It is frightening that some plastic cards that bear resemblance to the voter cards issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have been found dumped on some streets. With the 2023 General Election fast approaching, such a “discovery” is bound to generate more tension. It is not enough that the electoral body has dismissed it as inconceivable from the angle of its staff. Nigerians want a more definitive response from INEC and the law enforcement agents.
It’s almost two weeks now that the news was picked up by the media and an astonished public, yet, there has been no further explanation on what exactly happened. The commission merely asked to what end would any INEC staff be involved in such an ugly development. It also said the police force was working with it to unearth exactly what happened.
We call on other law enforcement and intelligence bodies to get involved in coming up with explanation on what happened. The first question to answer is if the cards are indeed official Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs)? Second is to whom they belong and from what states. Third, who dumped them and in what circumstances were they thrown away.
It’s not an issue that should be swept under the carpet, if only to engender the confidence of the electorate and the general public in the fidelity of the electoral process. This ugly development is a call to action by all stakeholders to forestall whatever could hamper the conduct of free, fair and credible polls next year.
We expect that, in the next few days, INEC and the police that have started investigating the issue would come up with a full statement on what has been discovered. It should not be treated cavalierly. A lot has happened in the recent past to advert the people’s mind to the evil that could be perpetrated through the ballot box. The nation continues to sink daily due to the poor quality of leadership foisted on her by politicians who managed to ascend the throne either because the voters were careless or perverted the process. Nothing should be dismissed as impossible without due investigation. The Federal Government should particularly take interest in this matter as it impinges on the credibility of the polling process.
President Muhammadu Buhari had declared many times his resolve to sanitise the system. He should therefore give the marching order to the law enforcement bodies to do the utmost in expeditiously coming up with a full, acceptable report. It is good that we have an electoral act that all have accepted as an improvement on the previous one, but Nigerians should not be fooled into believing that the system has thus become perfect.
It is obvious that the problems with elections in Nigeria since the electoral principle was introduced by the colonial government under the Hugh Clifford Constitution of 1922 is not limited to inadequacies of the legal framework. Our politicians have always found ways to break down any bulwark against perversion of the process.
The PVC is one of the features INEC has introduced in recent times to restore the sanctity of our elections. To ensure that the economy bounces back, the security situation engenders restoration of the right to life of Nigerians and corruption is nipped in the bud, competent leaders have to be elected. And, this can only come with the enthronement of the voter as king.
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