Rerun/Bye-elections: Voter apathy, violence mar polls
04 February 2024 |
4:15 am
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday suspended the rerun and bye-elections in certain constituencies in the country following the outbreak of violence and other glaring irregularities that marred the exercise.
• INEC Suspends Exercise In Kano, Akwa Ibom, Enugu
• Kaduna PDP, Enugu LP Cry Foul, Seek Polls Cancellation
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday suspended the rerun and bye-elections in certain constituencies in the country following the outbreak of violence and other glaring irregularities that marred the exercise.
The elections also recorded poor turnout of voters as earlier predicted by election monitors in the country. A statement by INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, listed the areas where the elections were suspended as Ikono/Ini Federal Constituency, Akwa Ibom State and two Polling Units (Village Hall, EdemUrua 003 in Ini Local Council and Village Hall Mbiabong Ikot Udo 003 in Ikono Local Council) where all election materials were carted away by hoodlums.
Olumekun said elections were also suspended in all eight Polling Units in Enugu South 1 State Constituency, Enugu State, where the original results sheets were not available for inspection by voters before the commencement of polls.
He added that elections in Kunchi/Tsanyawa State Constituency of Kano State were also put on hold in all 10 Polling Units in Kunchi Local Council due to invasion, vandalisation and disruption by thugs.
“The decision of the Commission aligns with the provisions of Section 24(3) of the Electoral Act, 2022. Further necessary measures for the affected constituencies will be announced after the Commission’s meeting on Monday.
“INEC invites the security agencies to investigate the incidents, while the Commission commits to thoroughly interrogating any breaches involving its officials,” he stated.
In Lagos State, there was general voter apathy as very few voters came out to vote in the House of Representatives bye-election to fill the vacant seat of the Surulere Federal Constituency 1. Twelve candidates of different political parties scrambled for the 121,111 votes of registered voters with Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).
However, it was observed that the turnout of voters was very low. Some communities in the constituency had employed the services of town criers very early in the morning yesterday to ginger voters to turnout en masse and vote for the candidate of their choice but the effort appeared not to have yielded much.
On Mercy Eneli Street, Akerele Extension and other adjourning streets, town criers were on the road calling people to come out and vote. A civil servant residing on Mercy Eneli Street, who acted as a town crier, Mr. Ahmed Dauda, stated that it was necessary to call people to participate in the election to address whatever issues affecting them.
“People should not show apathy to the election. It is our right to choose our leaders. We are still telling people to come out and participate,” he said.
Security operatives from the Nigeria Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, Nigeria Army mounted several roadblocks to restrict movement in and around Surulere.
Patrol vans and armoured carriers loaded with armed security agents were observed patrolling streets and roads in the constituency.
Also, there was unprecedented apathy in Plateau State as few voters seen by The Guardian said that they only managed to come out for the exercise because of pressure by some politicians.
Similarly, in Kaduna State, voters shunned the exercise in many polling units. Places mostly affected by the voter apathy included Ungwar Romi, Sabon-Tasha, Narayi, Maraban Rido in Chikun Local Council of the state. However, at Makera, Barnanwa in Kaduna South Local Council, there was an impressive turnout of voters.
Accreditation and voting commenced at about 9:15am at the Kakuri Hausa Gora Street polling unit 0045, polling unit 0023 and also in Kakuri Hausa ward. Speaking with The Guardian, an agent of the PDP in one of the polling units, Veronica Okuna, accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of engaging in vote-buying.
She alleged that APC agents paid between N10,000 and N15,000 per vote. She said: “There is vote-buying going on by APC agents right here (Barnawa Market road polling units).
“I’m not happy at all. I went to Maraban Rido and Narayi; the turnout was not much but here the turnout is much because of vote-buying, which isn’t good for our democracy.
“I wish the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are here to see things for themselves. This democracy is full of corruption. Imagine a vote being bought for N15,000. This is not good for the nation’s democracy.”
However, an APC agent, Aminu Yakubu, countered the allegation, saying there was nothing like vote-buying at the polling unit. He noted that the polling unit was full of the party’s supporters.
“We are not ready or willing to give anybody anything for our candidate to win. Our supporters are here en masse to cast their votes for our candidate.
“Maybe it’s the PDP that is giving money to voters to vote for them. They are drowning and would hold on to anything to pull the APC down,” Yakubu said.
In Kano State, the elections in Kura/Madobi and Rimin-Gado/Tofa constituencies went on peacefully and recorded large voter turnout. As early as 8am, voters in the four local government areas that constituted the two constituencies came out in their large numbers to cast their votes amid security presence.
However, the situation was not the same at Kunchi/Tsanyawa constituency where thugs armed with dangerous weapons attacked INEC officials and went away with the voting materials, hence the suspension of the exercise.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police in Kano, Muhammed Usaini Gumel, disclosed that a large number of hoodlums engaged by politicians to disrupt the electoral process have been arrested. Gumel told journalists at Kunchi that the suspects would be charged appropriately after investigation.
In Enugu State, protests erupted over alleged replacement of original result sheets for the court ordered rerun elections with photocopies of result sheets by INEC officials.
