PVC harvesting: INEC, IGP blow tough to hunt vote-buying-politicians
…Reject inducement through vote buying — INEC Chairman
…Says buying of PVCs diabolical
…Our men are on intelligence mission to arrest vote buying politicians — IG
…Says money-politicians poorly perform, recouping election spendings their priority
Joel Oladele, Abuja
As the 2023 general elections is fast approaching, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba and other security stakeholders have talked tough to hunt politicians indulging in the act of vote buying during elections and electorate who use their Permanent Voter Cards (PVC), as a money making tool.
This, they disclosed during a One-Day Stakeholders Summit on addressing the influence of money on the 2023 General Elections held in Abuja on Monday.
Speaking at the event, the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said the summit became necessary as the Commision is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the menace of vote buying is brought to the barest minimum.
According to him, vote buying poses a great threat to democracy as it may make it difficult, if not impossible for candidates with the genuine interest of the citizens at heart to win elections.
“We are gathered here today to address a matter of serious concern to most Nigerians. The negative role of money in elections goes to the very heart of our democracy. It destroys the very basis of democratic elections which is that citizens should freely choose those who exercise power on their behalf.
“It renders the emergence of the right candidates for positions extremely difficult, undermines fair electoral adjudication, and destroys the professional and independent conduct of INEC officials and other public agencies involved in elections. Even more worrisome is the high prospect that criminal money may find its way into our elections through money laundering.
“Above all, the pernicious use of money tremendously increases the likelihood of election violence due to a ‘win at all costs’ mentality among contestants who would have invested a fortune in the election.
“Surely, election is not a business venture for profit. Instead, it is an application to serve the people with the understanding that they may prefer someone else on one occasion. But then, there would be an opportunity to reapply after four years. citizens’ choices must never be subverted by the negative use of money,” Professor Yakubu said.
Speaking further on measures put in place by the Commission to nip vote buying in the bud, Yakubu said apart from other measures introduced in the past, which include; banning of smartphones and other photographic devices by the voters in the voting cubicle, the services of other stakeholders are now being engaged to bring about a positive result.
He said, “Understandably, many Nigerians have demanded to know from INEC what the Commission is doing about the deleterious influence of money in elections, particularly the diabolical purchase of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) from voters ahead of the election and vote buying at Polling Units on Election Day.
“Over the years, we introduced a number of measures, including the slight reconfiguration of our Polling Units to bring the ballot boxes closer to the voting cubicles to discourage the exposure of the marked ballot papers by voters to vote buyers. We also banned the use of smart smartphones and photographic devices by voters in the voting cubicles. Yet, these measures have recorded limited success.
“Today, we commence yet another initiative to sanitise and strengthen our electoral process. We believe that in dealing with the corruption of our elections by money, the Commission cannot do it alone. To succeed, we must mobilise every relevant national institution to support our effort. We must rely on the professional and other capacities of cognate agencies in our determination to improve electoral administration in Nigeria.
“That is why we appreciate the collaboration with the Police, the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as well as the regulatory bodies such as the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON).
“We welcome the assurances of full collaboration, commitment and partnership of these agencies to credible elections based on their statutory responsibilities. We look forward to their initial ideas about how to deal with the problem when they address us shortly.”
He added that the Commission is aware that legal provisions and the actions of the agencies are critical, but will not be enough to completely root out the deep-seated cancer of corrupt money in elections.
He, therefore, urged citizens to reject inducement to sway their votes through vote buying.
He stated they must engage effectively in stopping the negative use of money in the electoral process generally by reporting cases to INEC and other agencies.
“In addition, civil society organisations should make this a major plank of both their pre-election and election observation activities. Financial institutions, religious organisations, traditional institutions, the media, civic bodies and, above all, citizens must also join in this fight,” he said.
The INEC boss again used the opportunity to remind Nigerians of the Commission’s unwavering commitment towards conducting a free, fair and credible 2023 general elections not minding stepping on toes.
“Let me once again reassure Nigerians that we are determined to ensure a solid election management system and a legacy of credible elections in Nigeria. We believe that every conscientious Nigerian wants us to do so. As a Commission, we harbour no illusion that it is going to be easy to root out the negative influence of money on our elections, but we are determined to tackle it.
“We fully realise that today’s initiative will not go down well with people who may not be committed to the growth of our electoral system and the consolidation of our democracy. We expect them to fight back. There will be both covert and overt pressure, countervailing actions and even threats by these vested interests.
