The leadership of International
Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law has resolved to revisit
the burning issue of PVCs distribution in Nigeria by the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC). This resolution of ours follows
the official release by INEC of its update on the PVCs distribution
across the country.
Introduction: On 27th
January, 2015, INEC under the leadership of Prof Attahiru Jega, released to the
Nigerian public its update on PVCs distribution across the country.
According to INEC, 42, 779, 339 (forty two million, seven hundred & seventy
nine thousand, three hundred & thirty nine) PVCs have so far been distributed
in the 36 States and the FCT of the Federation. Earlier last week, the
Commission said it has procured four million additional PVCs from its
contractors and suppliers leaving 10, 491, 866 unprodced. According to the
Commission, the total number of registered voters who will vote in the February
2015 General Elections remains 68, 833, 476. The Commission, again, refused to
publicly disclose the State-by-State breakdown of its given 68, 833, 476
registered voters. In view of this, we still rely on the September 2014
official data of the Commission containing the registered voters on
State-by-State basis, which was sent to us by the Chairman of INEC himself on
24th September, 2014.
Our thorough investigation of the
foregoing in the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory
(FCT) as well as the country’s six geopolitical zones using INEC’s National
Register of Voters under reference, updated as of September 2014; shows the
following new findings:
1.Northwest (a) Kano
State: registered voters 4, 751, 818, PVCs distributed as at 27th January,
2015: 2, 612, 400, (7th January figure-2,717, 185), (b)
Kaduna State: registered voters 3, 743, 815, PVCs distributed 2, 976, 628, (c)
Katsina State: registered voters 2, 928, 046, PVCs distributed 2,
245, 303, (d) Sokoto State registered voters 2, 113, 698, PVCs
distributed 1, 211, 717 (same as 7th January figure), (e)
Kebbi State registered voters 1, 459, 374, PVCs distributed 1, 232, 357, (f)
Zamfara State registered voters 1, 802, 302, PVCs distributed
1,045, 855, ( g) Jigawa State registered voters 1, 817, 087, PVCs
distributed 1, 460, 620 (same as 7th January figure). Total
registered voters for the Northwest zone 18, 616, 499. Total PVCs
distributed 12, 794, 880. Total disenfranchised 5, 871, 619 (note: this
includes over four million Igbo resident in Kano, Kaduna, etc who fled and are
still fleeing owing to Islamist insurgency abandoning their PVCs in INEC).
2. North-Central: (a)
Benue State: registered voters 2, 340, 718, PVCs distributed 1, 132, 187 (7th
January figure-1, 132, 178), (b) Plateau State: registered voters 2,
082, 725, PVCs distributed 1, 141, 260, (c) Niger State: registered
voters 2, 427, 081 PVCs distributed 1, 250, 379, (d) Kogi
State: registered voters 1, 305, 533, PVCs distributed 773, 193, (e) Nasarawa
State: registered voters 1, 291, 876, PVCs distributed 850, 619, (f)
Kwara State registered voters 1, 125, 035, PVCs distributed 711,
920. Total registered voters for the North-Central 10, 592, 958. Total PVCs
distributed 5, 859, 562. Total disenfranchised 4, 733, 396.
3.Northeast (troubled zone): (a)
Bauchi State: registered voters 2, 502, 609, PVCs distributed 1, 745, 441, (b)
Gombe State: registered voters 1, 208, 927, PVCs distributed 873, 698, (c)
Yobe State: registered voters 1, 203, 224, PVCs distributed 740, 336 (same
as 7th January figure), (d) Adamawa State: registered voters
1, 682, 907, PVCs distributed 1, 239, 820 (7th January figure- 912,
312), (e) Taraba State: registered voters 1, 279, 394, PVCs
distributed 1,079, 338 (7th January figure-921, 637), (f) Borno
State: registered voters 2, 570, 349, PVCs distributed 999, 470. Total
registered voters for Northeast 10, 447, 410. Total PVCs distributed
6, 678, 148. Total disenfranchised 3, 769, 262.
