Okey Ndiribe
25 April 2007
opinion
Lagos — THE situation at a polling booth located at a primary school close to Girls High School, Azuiyiokwu, Abakiliki during last Saturday's presidential and National Assembly election was like a family affair. At the end of polling for the day, the presiding officer at the polling centre had handed over a heap of thumb-printed ballot papers to PDP agents to " help me count them". Two policemen who were on duty watched indifferently as the drama went on. The polling officer's explanation for his very strange action was that he did not want to waste time counting the ballots papers alone, as he did during the previous week's gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections. Earlier on, many voters at the same polling booth were disenfranchised by these same polling officials.
Voters who wanted to vote for their various presidential candidates were frustrated when they were told by the presiding officer and the polling clerk that they had exhausted ballot papers for the presidential poll. When queried on why he had exhausted his stock of ballot papers for the presidential poll, the presiding officer said the polling centre was only allocated 300 ballot papers for the presidential contest; 300 for the senatorial poll and only 100 for the House of Representatives election. He further stated that the number of registered voters at the polling booth was 460.
Earlier on, it was learnt that a man who was believed to be a fake AC agent had entered a classroom with a PDP agent who had fresh ballot papers. Shortly after counting of votes began, VF looked for the man who had earlier on introduced himself as an AC agent. He had disappeared into thin air!
The irregularities which characterised the elections last Saturday were legion. It was a repeat of what transpired during the governorship and state House of Assembly elections in the state penultimate Saturday. For instance, Vanguard learnt that a man who had gone to vote at Sharon located near the NYSC camp, Abakaliki was told to go home without voting after his thumb had been marked with INEC's indelible ink. The man's protests were said to have fallen on deaf ears as 'a big politician' in the state who was in-charge of affairs at the polling station told him to simply go home and be rest assured that his vote would count.
It was also gathered that polling officials at Arondizuogu Hall located along Afikpo road initially refused to count the votes cast at the end of both elections. When they were asked what was their reason, they gave no explanations. However, they were eventually pressurised to declare the result. PPA had 82 votes while PDP scored 38 in the presidential poll.
Earlier on, there was a mild drama at the same booth when a man who was hailed as 'honourable' arrived the polling booth to demand that some ballot papers be given to him to take to another polling booth where there was serious shortage of voting materials. However, his request was refused by the polling officials who told him to go to INEC and make his complaint.
There was an observable high voter apathy during the election. Unlike penultimate Saturday when voters began to arrive various booths as early as 8a.m. in the morning, only few voters were sighted even at 10 a.m. when voting was scheduled to start. In addition to this, INEC officials still arrived late at their duty posts in various parts of the state.
There were no INEC officials at Ezzamgbo- Governor Sam Egwu's home town- up till 11.30 a.m. The popular Okwor Market in the area was filled with buyers and sellers like any other market day- an indication that the election attracted little or no interest from the people of the area. Reports received from Ngbo East, Ngbo Central, Ngbo North and Ohaukwu local council areas of the state showed that the situation was the same. At Amuzu-Ezza, INEC officials arrived at the Community primary school there at 11.35 a.m. at the same time with Vanguard. At Amegu-Echara, in Ikwo Local Government Area, voting also started late.
It was also gathered that fighting had broken out between Omege and Abaomege communities. Although the cause of the inter-communal dispute was not clear, it was learnt that violence erupted in the area after the governorship election of penultimate Saturday. Sources in the area said three people had been killed in the conflict which some people believe has a political undertone. Soldiers were also reported to have cordoned the INEC office in the area to prevent hoodlums from gaining access to it.
Reports from many other parts of the country showed that the poll was marred by serious irregularities and violence. Cases of irregularities included hoarding and snatching of ballot papers and boxes. It also included under-aged voters alongside intimidation and harrasment of voters. There were also attacks by political thugs.
Reports from Katsina State indicate that there was political violence which resulted in deaths of several persons in Daura, hometown of the presidential candidate of the ANPP Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd).
The widely reported attempt by unknown persons to bomb the headquarters of INEC at Abuja was another incident which shocked many Nigerians across the country. The plot was foiled after a truck fully loaded with petrol was found close to the entrance of INEC headquarters with a heavy stone tied to the accelerator pedal in the driver's chamber. Although no one was found inside the truck, the tanker was said to have been stopped when it ran into barriers and a power pole which prevented it from ramming into INEC's headquarters. INEC officials said the purpose was to burn down the building.
In Oyo State, the situation was highly charged as soldiers arrested 51 hoodlums suspected of perpetrating electoral fraud. Forty of the thugs were reportedly nabbed at some villages in Lagelu Local government area of the state for allegedly forcefully thumb-printing ballot papers and stuffed ballot boxes in some polling stations located at Kiree and Eleruko villages. The thugs who were believed to be members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) had invaded several polling stations in the area leading to a situation where the ballot boxes in both villages had been filled by 10 a.m. Some of the INEC officials on duty were also arrested along with the hoodlums. At Igbo-Elerin area of the state, 10 hoodlums were arrested for electoral mal-practices. Despite the presence of the heavily armed soldiers and anti-riot policemen, a big time politician in the state was said to have personally led political supporters round the city to ensure the politician's son who was a candidate in the election was voted into office.
At Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, there were intermittent explosions believed to have emanated from bombs dropped at Marine Base Area of the city. The bombing was suspected to have been carried out by militants in the state with the aim of instilling fear in the voters and thereby discourage them from coming out to cast their votes.
The situation in Anambra State remained very tense last Saturday. In Orumba North Local Government Area of the state, 50 anti-riot policemen accompanied by 20 soldiers stormed the local INEC office in the area and carted away all the ballot boxes and papers shortly after they had been delivered by an INEC team from the state capital. In Nassarawa State, nine police officers were reportedly killed in an election violence which shook Lafia the state capital to its foundation last Friday. On that same day, Goodluck Jonathan, Bayelsa State Governor and running mate to Musa Yar'Adua- narrowly escaped assasination as militants in the state nearly overran the Government House after they had sacked the Police headquarters at Yenagoa, the state capital.
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