State, Zonal and Regional Analyses of INEC Data for Voters' Applications, Registration and Disqualifications

Compiled by

Mobolaji E. Aluko

Burtonsville, MD, USA

alukome@aol.com

Fellow Nigerians:

INEC’s chairman, Dr. Abel Guobadia, yesterday provided some information on prospective voters who participated in the last registration exercise.

South-West (Lagos, Ondo, Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti States) –

12,198,605 registered (Rank 2 of 6); Highest disqualified - Ekiti (26.458%)

South-East zone (Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, Anambra) –

7,258,030 registered (Rank 6 of 6); Highest disqualified - Anambra (26.667%)

South-South (Bayelsa, Rivers, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Akwa Ibom) - 8,991,625 registered (Rank 3 of 6); Highest Disqualified - Bayelsa (34.181%)

North-West (Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Kaduna, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa) –

15,161,193 registered (Rank 1 of 6); Highest Disqualified - Jigawa (10.150%)

North-East (Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Borno, Yobe, Taraba) - 8,823,766 registered (Rank 4 of 6); Highest Disqualified - Adamawa (17.656%)

North-Central (Niger, Nasarawa, Kwara, Kogi, Plateau, Benue, Abuja) –

8,389,803 registered (Rank 5 of 6); Highest Disqualified - Kogi (16.706%)

For a more detailed spreadsheet, please download from:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AlukoArchives/message/77

When inspected closely on statewise, zonal and regional bases, the figures are rather very interesting!  One only hopes that there is no “hidden agenda” anywhere.

Let us pray.

Bolaji Aluko

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Guardian

Sunday, April 6, 2003

http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/news/article02/

http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/news/article03/

INEC Says 61m Voters Eligible For Elections
By Martins Oloja, Abiodun Adeniyi (Abuja) and Alabi Williams, Lagos

A TOTAL of 61 million Nigerians will vote in the elections beginning on Saturday with the National and State Assembly polls on Saturday and continuing on April 19 with the presidential and governorship.

This fact was disclosed in Abuja yesterday by the chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, Dr. Abel Guobadia who also assured that the body is now ready to conduct a free and fair election.

His words: "The total number of registered voter is just under 61 million. Over seven million applications for registration were disqualified because of multiple registration or other irregularities."

He emphasised that the seven million do not necessarily imply seven million unique of real persons. "Some citizens were reported to have thumbprint several hundreds if not thousands of registration documents. Thus one person could be responsible for as many as hundreds of thousands, of disqualified applications. Also about seven days back, the number of registered voters was put at 53 million."

He stressed however, that as at that time, some states had not counted or reported their lists of disqualified applications.

The difference between 64 million and 61 million represents the disqualification in these states.

Guobadia assured that his commission had received over 90 per cent of all ballot papers, and the balance will be in its possession by the middle of next week.

And while visiting The Guardian's Rutam House headquarters on Friday, Guobadia said, "as far as we are concerned, with the provisions we have on ground, if people behave and maintain the norms of elections, we will succeed".

According to the INEC chairman, the commission is very ready to combat electoral fraud. He noted that the past elections failed because they were believed to have been rigged in favour of the incumbent government. This time around, he said, the register that is in place now will deter rigging.

Explaining further, he said "for the first time, the voter's card is going to be an instrument that must be accounted for and the voter cards we shall issue will correspond to the number of registrations at every polling unit.

"Next week, on April, 8,9 and 10, we will call people out to pick their voter's cards upon the presentation of their registration slips. Those who are unable to do so within those three days, for any reason can still do so on election day before they are allowed to vote. It is the same presiding officers who will issue the cards that will conduct the polls, at the end of the day, they will account for the cards that were given out in terms of the registration made. On no account will anybody who lost his voter card or registration slip be allowed to vote.

"But those who do not present their temporary voters slips for replacement with voter's cards cannot have access to the ballox box. List of eligible candidates for the various elective posts have been released and published in our state offices.

He dismissed calls for the postponement of the elections saying they are unfounded.

Guobadia reasoned that those engaged in running down the competence and integrity of the electoral process can simply exercise the choice of participating in the elections, or staying out of it for now.

The INEC chairman defended the integrity of the voting process saying, the commission's computerisation was thorough biometrics technology which weeded out multiple registrants within individual local government area only.

He said all persons who are appointed to officiate at the polls are required to swear to an oath of loyalty and neutrality indicating that they would not accept bribe on gratification from any person and that they would perform their functions and duties impartially and in the interest of the counting without fear or favour.

"Improved telecommunication services between the states and the headquarters at Abuja and within the states is expected to increase the speed and accuracy with which information and results will be disseminated.

All states are linked with the Abuja headquarters office by H.F. radio and virtual private network systems. Under assistance by the international foundation for Elections System (IFES), 155 local government area that are difficult to reach are expected to be linked with their states headquarters by satellite communication before the elections."

In the design of the ballot papers, he said, it is 9 inches long and that is how the political parties said they want it.

"We shall require the military to monitor the movement of our materials because the conditions in the country demands it that way."

Guobadia said the failure of the elections is the failure of all, not INEC's alone and the success is conversely the success of all. "If the elections fail, it is shame to all. It should not fail. I will walk out proved if it fails. INEC has work hard to ensure it succeed. But it cannot do this without Nigerian and it cannot take the blame or the glory for the outcome alone."