The rerun elections were meant to take place in eight polling units in Enugu South Local Council as well as some polling units in Igbo-Eze North and Udenu local councils.
While the election in Enugu South was meant to determine the actual winner for Enugu Urban State Constituency, that of Igbo-Eze North/Udenu local councils was meant to determine the winner of the federal constituency.
As of 2.20pm, voting was yet to start in any of the eight polling units at Robinson Primary school and Uwani Secondary School, all in Enugu urban. Although officials of INEC and voters from the two parties had arrived early to the polling units for the election, the Electoral Officer, Francis Chigbo and the Supervising Presiding Officer said to be in custody of the original result sheets, were nowhere to be found. This stalled the process for some time as agents of the parties insisted on displaying original result sheets before voting could commence.
While supporters of the LP resorted to chanting “No election result sheets, no voting”, those of the PDP chanted “We have seen the result sheets.”
Hours later, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Kanayo Uzuegbu, arrived at the venue with heads of other security agencies including Civil Defence, DSS, Immigration, Road Safety, Correctional Centre as well as some battle-ready soldiers who came in their armoured carriers.
Apparently enamoured by their presence, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Chukwuemeka Chukwu, came to the venue with photocopies of 2023 election result sheets, which he claimed would be used to replace the “missing original result sheets in line with the laws of the commission.”
Chukwu, who stated that he was on his way to Igbo-Eze North/Udenu to address a similar challenge but had to turn back to solve that of Enugu South, added that he would “stamp and counter sign the document” to enable the election to hold.
Addressing the press, he said: “The political parties demanded that in line with the Electoral Act the result be shown to them. So, when I got the information, I quickly rushed to this place to calm the situation down and proffer solutions. In line with the Electoral Act, when the result sheet is missing, what we are going to do is to issue a replacement.
“So, I am here to tell the whole world that whatever anybody is saying, in line with the law, if any result sheet is altered before the election, the INEC has every power to issue a replacement result sheet or any material that is tampered with. So, here is the replacement of the result sheets. I am going to stamp it and countersign it so that voting will commence shortly in this place.”
When asked the whereabouts of the Electoral Officer and the Supervising Presiding Officer, the REC said: “I don’t know”. He also claimed ignorance of what happened to the original result sheets.
The LP agent at the polling unit, Arinze Ogbodo, however, insisted that allowing the election to hold without the original result sheets would be legalising an illegitimate action aimed at derailing the election.
He accused the INEC of compromising the process, saying it was not obtainable that a photocopied result sheet of 2023 would be countersigned for 2024 election, “by someone who will deny you tomorrow.”
“When we came here, we requested to see the materials for the election, including the result sheet, to enable us start the election but they refused. They refused to show us the original result sheet. Now the REC came here and told us that he would sign the photocopy of the 2023 result sheet for us to use for the election. He told us that the EO that is in charge of this result sheet has absconded.
“There is no way you will conduct an election with a photocopy of the result sheet.”
Where is the original result sheet and where is the EO who is an official of the commission? They should produce him because at the end of the day, the result sheet will be produced and they will use it to announce the result. We will not accept it. What we are saying is that if INEC is not ready for this election, they should cancel it and fix a fresh date for the election. We will not accept this,” he said.
But candidate of the PDP for Enugu State Urban Constituency, Sam Ngene, accused the senator representing Enugu East Senatorial zone of causing problems in the election, noting that the senator was not from the constituency and wondered why he was close to the election venue.
“Result sheets are not my business. I’m a candidate and what you see here is politics. I don’t want to see any result sheet. Let the election start and after they will bring the result sheets and write the results,” he said.
A similar situation occurred at Igbo-Eze North/Udenu Federal constituency where eligible voters could not vote over the inability of the INEC to provide result sheets.
As of 2.30 pm, election was yet to start in Igbo-Eze North and Udenu as eligible voters refused to commence the process without the original result sheets.
A stakeholder, Joel Ezeugwu, told journalists that despite the level of shooting, they would not allow the process to hold until the original result sheets were shown to them.
Meanwhile, LP has described the re-run election in Igbo-Eze/Udenu as a sham, calling for a total cancellation of the exercise. The National Secretary of the party, Umar Farouk, in a statement, said he led the Labour Party Monitoring team to polling stations involved in the rerun, stating: “Due process was not followed, accreditation compromised, result sheets hijacked, BIVAS machines disregarded as voters were not allowed to exercise their right to vote.”
The national secretary, who addressed the press in company of the party’s candidate, Dennis Agbo, called on INEC to immediately cancel elections in areas where illegalities have been reported.
Speaking, Agbo accused the PDP of using the local council vigilante group to intimidate LP supporters. He alleged that LP members were chased away from polling booths by the vigilante, adding INEC officials were taking instructions from PDP officials and allowing voting to take place in private houses.
Contrarily, the bye-election for Ebonyi South Senatorial election was peaceful. Although apathy marred the election, electoral materials arrived at the polling units early and voters conducted themselves in a peaceful manner. Security agents were seen in every strategic location to make sure that the exercise was normal.
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