This is a personal story. It is also the story of millions of Nigerians who may not have a voice.
I have been properly registered to vote since the days of Maurice Iwu as INEC Chairman. But not even once have I voted as an adult Nigerian – despite my best efforts. On some occasions, I have joined hundreds of other eligible voters waiting to cast our votes on election day. But electoral materials and officials either did not show up at all or arrived very late. On one occasion, I was unable to register at a polling station near my abode because registration arrangements were too shoddy and rowdy. I easily registered close to my office but it was too far to get to on election day – with restrictions to movement. In effect, I have been systematically disenfranchised as a Nigerian citizen all of my life.
Determined to vote in 2019, it took months of trying and seven attempts to successfully apply for transfer to a polling center near my current residence. That was in August 2018. Even then, when PVCs were available for collection, I was asked to travel 27 kilometers to get mine. That was how I was denied my voting rights in the 2019 elections.
On July 25th 2022, I decided to make the long trip to reclaim my voting rights. I drove 27 kilometers to the place where I was told my Voter’s card was waiting. When I arrived, I was told my PVC could not be found. I was told my card was either omitted in print or misplaced for delivery and I must apply for a replacement. I promptly did so. My accurate details are on the latest Electoral Register published online by INEC. But I am yet to obtain my PVC to date. INEC’s promise to make the PVCs available by end of November 2022 did not materialize as scheduled. I have just read in the news that they will be available from December 12, 2022 to January 15, 2023. If experience is anything to go by, it will be a miracle if half of all registered voters get theirs in that time frame. These are forms of voter supression, which gain multiplier effect as they gebrrate voter apathy.
Will INEC be right to deny anyone voting rights on account of her own failure to deliver PVCs even though such persons have complied with ALL other lawful requirements to vote?
By insisting that voters must present their PVCs to be allowed to vote (“according to the electoral law”), Prof Mahmoud Yakubu has wittingly or unwittingly opened a window for electoral manipulation by criminal elements within the political parties and INEC. He has chosen the letter of the law over the spirit (and intendment) of the law. He has chosen technical justice over moral and ethical justice.
The Nigerian Supreme Court under Justice Tanko Muhammed took a similar path in deciding several landmark cases. For that, the court has earned a place in infamy among both legal experts and ordinary Nigerians. As a professor of History, Yakubu must know to avoid that path.
It is a well known and documented fact that by ensuring that PVCs meant for certain demographics and zones do not get to their rightful owners, election outcomes have been unrighteously influenced in Nigeria since the First Republic. When certain political personages boast about having “structures,” that is part of what they mean. It is an evil enterprise, thriving with moles inside INEC ranks, which Prof Yakubu will do well to take note of and move decisively against.
Quite recently, several media reports and online videos have emerged showing thousands of PVCs dumped in bushes and roadsides, buried underground or found in the holding facilities belonging to individuals with links to politicians. In other instances, PVCs belonging to, say, Cross River State have ended up in Sokoto State while those meant for Lagos State have ended up in Bornu State. Yet in other instances, INEC offices have been reportedly set ablaze by “unknown persons” leading to loss of countless PCVs (among other assets) stored in those facilities.
These are no logistic accidents, mistakes or coincidences. They are deliberate acts by agents of political parties, working with proxies within INEC, to influence election outcomes by suppressing votes in opposition strongholds or among suspected opposition sympathisers. Voter Suppression looms large in election manipulation in Nigeria, yet to date, no one is known to be standing trial for these offences. Clearly, the demons tormenting Nigeria have not yet given up.
Since INEC cannot guarantee that ALL PVCs will be delivered to their rightful owners before the elections, the onus is now on affected, well-meaning Nigerians to join hands and approach the courts for judicial intervention before the gains of the last few years are frittered away by agents of retrogression.
In truth, since voter registration is biometric (uses unique human features which cannot be faked), it should be possible for a registered voter who did not receive his PVC to vote without hindrance (using his PVC number) since his or her biometric details are resident with INEC and can be securely retrieved and verified online upon physical appearance at the polling center.
Banks can verify customer BVNs once the numbers (or fingerprints) are made available. Telephone networks can verify customer NINs likewise. They do not require the presentation of any card. Both BVN and NIN use similar technologies as BVAS. They are biometric, with data warehoused in central servers and accessible online by authorized persons only using appropriate protocols. They are designed to secure owners’ assets and prevent wrongful access. Therefore, PVCs are vital but should not be the only means of authentication in our peculiar circumstances.
To subject the ultimate efficacy of advanced biometric technology to a manual operation at the end point is like having a computer and using it strictly as a typewriter! Or having a smart phone and using none of the smart features. It is suboptimal and counterproductive.
Clearly, the mindsets required to fully operationalize the new laws and technologies supporting INEC may still be lagging. We must now test those mindsets and push necessary boundaries to advance our democracy.
While avowing the electoral umpire’s commitment to conducting the freest and fairest elections ever in Nigerian history, INEC chair Prof Mahmoud Yakubu may be unwittingly handing the enemies of Nigeria the secret code to nullify his own legacy by insisting on the dogma of “No PVC, no Vote.” Unless there is something INEC knows which the rest of us don’t know.
Laws cannot anticipate and provide for every circumstance that may arise in their implementation. Conventions, common sense, wisdom and good judgement make up for the limitations of law and legislation.
The process of improving and perfecting our electoral system does not end with the amended Electoral Act recently signed by the President. All stakeholders must remain open to new, emerging or superior ideas, especially as 2023 approaches. Otherwise, we might win the battles and lose the war to save Nigeria’s struggling democracy.
