, said the group would be holding INEC accountable for its commitment and assurances of preparedness.
   
His words: “This is FCT election and we are calling on the EFCC and the ICPC to repeat what they did in Ondo State by arresting as many electoral offenders as possible.”

0 Comments