INEC and 2015 Accreditation of Observers:
With regards the 2015 election, the Catholic Bishops received accreditation for JDPC, under the auspices of Caritas Nigeria, its relief and development agency. Contrary to expectations, INEC could not fulfill its obligation of providing enough identity cards to all the approved list of observers, in spite of the extension of six weeks.
For instance, whereas in Lagos State the JDPC planned to deploy 697 observers, as already approved by INEC, INEC could only provide 160 identity cards, and similarly shortchanged Abuja, Warri, Uyo, and towns in Benue. INEC was not able to print any identity cards for Bauchi, Jalingo, Nsukka, Lafia, Kaduna, Kano; all this, after accrediting JDPC and approving 5189 number of observers. INEC refused all entreaties to use alternative means of identification.
We call on the INEC chairman Prof Attahiru Jega to investigate what happened in order to not rubbish the good works he has put into building the credibility of INEC. We need not emphasize the fact that election observation by civil society organisations has the added value of enhancing the credibility and acceptability of election results.
Congratulations to Nigerians: The CBCN congratulates Nigerians for generally conducting themselves peacefully during the elections, for their patience and resilience even into the next day. Hopefully the result will reflect the true choices Nigerians have made. We use this opportunity and counsel all parties concerned with the collation of results to allow for the sovereignty of the people as expressed in the ballot box.
Accepting of Results: We express concern about the results that are flying about in the social media and call on Nigerians to show restraint as this could potentially lead to chaos if released results do not reflect those released on social media. Again we call on all parties concerned to be faithful to the results. We hereby also call on both PDP and APC to accept the result as declared by INEC and make no recourse to violence if it is found unacceptable.
They should enjoin their followers to keep the peace. This is the only country we have and it is everybody’s task to keep it as one. We enjoin the security forces to be at alert and contain any post-election violence, and to be holistic in their approach to security by ensuring that in their attempt to prevent post-election violence, they do not leave the space open for sustained renewed attacks by Boko Haram. Boko Haram is still a serious threat to the peace and security of our land and its people.
Preliminary Report of Incidents:
While our final report will be made later, we make the following preliminary observations based on reports from our observers and other sources:
1. Logistics Issues: Perhaps due to logistic challenges, many observers reported late start of the accreditation process by INEC. Our observers in Abraka, Ethiope East LGA in Delta State, Karu Nasarawa State, Abuja Zones 4, Bende area of Lagos State, Kwajim Magaji Primary School, Kano as at 10.30am accreditation had not yet started. Up to 11 am, there were no INEC officials in FCT Area 10, Lekki, Lagos.
We hope that INEC has learnt enough lessons to not repeat these logistic challenges in the next elections.
2. Card Reader Issues: While card readers gave so much promise before the elections, there appears to have been a general challenge with them; for instance in Nsukka, as reported by our observers, the situation with the card readers was so bad that many polling agents altogether abandoned them and resorted to manual identification of voters in the register, as later directed by INEC.
We call on INEC to properly investigate what really happened after all the assurances given about the card readers.
3. Serious Breaches in Some States: In some States there were serious breaches of the electoral process with the possible collusion of law enforcement officials. In certain cases, no elections took place at all at some polling units, while at least one polling unit was reported for thump printing in Akwa Ibom State with the aid of a security official.
We hope that there will be significant improvement in the next election and some culprits would be brought to book as a deterrent to others.
4. Violent Incidents during the Elections: We were hoping that the use of smart card readers would render useless ballot stuffing and ballot box snatching.
We express serious concern about what will likely happen in Rivers’ State with regards to the gubernatorial elections where the stakes seem higher. We call on security authorities to evolve a special security plan for Rivers State.
5. Prayer for Nigeria: We pray that God will spare Nigeria and make us come out of these elections a better, prosperous and secure nation.
Signed:
1. Bishop Lucius Ugorji, Bishop of Umuahia and Chairman Church and Society
2. Archbishop Ignatius A. Kaigama, Archbishop of Jos and President, Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria.