A.
Preamble:
On
Saturday 9 August 2014, the people of Osun State went to the polls to elect a Governor
for the next four years. Expectations were high, fears of violence and
intimidation had already been built up before this date and different
stakeholders had made pronouncements of decisive processes (short of
proclaiming the famous “do or die”). Outside the state, media moguls who wanted
to make money through news of horror circulated scare news about the state
being under security siege. They informed everyone outside Osun that on the appointed
date, it was safer to be anywhere else outside Osun State and people believed
them. Actually the media moguls were the only one speaking and in the absence
of actual available water, people will trust and drink the mirage in the
desert.
Nevertheless,
the people concerned felt they were ready to go for the elections and indeed
they were.
As a
member of the election monitoring team for “Reclaim Naija”, an organisation set
up to rebuild confidence and competence in the demoralised Nigeria, as an
observer, I was involved in the verification of claims that the elections would
be free and fair.
Because
of the size of Osun State and the high number of polling units, it was
impossible to cover all parts, so we divided ourselves into different groups
each group focusing on different areas of Osun state. My group focused on
Oshogbo South senatorial district and covered every polling station in
Ede LGA.
B.
Our
Mission Specifics
The
observation team for the Osun governorship election was on a mission to
ascertain if:
i.
If voters came out to
vote (high or low turn out);
ii.
If voters were accorded
the dignity and honour of citizens coming to exercise their rights;
iii.
If voters were allowed
access to the voting venues without fears or intimidations (whether on the
basis of religion, gender or creed);
iv.
If materials were
available for the voters to cast their votes;
v.
If the voters voted in absolute
secrecy;
vi.
If the votes cast were
counted in a transparent manner and recorded as counted;
vii.
If the processes were
professionally carried out to the degree of competence that allowed the voters
to vote freely;
viii.
If the processes were
free and fair using the existing legal provisions as basis and international
best practises as major yard-stick
C.
Accreditation
of the Electorate
From
the wee hours of the morning, voters started trooping out and walking to their
polling stations so as to arrive early for the mandatory accreditation process
which preceded the casting of ballots. The fear of danger and violence already
created by the media did not deter voters; they trooped out and walked the distance
to their stations.
Each
polling station visited recorded more than the registered voters. Voters
arrived early and were completely orderly as they conducted themselves and
followed the directions of election staff (which included INEC returning
officers, police officers, civil defence officers and the distant watching army
officers who carried guns). The accreditation process was tedious because of
the turnout but the election officials did their best and helped to smoothen
the processes managing the voters’ expectations with their own competences.
At
some centres, the accreditation was so smooth that officials completed the
processes early and started to sleep while waiting for the allotted hours for
the casting of ballot. This is a pure indication that voters were peaceful, the
processes were orderly and that indeed the logistics for free and fair
elections complemented one another.
Casting
of votes commenced on schedule at the observed stations. Even though some of
the voters who wanted to be the first to cast their votes confused the order of
numbering made during accreditation which resulted into fresh accreditations
before casting and lose of hours, still, the huge crowd understood the confusion
and respected the need for order. The weather was hugely favourable and complementary.
Had climate been unkind, it would have created tension and the crowd would have
been impatient and uncontrollable and the perfect arrangement of the processes
would have been grossly compromised.
D.
Casting
of Ballots
Voting
went very well and orderly in all the polling booths visited. After casting of
ballots, most voters hung around the centres waiting for counting to commence
and in all the polling centres (at least 4 polling centres) where we waited to
experience counting, we witnessed evidence of competent and highly trained INEC
polling officers. The INEC polling officers in charge, (mostly) NYSC member,
conducted the processes competently “by the books” and in less frictional
manners. These officers appeared thoroughly trained and they demonstrated
initiatives to their education and trainings. Every political party representative
on ground was shown what the polling officer would do and why they would do
such. They sought agreements at every stage before proceeding and when they had
completed the processes with party agents, they openly displayed the selection
of ballot paper on each of the party with minimal disagreements from the crowd.
There were few cancelled ballots and few undecided. In all the centres where
counting was witnessed, even the crowd cheered and applauded the polling
agents. Counting was kindergarten style; anxious voters were encouraged to join
in the counting of each ballot paper loudly and jovially which made results
known to all before they were declared. This made every process transparent,
unbiased and acceptable without any controversy.
This was the style and mode of counting in all the
other polling centres briefly visited before the close of the day.
E.
What Went Well
What
went well with this Osun State election were the followings
1.
The voters were highly
motivated and interested in voting
2.
Expectations were high
amongst all stakeholders; voters, political parties, contestants, interested
observers from inside and outside the State, media moguls, Federal Government
of Nigeria and a huge array of other nameless stakeholders which made the
processes exciting and carefully guarded for success
3.
INEC, for the first
time in many decades, demonstrated appreciable level of competence. The
logistic arrangements were fairly well coordinated and delivered. The staffs
were adequately trained and it showed in the ways and manners they conducted
the processes, the early arrival of all ballot related materials and the complements
of the armed forces were very matured and helpful. There was commendable coordination
of everyone and every logistic for the successful conduct. Of course these
observations are important when comparing Osun-INEC-Output with other recently
conducted elections (ala Edo, Anambra, and Ekiti)
4.
