(a.k.a Transition Monitoring Group) ‘A Coalition of Human
Rights & Civil Society Organizations’
Report of the conference organised by Transition Monitoring
Group (TMG) in collaboration with Democratic Governance for Development
(DGD/UNDP), “Towards the Governorship Election in Ekiti and Osun States:
Proffering Practical and Timely Solutions Ahead of the 2015 General Elections,
Held on 3rd April, 2014 at Fountain Hotel, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.
BACKGROUND The importance of stimulating a much needed
synergy that will proffer practical solutions towards solving some of the
problems that basseted our electoral system in recent times could not be
over-emphasized. To this end, TMG in collaboration with the Democratic
Governance for Development (DGD) department of the United Nation Development
Programme (UNDP) convened stakeholders in a one-day conference with the theme,
“Governorship Election in Ekiti and Osun States: Proffering Practical and
Timely Solutions Ahead of the 2015 General Elections”.
The conference was convened to explore multi-level strategic
input and support for the electoral process towards the conduct of credible
polls in Ekiti which is considered to define the direction as well as set the
tone for 2015 general elections.
OBJECTIVES OF THE CONFERENCE INCLUDES To stimulate solution driven engagement of INEC by citizens and
other stakeholders towards improvements in the conduct of Ekiti, Osun
and the general elections in 2015. To facilitate a
platform for citizens and stakeholders to address issues of common concern
around the conduct of elections To
harvest across board; workable solutions that factor-in Nigeria’s
electoral peculiarities towards improving transparency in the conduct of
elections. To harmonize essential inputs into INEC
planning towards Ekiti state election. To facilitate citizens and
stakeholders collaborations towards improving the electoral process
OPENING FORMALITIES: The conference kick started with a
National Prayer which was rendered by the participants at exactly 10.00am after
which it was officially declared open by Comrade Zikirullahi Ibrahim, the Chairman
of the Transition Monitoring (TMG). In
his opening remarks, he said he was delighted to welcome participants to the
meeting and also privileged and proud to have representation of all relevant
stakeholders who he said will be opportune to freely interrogate the challenges
of conducting elections in Nigeria, reflecting on the past experience and chart
a new course for better and more responsive elections in the future.
He articulately presented TMG’s documented election findings
and data through which the dwindling fortunes in citizens’ participation was
authoritatively proved as follows: voter turnout during the Kogi state election
of 2011 was 35.1% , Adamawa election of 2012 was 37.5% , Bayelsa (2012) was
*71.4% (seriously questioned), Sokoto (2012) was 29.9%, Kebbi (2012) was 52.5%,
Cross River (2012) was 37.0%, Edo (2012) was 44.4%, Ondo (2012) was 39.7% and
most recently, Anambra (2013) was26.9% (As recorded in the TMG Quick Count
Database, 2011-2013).
CENTRE FOR CIVIC EDUCATION
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TMG Chair, further blamed lack of interest in governance by
citizens on various factors including but not limited to; bitterness arising
from previous poorly conducted elections, bad leaderships, Security concerns,
lack of civic awareness and inadequate citizens’ mobilization amongst others.
Overall, the evidenced lack of transparency in Nigeria’s electoral process
leaves much to be desired.
He admonished political parties to keep in mind that
ultimate power resides with the people as they intensify effort on their various
political campaigns in Ekiti, adding that until the people are adequately
educated, sensitized and encouraged to participate in the process, the outcome
may not be far from what obtained in previous elections. The burden of
responsibility according to Zikirullahi is also on CSOs to intensify citizens
mobilization and education via civic and voter education.
He said the media also have a key role in this regard even
as the security operatives and other important partners in the democratic
struggle should continue to show patriotism and work towards providing the
enabling environment and a level playing field for all to participate.
The conference which was widely attended also have in
attendance, members of the academia, representatives of CSOs, Media, Social
media experts, People Living With Disabilities (PWDs) Political Parties as well
as Development partners.
GOODWILL MESSAGE A goodwill message was offered by Ms Biodun
Ayoola on behalf of the Democratic Governance for Development (DGD) Director,
Dr. Moutarda Deme who was conspicuously absent at the meeting. In her goodwill
message, she expressed her delight for the massive turnout of participants at
the conference. She believe that Ekiti election will actually set the tone for
the 2015 general election while admonishing participants to proffer far
reaching suggestion and recommendations that will help election management body
improve in its operations.
The representative of the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) Chairman, Mr. Paul Ayaeze while given his goodwill message on
behalf of the commission chairman emphasized the need for intending voters to
take part in the CVR exercise before the election par see. This he said took
place in both Ekiti and Osun States ahead of the forthcoming elections in the
two states.
Mr. Jide Ojo of IFES reiterated the fact that INEC should
ensure that every registered voters are issued permanent voters cards within
the little window of opportunity available before the elections in the two
States. He also clamored for a way forward towards having a credible election
in 2015. He believed that all stakeholders should do their bits by owing it a
duty by contributing their various quotas to a successful election in 2015. He
rounded off his talk by saying that each should teach each other.
Mr. Francis Madugu who represented National Democratic
Institute (NDI) at the conference during his goodwill message emphasized the
need to create benchmarks for our elections in Nigeria which he said NDI was
effectively committed to fostering credible elections in Nigeria. He said the
turnout at the event is indicative that TMG has taking its rightful position in
the scheme of elections in Nigeria.
The Chairman of Inter Party Adversary Committee (IPAC), Dr.
Yunuza Tanko was full of appreciations for the kind of support availed by the
development partners to electoral stakeholders so far in Nigeria. He identified
credible election as one of the key features of
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election. He further said that conducting free and fair
election must follow due process. According to him, he said when votes are not
counted, hope is lost and such government cannot be described as government of
the people. He further reiterated the need for fairness and justice when
deciding electoral litigations and also emphasized on campaign strategies that
are issue based. He concluded by urging participant to cultivate habit of
peace, eschew violence and stop seeing election period as time of war.
OUTCOME OF THE SYNDICATES/GROUPING SESSIONS The conference
was structured as syndicate conference, having over 160 participants grouped
into five syndicate sessions which included: 1) Security concerns and citizen
mobilization; 2) Monitoring and reporting electoral party primaries and
campaigns; 3) Distribution of Permanent Voters Card, transfer and replacement
of voter’s card; 4) Engagement of the electoral processes using ICTs for
increased Transparency; 5) INEC Logistics and Security of Election
Material; and due to popular demand by
the participants, a sixth syndicate was convened that addressed voter and civic
education. Their suggestions/observations and recommendations are contained
herein below.
1) INEC Logistics And Security Of Election Materials
Major issues identified
Insufficient Personnel Funding
Sabotage Over centralisation Security Transportation Training
Recommendations: 1. Materials should be distributed on time
and at the same time; should be accompanied by security officers, party agents
and election observers. 2. INEC should intensify staff training on how to
handle election materials and equipment.
3. Election materials/equipment (like vehicles) should be test-run ahead
of time to avoid the eventuality of equipment breakdown; 4. INEC should
exercise their oversight function and ensure that political parties and other
stakeholders are carried along in all their activities. INEC should expend the
funds allocated to it by the Federal Government to carry out its oversight
functions. 5. There is need to advocate for adequate funding for INEC 6. INEC
should decentralise the distribution of election materials so as to take it
closer to the Polling Wards. 7. Security
personnel should be deployed to all polling units, not only to urban
areas. 8. Stakeholders and service providers
that sabotage INEC’s efforts should be prosecuted and punished
accordingly. 9. INEC should train more
than enough personnel required to handle election logistics so that in the
event that trained personnel have cause to opt out along the line, INEC is
still able to make replacement with less difficult ahead of the Elections. This
takes care of about 10% redundancy. 10. INEC should do some mapping of
difficulty terrain (hard to reach areas), if such exist in Ekiti and Osun, in
order to make provisions specifically for such uncommon situation. 11. INEC
should explore the deployment of INEC official vehicles from neighbouring
states of South West and Headquarters in Abuja who are not conducting any
election so the forthcoming Ekiti and Osun elections have enough vehicles to
move materials.
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12. INEC should improve or acquire expertise on logistics
handling. INEC should explore providing insurance cover for security, Election
Day observers and other electoral stakeholders. 13. Security agencies should be
trained on the disparities between election policing and violence policing 14. Welfare of the ad-hoc staff should be
taken seriously by INEC. They should be transparent to let all personnel know
about their entitlements.
