The long-awaited Presidential and National Assembly Elections came as scheduled last Saturday.
Many political analysts, as well as local and international observers, have praised the Independent National Electoral Commission’s determination to deliver on its promise to conduct the elections and the courage of Nigerians who, despite the crippling effects of a persistent cash crunch and scarcity of petroleum products in the country, ensured that they turned out to cast their votes.
However, despite complaints of delays in voting, pockets of violence at polling units and the non-functional Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in some polling units across the country, many people have described the process as peaceful while commending the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for doing a good job.
The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the election and described it as “good, smooth and fair.”
Speaking on the late arrival of INEC officials to his polling unit, Tinubu, who cast his vote at Ward 85, Polling Unit 047 at Alausa in Ikeja, Lagos State, said he had no issues with INEC. He also expressed the hope that the election will be free and fair.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, also commended INEC for a smooth conduct of the election as well as security agents for providing effective security. Atiku, who cast his vote at exactly 9:08 am at his Ajia polling units 012, expressed confidence in winning the election.
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu also commended the INEC for the smooth conduct of the Presidential and National Assembly elections.
Speaking after casting his vote at his polling unit in Eyekole Ward, Lagos Island Local Government, Sanwo -Olu said, “As you can see, the accreditation for my wife and I went smoothly. It was smooth and there was no form of hindrance or intimidation.
“We cast our votes. It is right on time and well. I hope it will be the same all over”.
Sanwo-Olu described the turnout at the polls as fair. “The election is peaceful and without any incident as at this time. I hope this will continue,” he said.
Also speaking, the Lagos State Commissioner for Finance, Mr Wale Olowo, commended the people of his ward in the Ebute Metta Area of Lagos for being peaceful during the poll.
Speaking after carrying out his civic duty at his polling unit, Ward 24, Polling Unit 36 in Lagos Mainland, Olowo said that INEC has done well with its conduct of the election.
“We like what we are seeing. The conduct is smooth and peaceful and we are grateful for that”
A PDP Chieftain and former Deputy National Chairman, Chief Olabode George, applauded the INEC over its voting process through the use of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, (BVAS).
George said the use of BVAS had drastically reduced the time spent on accreditation and voting, as well as eliminated other discrepancies associated with the exercise in the country. He lauded INEC on Saturday and prayed that the new system would work to make people’s votes count.
George said he was able to do accreditation and voting within just five or six minutes and expressed the belief that the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that there was free and fair polls was already working, declaring that it was time Nigerians showed zero tolerance for rigging and vote buying and country move to higher heights.
“I got there, and within a period of five to six minutes, I did my accreditation through BVAS, and completed the voting exercise. This system should continue”.
The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Baba, described Saturday‘s elections as the best he had ever witnessed in the country.
Baba, who spoke while monitoring the elections in Abuja, said the polls were generally peaceful and “the response of the people has been encouraging. “
He added: “The provision of security is good. This is one of the best electoral processes I have ever seen. We have done well so far and we are waiting for INEC officials to move to the collation centre. We are on top of the situation.
“It is not true that there was a bomb blast in Maiduguri, we have blast in Borno State. We have made adequate security arrangements over there. We have five injured and small damages.”
Despite the commendation for INEC, logistic problems, which hindered the early arrival of electoral officials and materials to polling units, had raised their ugly head.
INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu acknowledged that there was a late arrival of electoral officials and materials in many polling units across the country.
He said, “The perennial problems of logistics and insecurity affected early deployment of voting materials. But we have been able to deliver millions of ballot papers.”
Speaking on Saturday, he said the commission had resolved the problem by ensuring that anyone that was in the queue by 2:30 p.m. was allowed to vote, “no matter how long it takes.”
He explained that the twin problems of logistics and insecurity hampered the timely deployment of staff and materials.
This directive by INEC to allow everybody on queue by 2.30 pm to vote led to extension of the voting exercise to late in the night and in some polling units, till Sunday morning.
Another issue about the election process is the complaints by voters in Lagos State over the omission of the Labour Party (LP) logo on some ballot papers in some polling units in the state. It was gathered that the affected ballot papers were meant for the Senate and House of Representatives candidates.
The omission forced many to call on INEC to provide answers based on the argument that the Labour Party logo appeared in previous elections. Speaking on the issue, a chieftain of the Labour Party, Prof Pat Utomi, said that his phone had been inundated with calls over the omission.
‘‘My phones are almost blowing up with angry voters who cannot see where to vote for Labour Party candidates for Senate. I have been appealing for calm but buoyed by people’s determination to vote LP all the way,’’ Pat Utomi wrote on his Twitter page.
THEWILL gathered that the omission may have been due to the inability of the party in the state to provide a list of its candidates to INEC.
It would be recalled that in September 2022, the Lagos State Chairman of the Labour Party, Olukayode Salako, revealed the reason behind the omission of their senatorial and House of Representatives candidates on the final list of candidates for the 2023 general elections by INEC.
Salako said the party’s candidates were omitted from the list because a former chairman of the party, Ifagbemi Awamaridi, did not submit them to INEC at the appropriate time.
