Jega
ANAMBRA ELECTION; PROFESSOR JEGA, INEC CHAIRMAN’S INTEGRITY AT STAKE.
……as he refuses to address Obiano’s double registration.
By Ebuka Ndigwe
When the news broke that the candidate of the All progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Willie Maduachi Obiano, had violated the Electoral Act by registering twice as a voter and that certain Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials had been financially induced the manipulate voters’ register database, the news was quickly dismissed by APGA and her candidate as mere falsehood. Many people were taken in by the APGA’s tissues of lies that Obiano did not register twice but merely transferred his voter registration from Lagos to Anambra in line with the provision of Section of Section 13(1) of the Electoral Act which permits a person who before the election is resident in a constituency other than the one in which he was registered may apply to the Resident Electoral Commissioner of the State where he is currently resident for his name to be entered on the transferred voters List for the constituency. Our major concern however is not with the lies being told to deny that Willie Obiano’s registered twice, but the grave implications of the actions of INEC officials in manipulating their records to conceal this obvious commission of a crime.
The facts must therefore be put in the public domain, as they go a long way in showing how it will be difficult to vouch for the integrity of the Voters’ Register INEC intends to use in conducting the election a well as INEC’s impartiality in the forth-coming gubernatorial elections. We challenge INEC to disprove the facts we are about to present.
On Wednesday, November 30, 2011 about noon Willie Maduabuchi Obiano was registered by INEC as a voter at Junction of Ramot Oluwakemi Street/Sainab Street (Polling Unit Code 060), in Ifako/Soluyi Ward in Kosofe Local Government Area (LGA) of Lagos State. He was given Voter Identification Number 90F5B12B01296204172.
During the Continuous Voter Registration conducted in August, 2013 by INEC in preparation for the gubernatorial election in Anambra, Willie Maduabuchi Obiano, applied to INEC on August 24, 2013 to be registered as a voter. In support of the application Willie Maduabuchi Obiano who gave his address as No. 1 Chief Willie Obiano Street, Aguleri, declared that he had not been registered as a voter before.
In reliance on this representation, INEC on the same day (21/08/13), registered Willie Maduabuchi Obiano, as Voter at Eri Primary School, Otuocha in Anambra East LGA. On the same day Willie Maduabuchi Obiano, was registered as a voter nine (9) other persons were also registered as voters.
On October 12, INEC consolidated the revised and updated voters’ registers with the 2011 voters’ register for all parts of Anambra. For example, the Eri Primary School 2 Polling Unit with a total of 432 registered voters was printed on 12/10/13, same for Obukwu Square I Unit in Anaku in Ayamelum LGA (Anambra State), St. Charles School Achina, in Aguata LGA (Anambra South), and Eziora Village Hall 2, in Anaocha LGA (Anambra Central).
Strangely, despite having consolidated the revised and updated voters’ registers with the 2011 voters’ register for all parts of Anambra State, INEC purported to have consolidated the revised and updated voters’ registers with the 2011 voters’ register for only the ward where Willie Maduabuchi Obiano, registered on October 16, 2013, the very same day INEC organised a Civic Exercise for all the political parties and their gubernatorial candidates. In fact the printout for Polling Unit 004 (Obiano’s Polling Unit) is the only Unit out of about 4,000 Polling Units in Anambra State whose voters’ register was printed on October 16, 2013.
As at October 12, 2013 when INEC carried out the consolidation of the voters’ registers, there were 377 in Polling Unit 004, in Anambra East. In the voters register printed on October 12, 2013 Willie Maduabuchi Obiano’s picture appeared twice in number 246 and 247 at page 17 with VIN Nos. 90FS812B88377091121 AND 90FSB15E7D378200332 respectively. Willie Obiano therefore has three Voter Identification Numbers; VIN No. 90F5B12B01296204172 (issued in Lagos on November 30, 2010), VIN No. 90FS812B88377091121, issued on August 21, 2013 in Anambra and VIN No. 90FSB15E7D378200332 issued on September 3, 2013.
INEC issued two voter’s card to Obiano, in addition to the earlier voter’s card issued to him when he registered in Lagos in 2011. In the Voter’s Card issued to Willie Maduabuchi Obiano with VIN No. 90FS812B88377091121, issued on August 21, 2013, his Polling Unit was given as 01/01/01/001, while in the Voter’s Card with 90FSB15E7D378200332 issued on September 3, 2013, his Polling Unit was given as 04/03/11/004.
It must be pointed out that when INEC did a solo reprint of the voters register for the Polling Unit on October 16, 2013, the number of registered voters whose data appeared therein mysteriously dropped to 376, i.e. one voter less than the real figure of 377 of the registered voters in that register. Notwithstanding this, the total still read 377 even though there 376 pictures and details. It was evident that a voter’spicture was hurriedly deleted from the register without balancing it with the total number of voters’ strength on that register.
Interestingly, INEC used Willie Maduabuchi Obiano’s case as an example of ‘Sample Unintentional Double Registration’ in the manual it produced for the exercise. As if to justify its sordid role in the effort to suppress the truth about Obiano’s double voter registration despite glaring evidence to the contrary. According to INEC, Unintentional Double Registration occurs where ‘in most cases, the person is unaware of the opportunity to make correction to mistake(s) in age, occupation, gender, etc in previous registration; or is unaware of the transfer window’.
This definition we must point out is a term that is not provided for in the Electoral Act. Section 12(2) of the Electoral Act makes it offence for any person to register in more than one registration center or register more than once in the same registration center. Section 12(3) stipulates that any person who contravenes the law shall be liable “on conviction to a fine not exceeding N100,000 or imprisonment.”
Clearly, the Electoral Act does not make any distinction between ‘Intentional’ and ‘Unintentional’ double registration sought to be introduced by INEC. It is a well known principle of law that ignorance of the law is no excuse. Assuming without conceding that INEC, is right in making the differentiation, a look at the Obiano’s bio-data in the double registration shows that Willie Maduabuchi Obiano was born on August 8, 1955, is a male and a banker. What then is the error/mistake sought to be corrected in the double registration?
If indeed as claimed by INEC, Obiano unintentionally registered twice so as to correct an error or mistake, why did he have to apply for a transfer? There are grounds for believing that Willie Obiano may have colluded with some unscrupulous INEC officials to tamper with and/ or manipulate INEC records to give the impression that Willie Obiano applied for the transfer of his voter registration from Lagos to Anambra. If indeed this was true, one wonders why the INEC training manual earlier referred to, failed to mention it but rather sought to excuse it as an ‘unintentional double registration’.
Another question is why INEC will try to excuse Willie Obiano’s double registration as ‘unintentional’ even in the light of his declaration in the INEC CVR Application Form that he has never been registered. The electoral process must be built on trust and integrity. The actions by INEC portray it as a body that cannot be trusted to conduct a free and fair election as it already colluding with one of the candidates to cover obvious breaches of the law with criminal imputations.
Surprisingly Professor Jega who is known for his no nonsense stance on anything that bothers on his integrity has kept mute since the outbreak of Obiano’s double or triple registration scandal points to the fact the he is part and parcel of the the cover up. It is worrisome that he is condoning such obvious and glaring violation of the electoral act and the law of the land. This, questions his impartiality in up coming up Anambra election.
We therefore call on Chairman of INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega, as well as the requisite law enforcement agencies to conduct a preliminary investigation into this matter to avoid the integrity of the electoral process being eroded.
Maxibeats 