NAN-H-91
SIECs
Abuja, Feb. 15, 2018 (NAN) The Independent Service Delivery Monitoring Group (ISDMG) says that State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) cannot conduct credible elections due to lack of autonomy and funds.
ISDMG’s Executive Director, Dr Chima Amadi, who briefed newsmen on Thursday in Abuja, said that governors starved SEICs of funds, adding that the commissions should be strengthened for efficiency.
He said that it was wrong to blame Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the recent incident of under-age voting in Kano State as the election was conducted by SEIC.
“ISDMG’s attention has been drawn to the circulation of several videos, which clearly show under-age persons engaging in vote rigging at a clearly marked polling unit in the just concluded Kano State Local Government elections.
“The resultant hue and cry and the pointing of accusing fingers at INEC show a huge gap in the literacy of voters on the Nigerian electoral process.
“It also shows the different roles and responsibilities of the election management bodies at different levels.
“ISDMG wishes to reiterate that there are two recognised election management bodies in the country – INEC and SIEC.
“The two bodies are as their names imply ‘independent’ at the levels they operate, INEC at National and SIEC at States.’’
He said that INEC did not have the legal mandate to conduct elections into local government councils except in the FCT.
According to Amadi, the videos in circulation are from recently-concluded council elections in Kano, Delta and Ekiti states conducted by SEICs.
He said that ISDMG, in her advocacy, had always called for true independence of SIECs such that democracy at the grassroots could be fully participatory by citizens.
He said that the group was amplifying the call for electoral reforms in line with the proposal of the Forum of States Independent Electoral Commissions (FOSIECON) of 2015.
“We also strongly condemn the actions of state governors and Houses of Assembly for arbitrarily rescheduling local government elections without due consideration of the provision of the Act setting up SIECs.
“We also condemn the sack of State Independent Electoral Commissions chairpersons and commissioners by some state governors for failing to deliver 100 per cent success in the local government elections.
“On the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), INEC is mandated by Section 10 of the Electoral Act to provide for continuous registration of all persons who are qualified to be registered.
“This is the first time this provision of the Act is being carried out and ISDMG therefore, encourages Nigerians to seize the opportunity presented by the opening-up of additional registration centres to register,
“This will make them eligible to vote in the forthcoming 2019 general elections,’’ he said.
On his part, Mr Ezenwa Nwagwu, Executive Director, Partners for Electoral Reforms, said that SEICS did not deploy card readers which would have authenticated voter identification.
He said that in many elections conducted by SEICs, the ruling parties always had 100 per cent victory.
The executive director said that there was an urgent need for Nigerians to pay attention to what was happening at the sub-national levels of elections and advocate for reforms.
Ezenwa said that the lean margin with which the All Progressives Congress (APC) defeated Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the supplementary election into Mashi/Dutsi Federal Constituency of Kastina showed that INEC could make a difference.
He said that security operatives should also take the blame for not guarantying the security of lives and property in the conduct of local government elections.(NAN)
CJ/OPI/OPI