2) Engagement Of Electoral Processes Using Ict For Increased
Transparency
Recommendations: 1. Information should be transferred to
home videos, jingles and caller tunes for ease of access by the citizen on
public enlightenment; 2. Frequent town hall meetings should be organized to sensitize
prospective voters 3. INEC should provide feedback mechanisms especially via
text messages to influence citizens’ participation in the process; 4.
Interpreters on media (e.g. television programmes and news) and trainings
should be employed for interpreting to the deaf. 5. A link should be
established between the INEC National, State and Local offices 6. Stakeholders
should be trained and sensitized on carrying out voters education 7. ICT
programmes should be organized for younger generations to saturate them with
adequate information prior to their voting age 8. New media should be
mainstreamed into traditional media (e.g. town criers) for adequate information
in local content.
Recommendation On Use Of ICT For Pre And Post Elections 1. A
forum should be organized to harvest electoral contents from citizens 2.
Accredited social media reporters should be mobilised for instant report of
data processing 3. Vibrant resource centres of bandwidth should be established
to run a Google earth facility 4. Rapid Survey should be conducted to identify
major areas of needs, especially voter’s education. 5. Clarity on and/or
legality of electoral process coverage 6. INEC should develop easy-to-access
application that harmonized information and database from different levels
(national, state, LGA, community)
Recommendations On Use Of ICT For Litigation In Court
(Increased Transparency) 1. Training of judicial staff and security agencies on
the use of ICT in accepting evidence 2. Evidence Act should be amended to be
more accommodative of forensic evidences
3) Monitoring And Reporting Political Party Primaries And
Campaigns
Observations Political parties
commenced campaigns ahead of the stipulated period Political Party Primaries
lacked transparency Lack of understanding of the electoral laws by the CSOs
and the aspects of party primaries to observe. The need
to interogate composition and nomination of party delegates. Activities of
political thugs is on the rise in Ekiti State and political corruption
especially the abuse of state resources
Power of incumbency.
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Recommendations: 1. Parties should ensure internal democracy
and expose corrupt practices leading to selection of party candidates 2. There
should be an enforcement of the law to ensure the compliance of parties with
ceiling for party primaries / campaign spendings 3. To address corruption there
is need for indepth sensitization of the citizens for them not to be induced by
money bags. 4. Monitoring of party primaries should be all encompassing by
CSOs. 5. There is need for CSO representation at all meetings of political
parties as it will help in stopping all the indentified issues on corruption,
violence etc 6. Capacities of CSOs should be built on electoral laws and
observation of political party activities 7. Party officials or political
parties should declare their assets before the primaries/campaigns
On Party Campaigns group members observed that: Political Parties in Ekiti State failed to obey regulations
regarding commencement date for party campaigns almost all scrupoulously commenced
campaigns and intallation of billboards ahead of the stipulated period. Violence during political party campaigns is on the increase;
There is also observed recklessness by motorist and motorcyclist during party
campaigns; Abuse of state resources and not providing level playing
field for all political parties; Observed use of
uncomplementary, vulgar or deregoratory languages by party candidates.
Recommendations on Party Campaigns: Political
Party campaigns should be issue-based rather than antagonising other
parties Security personnel should be fully engaged in
all party campaigns to forstall breakdown of law and order There should be clear
demarcation boundaries for political parties of where they should conduct their
campaigns to avoid unnessary clashes with other parties and they should
deceased from holding campaigns on the same day. Campaign
posters are so much littered everywhere that they cause environmental hazards;
therefore political parties should ensure they clean up the environment
by getting rid of their posters after their campaigns. Political
Parties should sign a bond with security agencies ahead of each campaign to ensure
no violence of any kind. Media should ensure balanced reportage of the
campaign activities and results. Media
should comply with the NBC regulations regarding party campaigns and allow
equity to prevail.
