Rigging is done at polling units, stop blaming INEC — REC

The Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Kano State, Abdulsamad Abdu Zango, has said electoral rigging is largely perpetrated at polling units by political actors, rather than by the commission.

Mr. Zango stated this on Thursday at a one-day stakeholders’ engagement on “Strengthening Electoral Engagement for Peaceful 2027 General Elections in Nigeria,” held in Kano.

Reports say that the event was organised by Mambayya House, Aminu Kano Centre for Democratic Studies, Bayero University, Kano, in partnership with Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society, Abuja.

Delivering a keynote address, which was represented by Sulaiman Alkali, INEC Director in Kano, the REC said political actors were often responsible for manipulating election results at the polling-unit level.

He said INEC had no power to alter election results once they had left the polling units.

“Most of this rigging is done at the polling-unit level. That is the problem we are having.

“If a particular candidate is very popular in a particular area, whether you like it or not, there might be attempts to rig the votes of that particular polling unit.

“I think the party agents have to do more in safeguarding those votes. INEC does not even have staff to engage in rigging. All the electoral staff are ad hoc. They are people engaged to do the election work,” he said.

Mr Zango therefore urged political parties and their agents to take greater responsibility for protecting votes cast at polling units, rather than blaming INEC for electoral malpractice.

Stakeholders seek stronger collaboration

In his remarks, the Director of Mambayya House, Prof. Habu Muhammad, said the engagement was aimed at bringing together stakeholders whose roles were directly connected to Nigeria’s democratisation process.

He said the gathering provided an opportunity for civil society organisations, security agencies, traditional institutions and other stakeholders to exchange ideas on how to ensure peaceful elections in 2027.

“The major reason why we are here is actually to bring together stakeholders on Nigeria’s electoral process, including civil society, the security agencies, traditional rulers and other people whose stake in Nigeria’s democratisation process is direct,” Mr Muhammad said.

According to him, the engagement was also designed to develop mechanisms through which different sectors involved in the electoral process could contribute to achieving free, fair and credible elections.

Mr. Muhammad acknowledged that similar engagements had been organised in the past, but said the persistence of electoral challenges made continuous interventions necessary.

He said past difficulties should not discourage stakeholders from working towards a better electoral system, stressing that lessons from previous elections must be used to improve future polls.

“When we mention the intervention of stakeholders, one thing that you need to ask yourself is whether or not, because the past was doomed, then the present must not act for the future,” he said.

He added that the engagement was ultimately aimed at turning negative experiences from previous elections into positive outcomes ahead of 2027.

“The meeting is aimed at ensuring that our negative past has now been turned to a positive future. That is precisely why we are here,” Mr Muhammad said.

Election is a process, not one-day affair — Al-Habibiyyah

Representing the Executive Director of Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society, Imam Fuad Adeyemi, Alhaji Abdul-Qarni Abdulrazak said the organisation had maintained a partnership with Mambayya House for more than two decades.

He said the partnership had produced several programmes focusing on youth development, elections and anti-corruption, adding that both organisations remained committed to strengthening their collaboration.

“Al-Habibiyyah and Mambayya have been partners for more than two decades. We have run a lot of programmes together on youth, on elections, also on anti-corruption,” Mr. Abdulrazak said.

He said the latest engagement was necessary because elections should be regarded as a continuous process rather than an activity that begins and ends on voting day.

“Election is not a one-day programme. Even though the vote will be one day, it is a process. And if we did not start the process in time, we may have a shambles election,” he said.

Mr Abdulrazak stressed the need for sustained engagement among all stakeholders to ensure peaceful and credible elections.

“For a peaceful election, there must be engagement between all the stakeholders so that we can have a peaceful, transparent and credible election in Nigeria,” he said.

He urged Nigerians across religious, age and social groups to recognise elections as a collective responsibility, saying every citizen had a role to play in choosing the country’s leaders.

“We expect that everybody should know the issue of election. Be it a Muslim, Christian, young, old, you should know that election is everybody’s affair because we must be involved in choosing our leaders,” he said.

Police promise adequate security

Also speaking, the Kano State Commissioner of Police, CP Ibrahim Adamu Bakori, described the engagement as timely, given the approaching 2027 general elections and the expected commencement of political campaigns.

“The engagement is apt because this is the time when we are heading to the election early next year, and the campaign will start in less than 10 days,” Mr Bakori said.

He said peaceful and credible elections required the collective efforts of stakeholders, including academics, security agencies, INEC, traditional institutions and other actors in the electoral process.

“It’s very important and vital, at least, to have this kind of gathering of like minds—academicians, the security agencies, the electoral body INEC, as well as the traditional institutions, who are all here to brainstorm, discuss issues and see a way forward so that we have a peaceful and credible election,” he said.

On the role of the police in ensuring peaceful elections, Mr Bakori said the command would focus on maintaining law and order and ensuring that citizens could exercise their civic duties and responsibilities without threats or intimidation.

“The police will maintain law and order and make sure that everybody exercises their civil duties and responsibilities without having any threats. People of Kano will see security arrangements like never before,” the commissioner said.

The stakeholders’ engagement is expected to strengthen collaboration among key actors in the electoral process and contribute to efforts to prevent electoral violence and promote peaceful participation in the 2027 general elections.

COURTESY: dailynigerian.com