PDP’s National Publicity Secretary Ini Ememobong says confidence that polling unit results are accurately transmitted will restore voters’ trust.
The People’s Democratic Party’s National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong has that people will vote when they’re sure about what happens across polling units during elections.
He said this in an interview on ARISE NEWS on Thursday, where he spoke about Nigeria’s electoral process, and how transparency can boost voters’ trust in the elections.
“Actually going to vote is now an expression of faith or disbelief in the system. And so out of 100%, only 26% expressed faith in the process. Because the last election, only 26% of the people who registered to vote. Registration to vote is an intention, it’s an initial announcement of an intention to vote. If people can be sure that what happens at the polling unit is what is transmitted, then people will be happy”, he said.
Speaking further, Ememobong warned that despite electronic voting systems like BVAs, collusion within INEC could still allow manipulation of results across LGAs in the country.
“With collusion with some members in INEC, they’re going to print the same serial election results, EC8A, and they are going to use the same serialized number. So you’re going to find two result sheets and they’re going to come to say they’re going to adopt the one.”
“So what do they do? They call the person who is at the polling unit and say, ‘What’s the total number of accreditation?’ Because BVAs accreditation will now capture the total number. But because it is manual voting, it cannot sort the votes. So they will now take that accreditation digit and fill a form in their houses. Some of them have had histories of putting result sheets in buses, in their houses in 28 local government areas, and trying to submit it. So that is what is going to happen because now you know of a plan that is about to happen, but it has happened before! That is why the people are very afraid”, he asserted.
Ememobong further criticised the National Assembly’s guidelines on the nomination of political candidates.
“The first is that while we admit that the National Assembly has some rights to make rules as to guidelines for elections and how political parties are administered, if you see how Section 228B is couched, it’s couched in such a way that first, you make laws as per registration, and you now make laws that “guide.” And the fundamental word is that they “guide” democratic, transparent selection and nomination of candidates”, he said.
Emphasising the need for transparency at polling units, Ememobong said that PDP insists on e-transmission of election results.
“We are saying that immediately you finish the physical form, transmit that particular thing. So that when we get to the collection center, we would see whether what you’re bringing physically tallies. It does not remove the primacy of the paper”, he said.
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