4.Southwest: (a) Lagos State:
registered voters 5, 426, 391, PVCs distributed 2, 267, 039 (7th
January figure- 2, 159, 091), (b) Oyo State: registered voters 2, 487,
132, PVCs distributed 1, 156, 573, (c) Ogun State: registered
voters 1, 796, 024, PVCs distributed 666, 756 (7th January figure-
930, 276), (d) Ondo State: registered voters 1, 472, 237,
PVCs distributed 824, 715 (same as 7th January figure), (e) Osun
State: registered voters 1, 318, 120, PVCs distributed 995, 562 (7th
January figure-992, 310), (f) Ekiti State: registered voters 688,
950, PVCs distributed 492, 869 ( 7th January figure- 481, 198). Total
registered voters for Southwest 13, 188, 854. Total PVCs distributed
6, 403, 534 (7th January figure-6, 419, 003, in deficit of 15, 469).
Total disenfranchised 6, 785, 320.
5.South-south: (a) Rivers
State: registered voters 2, 466, 977, PVCs distributed 1, 253, 606 (same as
7th January figure), (b) Delta State: registered
voters 2, 044, 372, PVCs distributed 1, 422, 595, (c) Edo State: registered
voters 1, 593, 488, PVCs distributed 1, 046, 960, (d) Cross River
State: registered voters 1, 169, 469, PVCs distributed 776, 977, (e) Akwa
Ibom State: registered voters 1, 621, 798, PVCs distributed 1, 328, 714, (f)
Bayelsa State: registered voters 590, 679, PVCs distributed 386, 125. Total
registered voters for South-south 9, 486, 811. Total PVCs distributed
6, 214, 977. Total disenfranchised 3, 271, 834.
6. Southeast: (a)
Anambra State: registered voters 1, 784, 536, PVCs distributed 1, 222, 002, (b)
Imo State: registered voters 1, 672, 666, PVCs distributed 682, 046 (same as
7th January figure), (c) Abia State: registered voters
1, 387, 844, PVCs distributed 1, 020, 997( 7th January figure- 1,
020, 601), (d) Enugu State: registered voters 1, 313, 128, PVCs
distributed 738, 933 (7th January figure- 662, 445), (e) Ebonyi
State: registered voters 1, 020, 011, PVCs distributed 714, 351. Total
registered voters for Southeast 7, 178, 185. Total PVCs distributed
4, 378, 329.
Total disenfranchised 2, 799,
856.
7. FCT (Federal Capital
Territory-Abuja): Total Registered Voters 892, 628, PVCs distributed
459, 913. Total disenfranchised 432, 715.
Analysis:
1. Total PVCs distributed in
twenty days (from 7th January to 27th January, 2015)=4,
004, 948
2.Total PVCs distributed in ten
days= 2,002, 474
3. Total PVCs distributed since
2014 up till 27th January, 2015=42, 779, 339(note: these
official accounts have not been independently verified)
4. Total Nigerian registered voters
disenfranchised as of date=26, 054,137
5. Total PVCs not yet produced and
delivered to INEC as at 27th January 2015=10, 491, 866.
6. Total Registered Voters as of
September 2014 as contained in the INEC’s National Register of Voters=70, 383,
427
7. Total Registered Voters
randomly and arbitrarily deleted by INEC leading to issuance of a new figure of
68, 833, 476=1, 543, 961
8. State-by-State breakdown of
the deleted registered voters of 1, 543, 961=not given by INEC till date
9. State-by-State breakdown of
68, 833, 476 registered voters penciled down to vote in the February polls=not
given by INEC till date.
