The South-East South-South Network
(SESSNet) has been monitoring the ongoing nationwide Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) Personal Voters Card (PVC) Registration processes
with particular interest in how the process is being handled in the South-East
and South-South region.
SESSNet is a civic action
organization comprised of persons from Nigeria’s South-East and South-South,
and focused on creating and sustaining a critical mass of the population to
champion the quest for justice, equity, and good governance in a restructured
Nigeria.
In furtherance of its enshrined
objectives, SESSNet has engaged in continuous understudying, monitoring and
evaluation of the prevailing geo-political and socio-economic environment which
manifests in the injustice and maladministration that besets the South-East and
South-South region with a view to highlighting such issues, proffering
solutions to them and forestalling repeats of actions and events that have kept
the peoples of the twin zones in the pitiable state they have been consigned in
the Nigerian polity.
Reports reaching SESSNet Secretariat
regarding the INEC-PVC Registrations processes from our members and associates
across the various Local Government Areas in the South-East and South-South
region reveal a very flawed process epitomized by amongst other issues:
1. Faulty or non-functioning
equipment (computers and finger-print scanners),
2. Poorly and/or improperly trained
INEC personnel,
3. Arbitrary demands from intending
registrants: demands have included requests for copies of International
Passports to show evidence of not being in Nigeria during the last registration
of voters exercise in 2014 and evidence of employment.
4. Insufficient or non-availability
of either INEC personnel or registration material and equipment in some INEC
Wards.
The problems identified above cuts
across, in various degrees, the 11 States of the S-East and S-South region.
These problems has created widespread disillusion and anxiety amongst eligible
voters in the region due to fears of likely disenfranchisement resulting from
not being able to register within the time allotted for the process by INEC.
The systematic and widespread nature
of the problems encountered in the South-East and South-South during this INEC
PVC Registration process, contrasts sharply with the smooth and hitch-free
registration experienced in the Northern region and give rise to grave
concerns.
In the absence of any other explanations,
this indicates a deliberate and express intention to ensure that likely voters
in the South-East and South-South are disenfranchised.
The current impasse in the INEC PVC
Registration process in the South-East and South-South reminds of the very partial
and pathetic experience witnessed in the region during the 2015 Presidential
elections; when mass failure of INEC Voting equipment (computers and PVC and
finger-print readers) and systemic failure of INEC personnel and material
deployment disenfranchised many eligible voters.
There is therefore palpable
apprehension that this a re-run of the 2015 failings, which may be repeated in
2019 – an early election rigging in progress.
In the light of the foregoing,
SESSNet calls upon the leadership of INEC, as a matter of UTMOST URGENCY, to:
1. Undertake a comprehensive review
of its PVC Registration operations and activities in the South-East and
South-South region with a view to ensuring that requisite equipment and
qualified personnel to man them are deployed across the South-East and
South-South.
2. Streamline the requirements for
documentations for registration across the country such that intending voters
in the South-East and South-South are not subjected to more strenuous
conditions than their counterparts in other parts of Nigeria.
3. Extend the period of PVC
registration process such that intending voters will be able to register on a
continuous basis until one week to the election date.
While we urge all qualified citizens
in the South-East and South-South region to take advantage of the INEC PVC
Registration exercise to ensure they register and collect their PVC’s for use
in elections, SESSNet urges INEC to ensure a level playing ground for all
peoples and parts of the Nigerian Federation to ensure justice, equity and
peaceful conduct of elections.
Finally, we hereby warn that SESSNet
will not hesitate to seek judicial remedy to enforce above demands.
Signed For
South-East and South-South Network (SESSNet)
:
Eze Eluchie Esq
[08175177880]
Kaladi Apiafi
[08033101457]
Tags
Politics