Why we haven’t announced dates for Ekiti, Osun gov polls —INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) has declared that the Anambra State governorship election, fixed for November 18, would go on as scheduled, despite threats to disrupt it by a separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). The leader of the IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, warned that elections would be boycotted in the South East states, starting with the Anambra State gubernatorial elections if the Federal Government fails to hold a referendum for the realisation of the State of Biafra. While addressing a crowd of protesters in his father’s compound in Abia State, he had said: “If the Federal Government does not agree with us on a date for referendum, there will be no elections in the South East. We are starting with Anambra; come November this year, there will be no governorship election in Anambra State”.
But in this interview by TAIWO AMODU, Rotimi Oyekanmi, Chief Press Secretary to the chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, told Saturday Tribune that the commission will not alter its plan for the election, despite Kanu’s outburst. He also spoke on the preparations for the forthcoming governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states.

I am sure you are aware that IPOB has said that it would not allow the Anambra State election to hold. How is INEC taking that threat?

Well, as far as we are concerned, our timetable for the Anambra election is on course and we are going to go ahead with our plan. We aren’t worried about what any group or person is saying. And, of course, you and I know that it is the responsibility of the Federal Government to provide security during elections. So, as far as we are concerned, our plans to hold the election will go on.

But in the event that the threat becomes real and your commission cannot disregard or discountenance it, what would be the next step?

You know that normally we have a platform that involves all the security agencies in this country. So, we meet from time to time and it is a tradition that INEC convenes this meeting and assesses the situation. As far as we are concerned, we have confidence in the government to provide security and I am sure that there is no threat that the Federal Government cannot deal with.

How prepared is the national electoral umpire for the Osun senatorial by-election, billed for next Saturday and the subsequent governorship elections in the state and Ekiti State?

We are prepared. But you know that election is a collective thing. We have been making our preparations. As you are aware, just like the timetable for the Anambra election, we are following through in our plan and I am sure that, in due course, we will announce the plans for Osun election and we are fully prepared. It is an overall thing. We have 2019 plan and we are also preparing for the other elections.

What about your plan for Ekiti?

That’s what I am saying; we are preparing for all of them, well ahead of time. Of course, we knew issues that can come up during elections; it isn’t something that we are aware of, but we would have met our projections, make preparations and we are on course for these elections.

When will the commission unveil the timetable for the Ekiti and Osun states governorship elections?

Very, very soon.

How soon?

You know normally, we just announced date for Anambra. Anambra is November, I am sure that very soon, that for Ekiti and Osun will also be made public.

Are there emerging challenges as you prepare for Ekiti and Osun elections?

Not any that I am aware of and we don’t foresee any. You know, for every election, it is a different experience and we have enough experience in INEC to deal with any unforeseen situation. There is no challenge that will come now that we aren’t prepared for and we have experienced personnel to take care of any challenge that would come. In every election that we have conducted, we do everything possible to correct lapses.

What is the update on INEC investigation of the alleged double registration against the Kogi State governor, Alhaji Yaya Bello?

You know we have said something and what we said was that this governor has immunity now and you cannot prosecute him. But with regard to our own internal thing, we shall take decisive action when investigations have been concluded. Our own internal investigation about our own staff, whether there was connivance or not, that is ongoing and by the time we come to the conclusion, Nigerians will be told. But for the governor, he enjoys immunity and I cannot dabble into that now.

Are there challenges INEC is trying to address with regard to the ongoing Continuous Voters’ Registration (CVR)?

Well, there is good news and there are challenges. The first thing is that because people think that the process is like before; that it has an opening and closing dates, they are rushing to be registered because some feel that it is fresh registration. Some other people feel that, ‘oh, it will be like before’; that the exercise will close before elections and all that. But what we are telling people is that it is going to be a continuous exercise. That’s one.

Two, there are three options considered. We considered the polling unit option. But is very expensive and we couldn’t afford that. We considered the registration area option which is equally expensive and we cannot afford that too. So, what we can afford within our budget is registration at local government areas. So, that’s the thing and because that’s the issue, people are now compelled to go to those local government area headquarters and register.

But as time goes on, I am sure for Anambra for instance, we are going to have a special arrangement to go down to the registration area level before the election so that more people can register. So that’s the way it is.

But apart from the initial challenges, I think we have registered over one million eligible voters, all over the country since we started the CVR. I think by the time people realise that it is going to be continuous, the queue will thin out and more and more people would be coming out to register.

But how are you addressing the misgivings by the Senate over the exercise?

I am sure that by the time the Senate gets the information from us and looks at our estimate with regards to either the registration areas, or the polling unit level, then they will appreciate what it will require. We are ready to do that, but we need adequate funding and it is going to cost a lot of money to get to the polling unit level. It is the best; we have over 100,000 polling units across the country and using that will take the process nearer to the people, which is the best option.

But it is so expensive to do that in terms of personnel, the new machine we need to buy, the security agents we need to also deploy and the ad-hoc staff. We will require over one million ad-hoc staff to deploy to polling unit level and that’s going to cost a lot of money, even paying them N1,000 per head is going to cost a lot of money running into billions and we just cannot afford that.