Ijeoma Seraphie Obiedelu, is the Founder and lead volunteer, Forward Falls Initiative, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) that monitored the recent council elections held at the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja). She spoke with SEYE OLUMIDE on her findings during the exercise.

How would you assess the just-concluded Abuja Municipal Area Council Elections?
I volunteered as a polling agent for Kubwa Ward at the just-concluded #FCT Area Council Elections 2022  that was held on February 12, 2022 and my finding is that something must be done urgently to address the issue of voter apathy. To me, this pose a very serious threat to our democracy.

What are those things you saw?
The very first problem I discovered during the exercise was serious low turnout of voters. A good number of polling units recorded zero voter turnout. My polling unit is a good example and I took time to go round most polling units close by and it was the same story. Something  critical also needed to be done about vote buying by “popular” political parties, while many polling units experienced Bimodal  Voter Accreditation system (BVAS) device malfunction.

I also discovered that many voters didn’t know their polling units due to the creation of new polling units by the  Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and many ballot papers were declared invalid due to voters thumb-printing wrongly. These observations disturbed me greatly and I think the country should take urgent steps to correct them.

What would you suggest as solutions?
INEC in collaboration with Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), need to embark on massive voter education before the next general election. Political parties should also join in the campaign. Nigerians needed to be well educated on the importance of voting and how to vote correctly to avoid/reduce the number of invalid votes.

Citizens should avoid disenfranchising themselves by registering their voter’s cards at the place they are likely to be during elections. For example, some students disenfranchised themselves by registering to vote around their school environment while they might not be in school during the election as schools may be closed or on break due to the elections. This also applies to National Youth Corp members as well.
Register at place you are most likely to be during the elections, while we work on engaging policymakers to make it possible for Nigerians to be able to vote from anywhere in Nigeria by amending the Electoral Act.

INEC should consider sending bulk SMS to voters reminding them to carry out their civic responsibility and also stating their polling units a day or two before elections. This is because many voters returned to their homes because they were unable to locate their new polling units as they were directed to different places. The place they knew to be their polling unit was no longer their polling unit. This was also the case with the BVAs device malfunction. Many voters got frustrated and went back to their homes after waiting for so long.

What in particular can be done to address the challenges of vote buying and selling?
This may sound a bit controversial, but my strategy to counter vote-buying is this; take their money and still vote your conscience. Vote for the person you are convinced will guarantee a better future for you, your kids, your parents and the country. I understand times are hard and as such it’ll be unreasonable for me to tell a person that doesn’t know where his next meal will come from not to take money given to him. So, if you can’t resist the urge, please take it and still do the right thing. After all, these monies are stolen from our national treasury.

Besides, nobody will follow you to the booth to know if you voted for their party or not. However, I hear that these people use juju (black magic) and whoever takes their money will be compelled to vote for their party. I cannot verify this story.

Another strategy is for INEC to ensure that ballot boxes are at the same point of voting; this is to restrict the movement of voters from the point of thumb printing to the point of inserting the ballot paper into the box. This is to prevent vote buyers from ensuring you show them the ballot paper before dropping it into the box. This would go a long way to discourage vote-buying and /or allow voters to still vote their conscience regardless of who gives or promises to give them money for their votes.

Lastly, INEC should ensure that the security personnel’s deployed are preventing vote-buying and allowing for peaceful process of elections rather than aiding vote-buying. These are some suggestions that can go a long way to restore confidence in our electoral system.