4) Security Concerns And Citizen Mobilization
Security Challenges Identified Security
of INEC officials and ad-hoc staff during elections Security of voters Improper conduct by political parties
Inciting attitude of voters/supporters Movement of electoral materials during
elections Poor commitment of INEC to protecting integrity of the electoral
process Performance of government in power
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Lack of independence of the security
forces Lack of neutrality of security forces Inciting judicial
pronouncements and rulings on election matters Lack of respect for judicial
pronouncements by politicians and the electorate Security of election
materials How the electorate and INEC staff can
identify authentic security agents Mandate protection
Recommendations: There should be
reward for good work in order to encourage citizens and punishment of offenders
to serve as deterrent to others with motive of perpetrating similar
electoral offences. Committed security personnel should be
identified and engaged to provide security during elections. Civil Society
should be engaged in advocacy especially to security agencies Involve
the electorate in security of the electoral process Good and
constant communication between INEC and security agents INEC should establish
a front desk for electoral complaints Provision of adequate security to
hotspot zones Avoidance of late voting and late counting Sensitization of political leaders to avoid selective empowerment
(it is identified that poverty is a constituent factor for youth involvement in
electoral fraud; therefore, government should be committed to empowerment of
the citizens. The empowerment should cut across board, not only to a
selective segment of the society). Video cameras
should be installed at all voting desks for monitoring of elections.
Issues Affecting Citizen Mobilization Low level of voter education Poor women participation Language barrier Unhealthy conduct of politicians Bad conduct of
party agents Religious and cultural barriers Inter-party crises
Cumbersome process of recalling elected representatives Poor
leadership/governance Limited electoral officers
Recommendations INEC should
engage private marketing firms to assist in sensitization of the citizens ahead
of the elections Establishment of effective volunteer offices where citizens
can offer volunteer services in sensitizing their communities INEC should employ the use of SMS for confirmation of voting status
Use of CBOs for education of the electorate Engage religious organizations
in the process of voters education Continuous sensitization of citizens by
INEC Engagement of disabled persons and women organizations Good governance should be recognized by leaders as a tool for
effective citizens engagement
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Provision for the aged, sick, and
pregnant women at registration centres or polling units. Simplification
of party manifestos for easy understanding Use of
local languages for engaging electorate in the process of voter education
Simplification of process of recalling electoral representatives
5) Distribution Of Permanent Voters Cards Transfer And
Replacement Of Voter Card
Recommendations: 1. In addition to the seasonal continuous
voter’s registration, INEC should conduct (CVR) in their various offices so
people can walk in freely and be registered.
2. INEC should improve on their Automatic finger Identification system
(AFIS) 3. INEC should do more publicity on the dates, and other process of CVR
& ensure adequate collaboration with CSO’s
4. INEC should provide capacity building for their staff on ICT to
enable all INEC staff to be ICT compliant 5. INEC should publish on their
website all the polling units and let the people at the grassroots know where
the polling units are located 6. INEC should improve the welfare of their staff
especially those staff conducting the CVR process to avoid been influence by
corrupt persons 7. INEC should conduct a training on self-esteem and values
settings for their staff to avoid being influenced by corrupt persons 8. There
is a great need to provide room or canopy for potential registrants during CVR
process to avoid them standing under the sun especially nursing mothers, people
with disability, Albinos etc. 9. INEC should increase days of collection of
permanent voters card at least one week and ensure proper decentralization of
the process
6) Civic And Voters Education Recommendations: As a result of Lack of awareness by citizens in their civic
responsibility; timely civic and voter education is very necessary. INEC
should endeavour to update its voter education manual by accommodating such
important features as how to thump print ballot papers. Civil society and Political parties should develop programmes on
voters/Civic education. Voters education should be carried out in local
languages ahead of the state elections as well as the 2015 general election.
Efforts should be intensified on media
engagement by election stakeholders, particularly the use of electronic
media
Conclusion TMG will put all the compendium of
recommendations into a book form and share with all the stakeholders.
TMG National Secretariat No 5, Abdurrahman Mora Street, Kado
Estate, Abuja - Nigeria P. O. Box 11312 Garki-Abuja. Tel: 234-07025403819,
08140439415 Email: secretariat@tmgng.org, tmgabuja@yahoo.com Blog:
www.tmgnigeria.wordpress.com, Twitter: @TMGNig,
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TMG UNA WELLDONE WELLA WELLA.
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