Pic.2 Gov. Yahaya Bello during his accreditation before voting at Ahache Agassa Okenegba Ward, during the 2019 Kogi governorship election in Okene Local government Area of Kogi on Saturday (16/11/19). 07628/16/11/2019/Jones Bamidele/NAN Executive Director, Justice and Peace Development Initiative, JDPC, Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Rev. Fr. Lawrence Emehel, monitored the last governorship election in Kogi State as a member of Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room. In this interview, he gives gory graphic details of the exercise, concluding that what took place did not qualify to be called an election.Let me begin with the logistics. At previous meetings, Prof. James Apam, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kogi State, made known the commission’s plans to deploy materials to address logistics challenges as was experienced in the general electionS earlier this year. Generally, there was an improvement in terms of preparedness on the part of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and even in its deployment to the various Registration Area Centres, RACs. However, there were also challenges of materials and ad-hoc staff not arriving on time. The major challenge of material and staff deployment was on the part of the security agencies. Security was one of the major reasons for late deployment. For instance, Lokoja Ward A RAC did not have any security on the eve of the election till the next morning. INEC staff members felt unsafe and refused to move knowing that the risk was quite high. Owing to that, materials arrived late at the polling units within that area. In some areas, there was the challenge of failing card readers. In some areas, they had to resort to manual accreditation until card readers were fixed. On irregularities, the flagrant vote-buying that took place and the impudence, with which it was done in the presence of security agents, was quite unprecedented. The commercialisation of the process is quite unfortunate, to say the least. I was at a polling unit where voters deliberately and meticulously were folding their ballot papers in the full glare of onlookers, suggestive that someone was watching. And after that, the papers were passed from one point to another until they were paid. People confidently walked up to the “paypal” to ask for their dues as they had fulfilled their obligation. All these happened in the presence of law enforcement agents. I must say that it was not all bad. This is because I saw two polling units in Lokoja where voters were rejecting inducements. They were convinced of their voting trajectory and nothing was going to stop them, except violence. Now, when my team and I got there, we met the people chatting quietly performing their civic duties. We had a chat with one of the observers from that locality and he told us that there was going to be trouble there on that day. Apparently, others knew why but I did not. I asked him to tell me why he felt very strongly about trouble coming that way. He responded by telling me that there was palpable anger from some agents that voters were not accepting inducements, and that would mean trouble for the voters. First, I was pleased by the resolve of the electorate in that area. Second, I was surprised and sad that such a consequence should follow such a resolve. We left the place and went to the next polling unit and in less than two hours, armed thugs went in and disrupted the process. And not just that, they sent every single person away from that polling unit including INEC officials, security agents, and every other person. Do you think the anomalies that characterised the election played any role in determining the eventual winner of the exercise? With only 40 percent of eligible voters coming out to vote, what does that mean? It is only in Nigeria that people make comparisons with the minimum by saying that at least 40 percent is a good one. For many politicians and many Nigerians whom they have groomed, the result trumps the process. There seems to be an eagerness to shift the battleground to the courts where you are compelled to say “as the court pleases” even when the whole drama is unpleasant and unacceptable. The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, CDD, and YIAGA Africa have called for an outright cancellation of the elections, and I stand with them. What I witnessed was a war situation. But you and I know that as a post-election matter now, everything depends on what the tribunal adjudges as strong evidence. How would you describe the exercise in terms of voter turnout and availability of security for voters? I actually did not tell many of my friends, family and close allies that I was going to Kogi State to observe the elections. I did not want anyone to dissuade me from being there. Those whom I told were also apprehensive and kept calling me as news broke out on the level of violence. Pre-election day assessment put Kogi State on high alert. Voters were also in high spirit. The palpable tension was not enough to deter them from turning out for the exercise. The polling units we visited were filled with people eager to perform their civic duties. I am scoring voters very high. On the issue of security, the Nigeria Police Force had announced the deployment of 33,000 personnel to Kogi State. But the authorities refused to share their deployment plan with security outfits that were also supposed to judge their performance such as CLEEN Foundation. I am torn between the idea that this number was deployed and that they disappeared into the communities and were not largely seen. It is not rocket science to judge the presence of policemen without intimidation and an intimidating presence of policemen. Their presence would have deterred the thuggish and brutish disrupters of the electoral process in many polling units across the state. I have to mention the gallant efforts of some youths in Ganaja and Ajaokuta who, at the risk of losing their lives, repelled armed thugs. Some members of an international observer group were attacked, their vehicle smashed and fuel poured on them to be burnt but for timely intervention. You know that the joy of a smartphone is expressed in its use on social media. In my presence, an observer’s phone was seized by armed policemen who accompanied an aide of one of the candidates. This man came in company of several armed policemen and other persons in about eight vehicles, including a dark and tinted bus whose occupants did not come out of the vehicle. We left this second polling unit owing to the altercation that followed and in an hour and a half time, the whole place was overrun by thugs. This was one of the places where many of the voters refused inducements. The young man whose phone was seized was still struggling to come out of his trepidation. He was badly shaken. I salute the courage of some policemen, but the overall performance was poor as far as the security of the voters was concerned. The policemen had fears because of untagged police personnel. I feel flabbergasted that the Inspector General of Police, IGP, would accuse politicians of giving uniforms to thugs. That sounds more like a helpless man calling out to unknown persons. With the resources at their disposal, the Police should be the last to speak in that manner. But some are claiming success in Kogi… Far from it. I went to Kogi and saw first-hand and I was very disappointed. The election fell short of everything an election should stand for and should be considered an outright war. The battle was not won with the ballot papers but by bullets. Bullets exchanged for ballots in many places. From the position of an observer, what factors do you think determined who eventually won? I really do not want to categorise a win and a loss now as far as the election is concerned. If there is a win, then I would say that outlaws and bandits won the election. As for the loss, all those who live in Kogi State, including the governor and Nigerians, lost the election. Are we still talking about who won or who lost? After the said declaration by INEC, we all heard of the gruesome murder of a Nigerian. A lady politician was burnt to death while it was callously supervised by the same outlaws. What kind of a country is this? From what you saw in Kogi what are your recommendations for improvement in subsequent elections? The process now is far below what we gained in 2015. We have lost so much in terms of credibility of the process, and it simply is at the polling units and the collation centres, especially Ward Collation Centres. The Electoral Amendment Bill which was rejected by the President several times should receive the President’s assent. This should be mindful of the fact that electronic accreditation and transmission of results will go a long way to curb electoral malpractices. This should also lead to the enforcement of penalties for security men and women who move around with politicians on election days. Politicians moving around with security and thugs must be severely penalised. There must be a deliberate engagement with the political class since they are the ones whose sympathizers move up to their defence even when the politicians do not need it. They, sympathisers, make themselves more vulnerable by their unrealistic defence. The political class is driving Nigerians into despair.
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