INEC worries abouy Violence threat in Kogi, says REC

Dr. Gabriel Longpet, the Kogi State Resident Electoral Commissioner, discusses many connected matters with GBENGA ODOGUN, including the INECC’s readiness for the state’s governorship election on November 11.

You voiced worry about the low number of PVCs being obtained. Has anything changed prior to the PVC collection deadline?

The deadline for collecting PVCs was October 9, but that day has passed. In Kogi State, we found that there were 128,000 uncollected PVCs. The commission decided it was a good idea to allow more people to claim theirs by coming forward. Those who asked for a transfer and those who vandalized their cards made up the bulk of those impacted. Since then, we have proceeded, and regretfully, after just four weeks, we were unable to provide additional PVCs to individuals. Potential voters didn’t show up to cast their ballots. In four weeks, just roughly 20,000 of the 128,000 were gathered.

In certain regions of the state, there have been threats of violence. Do you find this concerning?

Indeed, I am worried, but I also can’t turn a blind eye to what’s going on in my immediate surroundings. Nonetheless, I am aware that there are legal guidelines that specify what the public and politicians should do, and that breaking the law has legal repercussions. My role is to provide the rules and necessary framework and to converse with people as I have been doing on radio, television, and other forms of communication; I do not have the authority to make arrests. People need to be aware of the legislation, and they shouldn’t run for office wearing masks.

For example, in order to allow political parties to launch a successful campaign or gather votes, there should be no firearms, no use of thugs, no use of harsh language, and all government agencies should be on high alert. This would ensure that November 11th is a nice occasion. However, the security agencies should be handling what has been occurring and what we have heard. All I can do is let them know what the politicians are doing and are not doing, and then let them take it from there.

What is the Independent National Electoral Commission’s stance regarding the usage of electronic results transmission on election day?

I find it incomprehensible that after the previously provided explanation, individuals are still asking the same issue. The results are uploaded from polling places after they are recorded on form EC8A and BVAS, which is used to extract the party scores from form EC8A and send them by I-REV to the collation center. There is no electronic transfer of results. That is an additional degree of openness that INEC is attempting to implement. People were accustomed to results being tampered with before they reached the collation centers in the past. To help the collation officer in this instance, the actual result has already been transferred and is accessible on the I-REV. They will review it, compare it to the physical result that will be brought in person to the collation center, and determine whether there are any discrepancies. Although he (the collation officer) is not required to collate that result, it is acceptable provided it corresponds with the result sent by the I-REV. Therefore, while INEC does not explicitly state that results would be transmitted electronically, results from polling places will be uploaded to the collation center.

Prior to this election, a number of topics that touched on the election were thoroughly examined at stakeholder meetings, but that hasn’t happened this time around. Is this the case?

That is untrue. Recently, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, who was present, and representatives of the National Commission for Voters Education met with leaders of media outlets in Kogi State as well as civil society organizations. We also hosted discussions with political parties and stakeholders. The last gathering we had with political parties was, I believe, on the 12th of this month when we formally gave the voter registration forms to each and every registered political party running in this election. We also used these forums to implore politicians to follow the law when it comes to campaigning and gatherings. Meetings for stakeholders have been held with a variety of groups, including women, youth, and other groups. Thus, discussions have not ended.

What preparations have you made for regions near rivers and locations that might flood during the election?

We have sufficient preparations in place. Officers from headquarters visited us earlier to evaluate our registration area centers (RAC centers), which are where our materials will be stored until election day. In addition to identifying potential flood zones, we have also developed plans to move polling sites and centers to higher elevations so that voters can cast their ballots there. One of our voting locations, Ganaja Primary School, for example, flooded the previous year; this year, we anticipate a similar situation. We have substituted arrangements. Our RAC center in Ganaja has been moved to a higher location, and the Chairmen was notified of this last week when they visited. In order to guarantee that no one is denied the opportunity to vote, procedures have been established.

To what extent have the security authorities assured you about the election?

We have the Inter Consultative Service on Security, or ICES. We just had one; it’s with the police, with the Commissioner of Police serving as the co-chair. As the Chairman, I am joined by representatives from the DSS, Army, Immigration, Civil Defense, ICPC, EFCC, and other agencies responsible for maintaining security. We have determined which locations are most likely to provide security issues.

The committee is trying to make sure we have enough security, along with other agencies. We have also located a region similar to Bagana where conflicts arise between farmers and herders. Where people used to reside is no longer where they live. We have arranged for their transfer to more secure locations so they can vote. There are impacted polling places in Bagana; nonetheless, we have taken the necessary precautions to guarantee that voters don’t feel afraid to cast their ballots.

The same is true for regions like Kupa and Egon; access to these areas requires passing through the states of Kwara or Niger. We have enough plans in place to make sure that, in the unlikely event that we are unable to transport the supplies by road, we will still be able to get them there via helicopter. We are in communication with the Air Force to explore the potential of using their aircraft to help us access those locations. In an effort to lower the likelihood that our ad hoc workers will need to travel and incur additional dangers, we have also started training polling officials who live in such locations.

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The delay in paying ad hoc workers’ allowances is one of the issues that typically arises from their use. Has that been resolved?

Here in Kogi, we did everything we could to make sure that everyone who ran for office in February got paid. Regretfully, you have a variety of bank accounts these days, including O’pay, Palmpay, Kuda, and others. The Nigerian Central Bank does not recognize them. These accounts are not accepted when money is deposited into them. Another factor is that people utilize their relatives’ accounts, which do not match up with the accounts of those who participated in the election.

To get alternate bank accounts, we need to give them a call back. We searched over our records after learning last week that we had not paid 57 ad hoc workers, and we found that some of them had been paid using different bank account information. To make sure they had been paid, we asked them to print out their account statements. However, this time only legitimate bank accounts will be accepted instead of O’pay and Palmpay.