Elections for the National Assembly were yesterday disrupted in at
least seven confirmed states across the federation. Due to a
combination of security lapses, administrative errors and a shortage of
electoral materials, the elections in Abuja, Niger, Ekiti, Plateau, Edo
and Gombe could not start. However, the disruptions that were first
noticed in these states were later discovered to have affected more
states, forcing the Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman,
Attahiru Jega, to make an official announcement postponing the election
till Monday, 4 April.
In Gombe, an administrative error saw
gubernatorial electoral materials sent to the state instead of the
National Assembly ballot papers. Many polling booths in Abuja only
received ballot papers for the House of Assembly but not for the
Senate. Several INEC officials had already packed up, informing
accredited voters that they had instructions to return all election
materials back to the headquarters.
BAUCHI (Armstrong Bakam)
Accreditations of
voters for the National Assembly elections in Bauchi State commenced at
about 11.02 am in some polling units in Bauchi metropolis.
In most of the
centres visited, voters who turned out as early as 6am to be accredited
were disappointed as officials of the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) as well as electoral materials were yet to arrive at
the centres.
Reports from Gamawa
and Shira Local Government Areas in the North senatorial district
indicate that accreditations did not commence due to inadequate supply
of materials.
Isa Gadau and
Abubakar Shira residents of Gamawa and Shira respectively told NEXT
that accreditation was yet to commence in the areas, as neither INEC
officials nor the materials were available. An ad hoc staff of INEC who
spoke to our correspondent around 10.30am said “we have not received
the materials for the elections.”
Accreditation continues
An INEC official at
the INEC headquarters in Bauchi, said that the delay was due to late
arrival of some sensitive materials from INEC headquarters, Abuja. He
however gave an assurance that elections will hold.
The official who
spoke on condition of anonymity said that in spite of the late arrival
of the materials, the commission had directed its officials to commence
accreditation.
He said that “there
is a security meeting being held at the INEC headquarters in Bauchi and
we will soon know what will be the next line of action but meanwhile we
have directed them to commence accreditation of voters.
“If after the
meeting, we discover that we cannot continue with the conduct of the
elections, we will suspend it but if we discover that we can continue,
then we will go on.
“But meanwhile, I
want to tell you that we are waiting for the outcome of the security
meeting which involved all security chiefs in the state led by the
State Police Commissioner,” he added.
It was observed
that some electoral officers for some councils were yet to receive
their materials as they were all seen waiting at the INEC headquarters.
Some of them who spoke said they were disappointed with INEC’s
inability to provide adequate election materials.
Meanwhile, a voter
in one of the centres visited by NEXT said, on condition of anonymity,
“there are no ballot papers and other election materials. We have been
here for the past three hours and none of the INEC staff is yet to come.
“We are not satisfied with the whole situation. We are disappointed
with Jega because he has failed. We know it is a deliberate attempt to
disenfranchise the electorate. Next time, INEC is supposed to go and
wait for voters and not the other way round.”
PLATEAU(Ugar Ukandi Odey)
Although there was
a massive turnout by voters from as early as 8am on Saturday, signs of
a bad outing by INEC came early Friday, when the Resident Electoral
Commissioner, Habu Zarma Hina e-mailed a message of distress to
hangmang@yahoo.com and Nykuna@yahoo.com, with the subject, “Ballot
material shortfalls Plateau State”, The message indicated a very ugly
outlook for some federal constituencies and Senatorial zones in the
state.
The message
lamented that the ballot papers deficit for Bassa/Jos North
constituency was 113.5533, Jos East/Jos South was 16,511, while that of
Pankshin, Kanke stood at 66,772.
Zarma noted further
that forms EC8C(1) for government collation of results, and form
EC8C(1) for declaration of results all for the House of Representatives
election had a shortfall of 17, 8, and 8, forms respectively.
According to Mr.
Zarma, the more disturbing situation was that some senatorial zones in
the state which were not supplied ballot papers at all.
Mr. Zarma indicated
that while Plateau North Senatorial zone has a registered voter
population of 1,219,914, only 45,000 ballot papers were issued to it.
For Plateau Central and Plateau South zones with voters capacity of
632,665 and 631,262 each, no ballot papers were issued which was clear
indication that senatorial elections would not take place in these two
zones.
Early Saturday
morning, there was a telling and grimmer picture of Zarma’s distress
mail. The INEC office in Dadin Kowa Jos South local government area was
full of INEC officials waiting to receive materials for the different
polling units in the area. At about 1:35pm, the crowd of waiting
officials was still swelling rather than reducing.
At different
polling units around Jos North and Jos South, there was an impressive
voter turnout, especially among the women in Jos North, who waited
patiently with security personnel while INEC officials were being
expected.
Following the
assurance by the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Habu Zarma, on the
state radio station at about 11:50am, that elections will proceed
whenever the materials arrived, some polling units in Jos North
commenced accreditations.
Monumental failure
A national
broadcast by INEC chairman, Attahiru Jega put paid to that. The news
soon went round and people retired to their businesses and homes as
traffic hurdles were quickly removed from the roads.
Reacting to the
postponement, the state’s Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party,
Sylvanus Namang, said “it is a monumental failure. It is not the
failure of Jega as a person, it is the failure of all of us as a
nation. It shows we are not sincere and serious people,” Namang added.