Salako however noted that due to the fact that Awamaridi presented the names to INEC late when the window had closed, the party was considering the court option. It therefore suffices to say that the Labour Party (LP) did not get its way in court, reason its Senate and House of Representative candidates were omitted from the ballot papers in Lagos State
Pockets of Violence
Despite Police and other sister security agencies and the military expressing their readiness for the election, there were pockets of violence that rocked some parts of Lagos, Imo, Bayelsa, Edo, Kogi, and some other states in the country on election day.
Voting in places such as Mafoluku, Amuwo Odofin, Oshodi, Surulere, Ijaiye, Ijaniki, LASU Iba, Iyana Shashi, Ikorodu, Fadeyi, Ojota, Ogombo, Badagry, Sangotedo, and Lekki, all in Lagos State, was marred by violence.
At Ijaiye, four polling units were affected, Branco (two), Agboola (one), and Obisanya (one). Polling units affected in Surulere included Adedeji, Owoseni, Dipo Olubi, Itire, and Aguda.
There were also reports of disruption of elections in polling units around Ikate, and Ajah after thugs allegedly attacked the area and warned the voters who were not willing to vote for the presidential candidate of the APC, Senator Bola Tinubu, to vacate the polling units.
Reports had it that a popular Nigerian rapper and son of Human Right activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, Falz, allegedly had his phone snatched from him by thugs who also snatched ballot boxes and dumped them in a gutter.
At Ogombo Primary School, in the Lekki area, thugs were said to have chased away voters and locked the gates while security personnel watched and did nothing.
There were also reports of violence at Ago Palace Way, Okota, but the timely intervention of military personnel restored peace and orderliness in some of the affected polling units and they were able to complete the voting process late on Saturday.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Idowu Owohunwa, who flew over Lagos with a helicopter, confirmed the pockets of violence and said that several suspects were arrested for election-related offences and exhibits recovered from them. He did not disclose the names of the suspects and the party they were sympathetic to.
Owohunwa also confirmed that there were pockets of violence in Mafoluku in Oshodi, and Surulere, where armed thugs disrupted voting exercises and snatched and burnt ballot boxes.
The Lagos CP said the exercise was very peaceful and well organised in the Epe area. He said, “I interacted with them and they insisted that Epe was calm. They are a peaceful family, so regardless of the political divide, they remain one family and work to ensure peace.
“What we are dealing with here has to do with human conduct. It could be unpredictable or driven by passion, emotion, or criminal intent. We recorded specific instances of thuggery and violence.
“These things will always happen and when they do, we will implement a response plan to be able to respond to most of those incidents. We have made arrests and recoveries,” he said.
Also in Kogi State, a young man identified as Akayama was gunned down at Anyigba, in Dekina Local Government Area of the state by thugs who invaded the town to cart away electoral materials.
The thugs were said to have taken over the town, shooting sporadically and carting away electoral materials from different polling units.
Reports from Akwa Ibom State indicated that hoodlums suspected to be political party supporters inflicted machete cuts on two voters before carting away with one Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for polling units 11 and 12 at Oniong West Ward one in Onna Local Government Area of the state.
Thugs also attacked two different polling areas in Katsina and Delta states, stealing at least eight BVAS machines, according to the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
According to Yakubu, bandits attacked INEC personnel, stealing six BVAS machines in Safana Local Government Area of Katsina State.
A separate attack occurred in the Oshimili area of Delta State, leading to the loss of two BVAS machines, Yakubu said, while briefing journalists in Abuja.
In Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, he said voting commenced late due to an earlier bandit attack, which he said, was not necessarily on INEC officials.
In Ogun State, gunmen invaded a polling unit in Ayegbami, in the Ikenne Local Government Area of Ogun State, destroyed a ballot box, and disrupted the electoral process in the area.
Because of this violence in some polling units, INEC had to postpone elections in some parts of Bayelsa and Edo states.
INEC Chairman, Yakubu, disclosed this when he addressed a press conference in Abuja.
In Yenagoa, the state capital, Yakubu said voting was disrupted, and the commission mobilised security officials to escort the ad hoc staff to continue voting.
Also, the Presidential and National Assembly elections suffered a huge setback within the Benin metropolis as people suspected to be political thugs invaded voting centres and disrupted the process
Earlier in the day at Oredo Local Government Area Ward 4, the thugs stormed the voting unit 42, shooting into the air and taking away the ballot boxes at the unit.
Thugs also distorted electoral activities at the Kayarda Primary School polling Centre of Kuje Area Council, Abuja.
Speaking on these pockets of violence, Political analysts believe the security agencies should have been pro- active in their preparation to forestall such violence.
Speaking with THEWILL, Ojo Ajani, who is a public affairs analyst, said the INEC and the security agencies ought to have identified the flashpoints and plan through intelligence to curb the violence.
“Security men should do a wholesome job and INEC should ordinarily not have problem distributing materials to the polling units on time, since most of the sensitive materials have been deployed to a nearby centres before the day of the election.”
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
