My first physical encounter with Prof Attahiru Jega, the INEC chairman, took place on Saturday, December 6, 2013, at Ugbegun, Esan Central local government area, Edo state, at the burial of former president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof Festus Iyayi who was murdered by the reckless convoy of Kogi state Governor Idris Wada.
I relocated to Edo state for about a week to join other activists, comrades and public-spirited compatriots from all over the country to give our slain brother-in-the-struggle “a befitting burial”. On the day of the funeral, we were singing solidarity songs at the tomb of Iyayi when I noticed a tall, good-looking man wearing a white Hausa gown called “babariga”. Without being told, I recognized Prof Attahiru Jega.
During the interment, Prof Jega neither uttered a word nor exuded emotions, except the occasions he exchanged pleasantries with other sympathizers. I could see a well-mannered, quiet and decorous person who did not easily give in to the vicissitudes of life. My admiration for him soared immediately.
It was therefore not surprizing to me when Jega exuded equanimity on Tuesday, March 31, 2015, when Mr Godson Orubebe sought to undermine his hard-earned reputation with baseless allegations of bias and compromise during the collation of the presidential election results at the International Conference Center, Abuja.
After the successful conduct of March 28 presidential election applauded by Nigerians and the international community, the reputation of Prof Jega improved remarkably. However, the respect presently accorded to the INEC chairman may be short-lived owing to his worrisome disposition towards the evident, widely-reported and verifiable compromise of the INEC in Akwa Ibom state led by Mr Austin Okoji, the state resident electoral commissioner.
It is sickening that, despite the public outrage trailing the fraudulent conduct of the presidential and National Assembly elections in Akwa Ibom state, the INEC chairman does not deem it pertinent to respond, even laconically, to the concerns and grievances expressed by the state residents, political parties, the media, election observers and other Nigerians. One is tempted to ask whether the INEC chairman has a special interest in Akwa Ibom state.
Despite the petitions sent to the INEC chairman by the concerned, particularly those of the leading political party in the state, the APC, there is still no indication that the leadership of the INEC has given a fair hearing to their pleas.
It is true that politicians do make baseless allegations against the staffs of the commission for political gains. However, it does not mean there are no bad eggs in the commission. According to the results of the presidential election in the state presented by Prof James Ekpoke, the state collation officer, Akwa Ibom state had 1, 644, 481 registered voters. Out of them, 1, 074, 070 voters were said to have been accredited, while 1, 017, 064 reportedly voted. The PDP was said to have scored 953, 304 votes, while the APC allegedly scored 58, 411 votes.
I wonder where the INEC has got such alarming figures. It is not acceptable that the results were not announced until about 10 a.m. of Tuesday, March 31, 2015 (three days after the conclusion of the election in the state). Also, Prof Jega had to stand down the announcement of the results by the state collation officer due to discrepancy in the summation of the results until the figures were reconciled.
During the March 28 election, the eligible voters were denied their franchise due to the INEC premeditated refusal to provide the ad hoc staff with the relevant election materials, especially the result sheets. In the majority of the polling units, voters waited endlessly and to no avail for the arrival of the ballot papers and result sheets. In some places, elections actually took place but there were no result sheets. In other places, the appointees of the state government went about with the police and military escorts harassing voters and steeling the materials.
For example, a serving commissioner in the state went about with the police and military escorts hijacking the materials in his local government. In the process, he reportedly shot dead Richard Frederick Okon, the APC supporter from Mbierebe Akpawat community in Ibesikpo Asutan LGA. This report has been neither denied nor investigated by the security agencies. It was later discovered that the materials were taken to the Village Hall in Nung Udoe, Ibesikpo LGA. Thousands of ballot papers cast for the APC were withdrawn. The APC agents then took custody of the withdrawn ballot papers. Evidence showing this was published by the Sahara Reporters.
The rigging was so carelessly conducted that the result sheets were not even supplied to the polling unit of the APC gubernatorial candidate of the state, Mr Umana Okon Umana, in Nsit Ubium LGA. The story was the same in most parts of the state.
The Premium Times has published a shocking video of the INEC staff colluding with the PDP agents to thump the ballot papers in the public during the last election in the state. We have also seen plenty of manipulation and fraud during the last poll in the state.
Surprisingly, the INEC leadership led by Prof Jega has not deemed it proper to investigate these documented and cogent facts of massive rigging of the electoral process. At the moment, the state is literally in flames due to the fear that Mr Austin Okojie, the state resident electoral commissioner, whose actions and inactions smacks of partisanship will still be the one to oversee the forthcoming gubernatorial and State House of Assembly elections in the state.
The opposition has accused Mr Okojie, among others, of lodging in Davok Hotel, Ewet Housing Estate, Uyo, owned by Mrs Ekaette Unoma Akpabio, the state governor’s wife. Dr. Ime Umanah, a prominent statesman, went further to give the specific room numbers (268/269) in the hotel where the resident electoral commissioner (REC) was said to have stayed. Moreover, he revealed that upon discovery of the location, the REC was moved out of Davok Hotel to Le Meridien Ibom Hotel and Golf Resort by the state governor.
Late in the night on Sunday, April 5, 2015, the information concerning Mr Udom Emmanuel, the PDP gubernatorial candidate in Akwa Ibom state, having a meeting with the INEC returning officers at R & R Restaurant went viral on the social media. The returning officers were allegedly offered N150, 000 each for “delivering” during the presidential and National Assembly polls with a promise that each of them would receive additional N500, 000 if they “delivered” during the gubernatorial and State House of Assembly elections.
The fact of the nocturnal meeting was revealed by one of the returning officers (a lecturer). Akwa Ibom state correspondent of one of the national newspapers has confirmed that he drove along the Babangida Avenue, where the meeting allegedly took place, and saw hundreds of vehicles and people at two places including the R & R Restaurant at the time the meeting allegedly took place.
These are serious allegations that shouldn’t be underestimated by the INEC chairman. At the moment, the reality is that the state resident electoral commissioner cannot be trusted to conduct the credible poll on April 11. He has become too controversial and embattled to be accepted as an umpire.
This is the same REC that refused to accredit local journalists in the state claiming that they were working for the opposition. It took three days of vigil at the state INEC headquarters by insistent local journalists before the REC bowed to pressure and accredited them.
So why is Prof Jega still silent and unconcerned about the precarious situation in Akwa Ibom state? Is Akwa Ibom state not significant to be warranted a decisive action by the INEC chairman? Are the facts and reports of compromise against the state REC not credible enough to justify the proper reaction of the INEC chairman? Definitely, there is more to it than meets the eye.
I humbly advise Prof Jega to make sweeping changes in the commission before April 11 elections in the country. It is only right and expedient for the INEC chairman to redeploy the RECs and other senior officials of the commission in the states where the March 28 poll was marred by irregularities and controversies. Anything short of this may spell doom on our nascent democracy and may tarnish the reputation of the commission.
The media, human rights communities, local and international observers should take note and follow closely the worrisome situation in Akwa Ibom state. Prof Jega should rise above any primordial consideration and defend the integrity of the INEC and the electoral process in Akwa Ibom state.
The time to act is now!
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