By Our Correspondent
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, for Anambra State, Dr Queen Elizabeth Agwu, has stoutly defended the electoral umpire in managing the electoral process, stressing that INEC does not have the capacity to rig election.
Speaking as a special guest during stakeholders engagement and sensitization workshop on Mandate Protection ahead of the November 8 Anambra governorship election, Agwu accused politicians of always trying to manipulate the system and when they fail, they blame INEC for allegedly rigging them out.
The workshop was organized by the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, in partnership with Center for Democracy and Development, CDD, and support from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
Agwu said: “INEC is just a small item in the big electoral process and election management. The Police, Army, Nigeria Civil Defense, Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, etc, are all there.
“We have returning officers for the state, the 21 local governments, 326 wards and in all the polling booths In Anambra State. These are adhoc workers.
“On the election day, you won’t see any INEC official outside We see the result sheet only once and that is when all the results from all the locations have been entered.
“The results move from Presiding Officers, POs, to Senior Presiding Officers,SPOs, and they are announced at all the levels. Is there anybody who does not know that money exchanges hands during elections and this is instigated by politicians?
“And when someone loses the election, he begins to shout that INEC has done it again. We’re destroying ourselves in the name of name of politics.”
She also faulted the figures contained in the voters register, stating that in the past, voters registration was not properly conducted such that people were just dumping names in the register, thinking they could somehow use them during elections.
According to her, many names in the voters register do not exist and that is why the percentage of voter turnout has remained low.
She also said that those who sit somewhere to write results are wasting their time because such results can never find their way into the authentic results sheets.
In his address, the election consultant of CDD, Mr. Chibuike Mgbeahurike, said it is embarrassing that many stakeholders are not participating effectively in the electoral process, which, he added, is why there is so much anomaly in the system.
He said: “I don’t know the last time we were served with credible election in this country. Look at what is happening in Anambra State, instead of the politicians to tell the people how they intend to serve them, they are busy attacking each other.
“Even the voters are saying that they will not vote unless they are paid and that is because the politicians have not sensitized the electorate adequately. Many politicians are more concerned with how to circumvent the system and our people are made to swallow whatever comes out from them.
“Our political enlightenment is at its lowest ebb and it is lack of enlightenment that leads to low turnout during elections. We have to keep voting until we get it right.”
While urging the politicians to take the campaigns to the grassroot, Mgbeahurike advised that they should deviate from their past attitudes.
“Mandate Protection should no be business as usual. If we cannot beat them, let us not join them. They say, if you see something, say something, but unfortunately, our people are not saying anything.
The workshop discussed electoral security and safety measures,voter authentication and verification, prevention and detection of electoral malpractices, transparency and monitoring of election success, among other issues.