Further Analysis:
10. Total Registered Voters as at
27/1/2015, in the entire North including the FCT; using INEC’s supplied data of
September 2014=40, 549, 586
11.Total Registered Voters in the
entire South using same data=29, 853, 850
12. Total number of PVCs
holders in the entire North as at 27th January, 2015=25, 332, 590
13. Total number of PVCs
holders in the entire South as at same date=16, 996, 840
14. Total number of Registered
Voters that received their PVCs in the entire North from 7th January
to 27th January 2015=2, 950, 113.
15. Total number of Registered
Voters that received theirs in the entire South in the same period=845, 542.
Shocking Findings:
16. The number of available
PVCs in five States in the Northwest (Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi and Jigawa)-
10, 527, 308; is equal in number in respect of those in the entire eleven
States in the South-south and the Southeast zones (10, 593, 306). That is to
say that whereas there are 10, 527, 308 PVCs holders in the five States
of the Northwest zone alone, there are 10, 593, 306 PVCs holders in the entire
eleven States of the South-south and the Southeast zones.
17. There are 6, 678, 148 PVCs
in the troubled Northeast, whereas only 4, 378, 329 are available in the five
peaceful States of the Southeast.
18.The number of PVCs distributed
as at 27th January 2015 in the 13 States of the Northwest and
the Northeast(Boko Haram insurgency area) is much higher than the total number
of PVCs distributed in the entire 17 States of the Southwest, the South-south
and the Southeast zones. That is to say that whereas 19, 473, 028 PVCs
have been distributed in the referenced 13 States of the two of the three
geopolitical zones of the North; only 16, 996, 840 PVCs have been distributed
in the entire 17 States of the South.
Our Interest:
Our main interest in all these is to
expose obviously lopsided handling of issue of voting rights by
INEC in Nigeria; from management of the National Register of Voters,
registration of eligible adults to production, issuance and distribution of PVCs
to registered Nigerian voters. In a heterogeneous and complex society like
Nigeria, pluralistic policies and procedures remain the best
approach. In the world over, voting rights is very fundamental to
the survival and sustenance of democracy and anything that will lead to disenfranchisement
must be maximally avoided.
Operating double-standard
policies in a highly fragile society like ours can spell doom. By the foregoing,
rested in the basket of empiricism, INEC’s shifting of blames to Nigerian
registered voters; has been dealt a fatal blow. It is entirely the fault of
INEC owing to its sheer incompetence and double standard policies
and procedures. Adult Nigerians, both registered voters and non-registered ones
particularly in the South, who became disenchanted and told the Commission to go
to hell with its activities; including continuous voters
registration, re-validation and collection of PVCs, should not be
blamed. In the North, leniency and proxy
methodology are the order of the day.
To avoid plunging Nigeria into
chaos, INEC must find ways that are favourable to all geopolitical zones in
respect of voting power and voting rights so as to give most; if
not all registered Nigerian voters unhindered opportunities to choose their
next President & Commander-in-Chief freely come February 14,
2015. If Jega’s INEC insists on conducting the referenced polls particularly
the Presidential, with these shockingly and alarmingly lopsided PVCs distribution
in the country’s six geopolitical zones, it will be too risky to try and
catastrophically unprecedented.
Unless, these perceived crooked
scientific experiments are de-experimented as a matter of
uttermost immediacy, otherwise, there is likelihood of one of the main
political parties rejecting outright the Presidential results and retire to the
cocoon of self help justice. Our question to Jega’s INEC is: If
it has taken the Commission twenty days to distribute only 4,004, 948 PVCs
under sustained local and international pressures, what is the possibility of
the Commission distributing the remaining 26, 054, 137 PVCs including delivery
of the unproduced 10, 491, 866 fourteen days to the referenced polls?
Signed:
For:
International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law
Emeka
Umeagbalasi, B.Sc. (Hons.) Criminology & Security Studies
Board
Chairman, International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law
+2348174090052
info@intersociety-ng.org, emekaumeagbalasi@yahoo.co.uk
Chiugo
Onwuatuegwu, Esq., (LL.B. BL), Head, Democracy & Good Governance program
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