“I wish to reiterate that our loyalty is to Nigeria and our allegiance is to Nigerians. We are committed to working with the collaborating agencies to see that this initiative succeeds in the 2023 general election and beyond.
“Let me reiterate the Commission’s resolve to continue to employ both technology and administrative measures to strengthen Nigeria’s electoral process. I assure Nigerians that preparation for the 2023 General Election is on course and we shall not be swayed from that course.
“Be assured that the BVAS has come to stay. Electronic transmission of results has come to stay. Public display of Polling Unit results through the IReV has come stay. With today’s initiative, the elimination of the negative use of money in our electoral process will be tackled head-on,” he said.
Also speaking at the summit, the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba who was represented by the Assistant Inspector General of police, Bala Ciroma commended INEC for convening such a meeting and promised an unalloyed support of the Nigeria Police towards ensuring credible elections.
Bala added that apart from electoral violence, thuggery and snatching of ballot boxes, one key issue affecting the credibility of elections in Nigeria is the use of money to try and tilt the outcome of the elections, with consequential negative effects.
“Some politicians spend huge sums of money to get elected to office. Thus, their priority in the office having been elected is to recoup the money they spent during the election.
“The consequence of this is that those elected provide poor governance and deny the public the benefit of good governance, as they most likely are not the best candidates.
“When elections are influenced by money, credibility of the process is questioned. This leads to rancour and the possibility of violence after the elections,” Bala said.
Speaking on legal framework, the IGP said the extant laws and statutes have made provisions for monitoring the sources of income for political parties, expenditure and sanction for the violation which are all enshrined in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigerian and the electoral Act 2022 (as amended).
“Concerted efforts are being made by the Nigeria police as the lead agency in electoral security management to ensure that the use of money is not allowed to influence the 2023 general elections or at least ensure that this menace is brought to the barest minimum.
“We will achieve this in synergy with sister security agencies, anti-graft and intelligence agencies and other stakeholders. The result of this synergy has started yielding positive results as a lot of arrests have been made especially of persons buying voter registration cards as prelude to rigging the elections.
“Some political thugs have also been arrested and are being prosecuted in courts of competent jurisdiction. We will also ensure that the police X-squad, intelligence officers and investigators are moved to the field to ensure that politicians moving on election days with tonnes of physical cash for vote buying are apprehended and dealt with according to the provisions of the law.”
He also revealed that intelligence officers have been deployed. The officers will get embedded in the crowd during political rallies to identify with precision persons encouraging or perpetrating violence.
“Let me state again emphatically that the use of money during the 2023 elections is unacceptable and we will do all we can within the confines of the law to bring offending persons to book.
“Therefore, all hands are on deck and all the relevant security agencies are in synergy on this. We intend to provide a conducive atmosphere.”
Other speakers at the summit include Chairman, Inter-party Advisory Council (IPAC), Engr. Yabagi Sani; the Director General, National Broadcasting Commision (NBC), Balarabe Sheu; the Director General, Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, Chairman; Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, Chairman; Independent Corrupt Practices Commision (ICPC), Prof. Bolaji Awosanoye, amongst others.
Recall that recently the buying and selling of PVCs has generated much reactions.
However, INEC has said that politicians cannot bypass the Bimodal Voter Registration System (BVAS) technology by purchase of PVCs.
INEC National Commissioner, Festus Okoye in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politic, described the alleged plans by politicians to manipulate the 2023 general elections as efforts in futility.
He said, “The BVAS will be used for the accreditation and authentication of voters come 2023, and it will reject biometric data of persons who are not original owners of the traded PVCs.
“In terms of any politician, bypassing the BVAS, I want to tell you that that will not happen, that is an impossibility,” he added.
Recall that the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) and the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) had decried politicians buying PVCs from poor voters to manipulate the next elections.
However, Okoye described as ‘an impossibility,’ the plan by the desperate politicians who are already harvesting PVCs to rig the next election.
He insisted that it is an electoral offence to be found with a PVC that belongs to another, noting that security agencies have the responsibility to go after such individuals and prosecute them.
“Some politicians are very optimistic, they normally plan for the rainy day; they are still thinking that there is a possibility that they can beat the BVAS that we are going to use for voter accreditation and authentication, but their exercise will be an exercise in futility.
“Anybody who is purchasing a permanent voters card is just engaging in an exercise in futility. The only thing any person can do is to make sure the voter does not vote on election day, but for you to come to the polling unit on election day with voter’s card belonging to someone else, and you attempt to vote with it, that is an impossibility, the BVAS will not capture your fingerprint,” Okoye said.