To Haroun Audu,
chairman of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Plateau State
chapter, the postponement is a failure which reflects the absence of
best practices in our public affairs.
“It is embarrassing that this particular one occurred at INEC, but
with severe implications for our value system,” Mr. Audu said.
EDO(JETHRO IBILEKE)
Voters in Edo State
yesterday expressed mixed feelings after the Independent National
Electoral Commission postponed elections into the National Assembly due
to lack of sensitive materials, especially result sheets.
Indications that
all was not well had been seen as early as 8am when the state chairman
of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Osaro Idah, told reporters that
result sheets were yet to arrive in the state, calling it an “ugly
beginning to the election.”
“I want to inform the people that INEC is not serious,” Mr. Idah said.
The Resident
Electoral Commissioner in the state, Rose Obuoforibo who announced the
postponement at about 10.30am said that the elections could not hold
due to non-availability of materials from the commission’s headquarters
in Abuja.
Voting centres
monitored by NEXT before the announcement had enthusiastic voters who
had turned out in large numbers for the exercise. INEC officials,
including ad-hoc staff of the commission were however not seen at any
of the centres.
Voters who had
shown up before the announcement were seen in clusters discussing the
absence of INEC officials and electoral materials.
When news of the
cancellation finally filtered into some of the voting centres, some of
the voters expressed mixed feelings. They were seen walking home in
disappointment.
Odion Ugbesia, the
incumbent senator representing Edo central senatorial district
described the development as very unfortunate and disastrous.
Speaking to
reporters at his country home in Ubiaja, Mr. Ugbesia, a Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the election, called for calm from
his supporters, adding that victory was sure for him anytime the
commission decides to conduct the election.
In the same vain,
Daisy Danjuma, PDP senatorial candidate for Edo south also expressed
disappointment the situation, stressing that she had worked so hard for
the election and had expected to rest after voting today.
The senatorial
candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) for Edo north,
Domingo Obende, said it was a very sad situation that the election was
postponed. He said that the cancellation shows that some cabals are not
interested in the development of the nation. He however appealed for
calm from his supporters.
Mr. Obende who
spoke on phone, noted that it was disappointing that the election was
postponed after INEC had spent about N100 billion preparing for the
exercise, adding that it shows that the nation was not ready for change.
The Speaker of the
Edo State House of Assembly, Bright Omokhodion at his voting centre in
Ekpoma told voters not to lose patience due to the non-availability of
INEC staff and electoral materials at about 9am.
ADAMAWA(Hindi Livinus)
The Resident
Electoral Commissioner for the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) in Adamawa State, Kassim Gaidam, was one of the first
state officials of the commission to intimate reporters that the
National Assembly elections might be rescheduled, as his office was yet
to take delivery of voting materials in the state by Saturday morning.
As early as 8am,
voters had besieged the polling units across the state, while
accreditation began in most polling centres at the Yola city centre
around 9am. But in the far flung areas of the state, such as Toungo,
Numan Lamurde and
Mubi, which are in the southern and northern senatorial zones
respectively, the situation was different. There were widespread
complaints about the absence of INEC officials at most of the polling
units in these areas.
At Mayo-Belwa, the
home town of the state governor, Murtala Nyako, INEC officials were yet
to start accreditation at polling centre until almost noon due to
non-arrival of voting materials.
Although Mr Nyako
waited in his residence, most of the voters at the Tudun Wada primary
school voting centres in the town were already returning to their homes
when report started filtering in that the elections have been called
off.
Mr. Geidam, called
on the people of the state to exercise patience with the electoral
body, in view of the challenges experienced in the state.
“The elections
materials are on their way to Lagos from South Africa, from there to
Abuja for onward distribution to the various states concerned,” he
said. “From all indication, it will be impossible for people in Adamawa
to do accreditation and elections today, but I don’t have the power to
take any decision on this. I have advised our headquarters accordingly
and they are listening and are very responsive.”
Materials in transit
Mr. Gaidam maintained that INEC is expecting election materials which are still in transit.
Some of the people interviewed by NEXT said they are disappointed by the shoddy start to the elections.
“After telling us
they are ready for the elections, we come out only to be kept waiting
for hours without any explanations as to why the exercise did not
start. INEC is a failure”, says Alfred Emmanuel, a civil servant in the
state.
Bamanga Tukur, a member of the Presidential Advisory Council, described the cancellation as shameful.
“It is a shame that we cannot go through with our elections, despite
all the purported preparation by INEC,” he said, blaming the
development on logistical problems. He however urged Nigerians to be
patient with INEC.
NASARAWA(Umar Muhammed)
By Friday evening,
there were fears that only the House of Representatives election would
hold in Nasarawa State. This was because the election materials sent to
the state by the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) were only for elections in to the lower house. Ballot
papers for the senatorial elections only arrived Lafia by 1am on
Saturday and were immediately distributed to the respective local
governments. The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for the state,
Ahmed Makama said the delay might not be unconnected with an accident
along the Akwanga-Lafia road on Friday.
“I am full of assurance that we will conduct a free and fair election,” he said.
The state police
commissioner, Emanuel Obiko also affirmed that his men, who were
deployed across most of the state, especially in the flashpoints were
fully prepared. Voters turned up at the voting stations early and the
process was well under way before news of the cancellation of the
exercise stopped proceedings.
