It is not in any doubt that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been educating the Nigerian public on reforms it introduced to make our elections, more credible and reliable. The Electoral umpire, not only introduced voter accreditation using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation scheme (BVAS), but had gone ahead to explain the advantages and how it works. With such explanations, the Nigerian public can establish the parameters for measuring the activities of the Electoral management body at the end of the elections.
Not only would it be possible for the measurement of the INEC operations, members of the public, as well as the leadership of all the political parties and members of the National and international media are satisfied that INEC has set their parameters right and that if they walk their talk, then the 2023 general elections will turn out to be the most reliable, credible, free and fair elections conducted in recent years in Nigeria.
Not only did INEC introduce BVAS, it has also complemented BVAS with I-Rev, a real-time online election results viewing portal aimed at permitting members of the public, political parties, the media and all interested parties view results of the elections real-time as they are being sent from the Polling Units. If INEC keeps to their set parameters, it would be easy to assess the commission’s performance and attach scores to such. What this shows, therefore, is that INEC is prepared to allow the electorates, the Lord and master of the Nigerian State, to appreciate and understand what it doing, rather than taking to the old order of making the conduct of elections seem like a cult activity, made known to only the initiated. And all these because, the electoral umpire is aware of expressed public opprobrium against it, especially in the period when it hired some university Vice-Chancellors as Returning Officers, but who unfortunately, allowed the same tendency to want to promote industrial actions, stunting the progress of their students, also be the same path of our electoral process. Recall that some of these Vice-chancellors, had shamelessly rigged elections and had adopted all manner of subterfuge, including asking for rulers, more light, extra light and had so much shamelessly mutilated election results, that one begins to wonder if it was just the peanut amount they were bribed with that propelled them to unabashedly do what they did.
With the introduction of BVAS and I-Rev, INEC has shown that it is prepared to reform its operations for the better and that it also wants to operate a more sincere, open process that can be measurable by discerning mind. This translates to the fact that the management of INEC have show they have shame splashing on their faces and so, would not want to weat such as toga for the rest of their lives. They want to live a legacy upon which posterity will judge them for ever.
It is this same recommendation we make for the nation’s security forces. It is not in any doubt that Nigerians are aware that our security forces are not just a bad example what it ought to be, but have been at the head of electoral violence and malpractices. Nigerian had expected the National Security Adviser (NSA), the Service Chiefs and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) as well as heads of all the para-military agencies to spell out their own reforms going forward in this 2023 general election. But, alas, they would not. They dare not, because they have nothing new to introduce.
Our security forces are too reactionary and have remained so, making members of the public express so much doubt if they are going to operate differently during this oncoming 2023 general elections. What is when worse are the series of allegations made against our security forces with not just still photographs but with video recording, which their leadership so shamelessly denied as being untrue.
NewsdeskAfrica wishes to remind the headship of the various arms of our security forces, especially the Police, designated as the lead security agency in electoral matters as well as the Military (Army, Navy and Air Force) that we feel so ashamed each time we see our Generals telling lies barefacedly on the television. Each time they do this, they make us hide our heads in shame, because even our kindergarten children, ask us questions concerning the meaning of integrity to our security forces and we can’t answer such questions, unfortunately.
We would therefore advise our security forces, that even though they don’t want to disclose their pattern and general moule for providing security and ensure that so-called hoodlums, hired killers and political thugs don’t hold sway, they must remember that they have God to account to.
If we use what always happen in Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Imo, Lagos and Kogi during elections as parameters to score them, they would get a grade of F-9. It is so sad that we saw Deputy Inspectors-General of Police, Military Chiefs of equivalent rank and others of high-ranking stature in the paramilitary, address press conferences over how hoodlums attacked polling units, polling centers, homes of party chieftains and other innocent Nigerians, disrupting elections, maiming or even killing people without any solutions whatsoever thereafter.
It is disheartening that our security agencies have not been able to resolve why criminals are always ahead of them in operations where billions of tax payers money had been spent to provide for them, yet, those negative things that happened before during elections, repeat itself, over and again. It is a shame to say the least and only shows that our security forces are either hand-in-gloves with the criminals who perpetrate such hideous act, or they simply pocket the money made available to them as election allowances and simply sit arms akimbo and allow those despicable things happen.
Otherwise, We would like to see our security agencies, not just address press conferences claiming they nipped so-so and so crimes in the bud (oftentimes fabricated), but they should arrest the plotters, investigate and take them to court, almost immediately. We believe that before any security agency addresses the press on any security matters, they have the facts on their hands, otherwise, they should not grandstand as had been the case, taking credit for this they are very far from.
We would like a situation whereby security agencies are posted on this forthcoming electoral duty with clear-cut responsibility. Crimes cannot just be committed, especially electoral crime and no security office pays the price for the laxity. It is the continued management of our security agencies without responsibility attached that make them carry out their duty without shame and any modicum of the fear of God, especially when it comes to doing nothing when hoodlums disrupt elections.
If the nation’s security agencies enforce the partial curfew imposed by law across the country on the day of the elections, how come so-called hoodlums invade polling stations with vehicles, shooting sporadically and yet escape without either being gunned down or arrested? Do they simply disappear into thin air?
Nigerians would want to have the 2023 general elections without any of such stories. Now that the security forces have had their modus operandi explained to them, did they put in place their own version of BVAS and I-Rev to nip in the bud, activities of so-called hoodlums? Otherwise, we would conclude that hoodlums attacking during elections are mere Jabcob’s voice and Easy’s hand, which God Almighty will certainly call those responsible to account even if Nigerians would become too small for those concerned to respect and account to.