The conduct of the
armed forces also requires special comments and reports. They conducted
themselves with utmost professional competences. They assisted the polling
officers where necessary and they stayed apart and watched from a distance
where that was all they could do. In some areas also, they assisted in calming
anxious crowd and used flattery technics to deal with vocal and over excited
voters so as not to aggravate the crowd. They did not destroy my camera nor
shove guns under the noses of observers or voters (none that this observer saw)
F.
What
Did Not Go Well
In
every human conduct, there is always room for improvement. This election was
not different. We observed some processes that ought to have been perfected
over the years. Of special mentioning are:
1. In
most polling centres visited, the crowd was too large making it a challenge for
election officials to coordinate things with ease
2. The
crowded centres recorded a repeat of accreditations before elections simply
because those who were accredited did not know that casting of ballot will
follow the same numerical arrangements as accreditation. Voters rushed at the
polling points and because they were scattered accreditation had to be repeated
before casting
3. The
polling centres with large voters showed the inadequacy of INEC staffs deplored
to these centers
4. 
We
observed leadership tussles amongst polling officers where there are “A and B”
units. This manifested during the counting of ballot papers when one prefers
the counting at a point against the wishes of the other colleagues. Luckily nothing
drastic happened but if the crowd had agitated, there would have been problems
of evacuation of human and material resources and this crucial tussle could
have marred the processes
5. Some
police officers sat or stood too closely to the polling box making it intimidating
for voters to enjoy the air of freedom
6. The
presence of armed forces was highly necessary. It makes the entire polity
militarized and creates fears in ordinary people.
G.
Implication
for INEC and Future Conduct
The
governorship election in Osun State has become a modelelection for INEC as it highlighted
improvement of the election body’s performance. However, this observer noticed
some things that might have serious implication for the future conduct of
elections in the states or at National levels. Perhaps INEC might want to:
a.
Consider having a data
base of Youth Corpers who were trained, used by INEC and who demonstrated
remarkable initiative at the polling stations with the view to using them in
future elections which will require minimal training and to some degree,
greater assurance of competences than relying on fresh graduate. Such data
based can be recalled at moments’ notice and since it is just a weekend exercise,
availability of these experienced human resources might not be too much of a
challenge for them. At least, one will be sure that on an election period,
where INEC’s logistic competence and attention are spread between 36 states
plus Abuja, to a certain appreciative degree, these ones will provide
professional competences at minimum supervisions. This will make INEC look good
and build confidence in people
b.
The military officers
kept at border points of cities, towns and the states were seen hungry and
without food for days. They are the ones allowed with guns to come near polling
booths and the first and last line of defence when ballot papers are rigged. We
did not observe any logistic arrangements that targeted providing succour in
terms of food and drinks to these ones. The army is a force that relies heavily
on logistics, and we saw a lack in this. This observation in Osun means someone
might be playing with the fate of these officers. A hungry officer is very susceptible to compromises and abuse. He could
be paid to look the other way where he should have raised alarm and justify the
reasons for the check points. Perhaps INEC might want to consider a
separate arm of its operation aimed at providing food logistic to everyone
involved in its elections. Just as INEC had provided room for election observers
and had perfected this provision over the years, it might also want to consider
this important complement to credible elections and it is strong enough to mar
the perfectly planned process
c.
Still on the military
presence at elections, there is need for
us to begin to play down on militarisation of elections. We have come to
believe that elections are only secured and or credible when there is massive
presence of military forces on the ground with helicopters hovering in the air.
The recently conducted Anambra State Elections hardly needed any military
presence. Ekiti State Election (2014) had shown us that this is not necessary.
Osun State Election rendered the men in Khaki useless and sleeping on duty
because they were absolutely unnecessary and bored. With these three instances,
there is need for policy makers to review the speed at which they unleash the
ruthless dog of military into civilian polity during elections and turn a
democratic process into militarised election.
d.
Perhaps this is an
individual officer’s behaviour but INEC might want to add to its training
manual, the fact that police or any law enforcement officers need to move far
away from the voters’ stands when ballot castings are going on. We noticed
overzealous officers sitting so uncomfortably close to a voter. This is internationally regarded as “might
provide” a sense of intimidation of the voter. Conscious training in this
direction might make everyone involved in the electoral processes to be aware
of any form of intimidation that could mar the processes
e.
Similar to the above,
we observe journalists, observers moving too dangerously close to the casting
podium. These elections were meant to be secret ballot style. What is secret
when my cast is broadcast on television and or seen by an observer who is meant
to report that I had my election in absolute secrecy according to the spirits
and provision of the law?
f.
In polling centres that
have “A” and “B” leadership should be properly defined before INEC staff are
deployed. We observed a couple of situations where some official recommended
sorting of the ballot papers and counting them at a more strategic and crowd
controlled point but the other over-zealous colleagues insisted on another
point which allows them to be the hero of the crowd. The implication of this is
a minor situation of ego resulting into a mess that is absolutely unnecessary
but which is made to mar an intensively prepared process
Once
again, this observer’s conclusion is that the election that took place in Osun
was largely free and fair and can be seen as commendable and a good indication
that INEC as an electoral body has stepped up beyond the conduct of previous similar
elections in recent times. Nonetheless, Osun, and the few previous ones are pockets
of isolated elections that had global focus on it at the same time. Can INEC
record such evidence of stepping up in a nationwide election that has 36 states
going to the polls at the same time? Can (voters/Nigerian) expectations meet
(INEC) preparedness and competence in the forthcoming national and states
elections in 2015? Indeed, the same 2015 will provide answers to that.