The INEC boss assures Nigerians that the commission will not tamper with the wishes of the electorate, saying, "you think a man of my standard will be instructed to do the wrong thing and I will stupidly do the wrong thing. They can take their job.

"But the process of taking the job is not as simple as people think. Senate must sit down and by two-third majority present the accusation before any of us is removed from office. This INEC is independent."

On the complaint by political parties that the ballot paper specimen is long and cumbersome, Guobadia said the format was endorsed by all the parties before it was designed and printed. INEC, he said is surprised that the same political parties which agreed to the format are now criticising it. He advised Nigerians not to swallow every thing which politicians utter. "On the ballot papers, we did what the political parties wanted. The design of the ballot paper was shown to the political parties in our meetings with them. We proffered many options.

"We provided an option where the parties will be listed in two columns one on this side and one on this side, just to make the paper short. But they said no, that that would give the impression that there are two types of parties, one to the right, one to the left.

"They said they want the parties listed in an alphabetical order. We asked if we could number them, they said no, just put the parties. That was agreed in a meeting of INEC and the political parties. So, I'm surprised, when after the design, a party will come out to say that what they freely and willingly agreed to with INEC is no longer accepted.

"What you must know is that what politicians say in public is different from their private conversation. I know of one person who approved of polices but goes back to criticise them.

"Most of them still feel it is business as usual and I hope and pray that if this elections goes well and successfully, that business as usual syndrome, will be eradicated and we shall be able to sustain this democracy. W

"With the voter's register, many of them now find out that those registration slips they acquired illegally will be useless to them," he said.

On those who have taken INEC to court, Guobadia assured that nobody can stop this election.

He said, "NDP has gone to the court because we displayed out of time. We don't agree with them. What they are praying is that the elections he postponed. But unfortunately, the constitution does not recognise postponement. The very electoral act they are drawing upon does not even talk of a postponement of the election.

Vanguard

Sunday, April 6, 2003

Stories by SUFUYAN OJEIFO, Abuja

NO fewer than seven   million Nigerians who hope to vote in the general elections which begin on Saturday would be unable to do so as the nation’s apex electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), voided their application.

INEC chairman, Dr. Abel Guobadia, yesterday said a total of 7,069,740 prospective voters who participated in the last registration exercise had been disqualified.

Guobadia declared that only 60,823,022 Nigerians were okayed to vote in the general elections.

The electoral body’s boss, who released the detailed figures of duly registered voters at a briefing attended by media executives in Abuja, also said the commission was ready for the April 12 and 19 elections.

Lagos topped the list with the highest voters voter of 4,558,216 followed by Kano with 4,000,430 while Kaduna and Katsina accounted for 2,620,999 and 2,567,245 to rank third and fourth respectively. The least figure of 628,100 was posted by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which is slightly behind Bayelsa State with 765,472 voters.

Anambra State accounted for the highest figure of disqualified applications, which total was put at 676,293 by the Commission, followed by Rivers State with 509,470.

At the bulk zonal level, the North West zone comprising Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi and Jigawa States, has the highest voters of over 15 million, followed by the South-West (Lagos, Ondo, Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti States) with over 12 million.

Northeast zone (Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Borno, Yobe, Taraba) posts 9 million voters, South-South zone (Bayelsa, Rivers, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Akwa Ibom) has 8.9 million voters, leaving the North Central (Niger, Nasarawa, Kwara, Kogi, Plateau, Benue, Abuja) and South-East zone (Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo and Anambra states) with 8.3 million and 7.2 million voters respectively.

Speaking on INEC’s preparation for the elections, Guobadia said yesterday that over 90 percent of all ballot papers to be used during the polls had been received, adding that the balance would be in the commission’s custody by the middle of this week.

According to him, “virtually, all ballot boxes, including those which were locally fabricated or repaired are in our custody (and) most of the other sensitive and all non-sensitive materials are also in our custody.

“The ad-hoc staff who will perform election duties have been recruited and are being trained. The police, SSS personnel and all para-military personnel such as Customs, Immigration and Prison staff have been made available to us, and will be trained and deployed early next week (this week).

“We have received in full the funding, which was approved for electoral activities in this year’s budget”.

Guobadia, who maintained that the conduct of the elections is not threatened, dismissed recent calls by some parties for postponement of the polls on grounds of the commission’s lack of preparations or “on some perceived non-compliance with the law”, as unfounded. “In the first place, we think it is wrong to both take us to court and then call for the postponement before a legal decision is given”, the INEC boss said.

He continued: “Secondly, all parties are fully aware of our preparations, and while we appreciate their concerns that we should be well funded and empowered to do our jobs, a claim on our lack of preparation should be predicated on factual evidence.

“Thirdly, all the parties calling for a postponement of the elections are busy preparing for these elections, even as I speak to you, which is their right to do.

“Finally, it does appear that some of the parties merely engaged in running down the competence and integrity of the electoral process and machinery for their own reasons, when they can simply exercise the choice of participating in the elections or staying out of it for now”.

Responding to questions from the press, Guobadia disclosed that military men would accompany vehicles transporting sensitive materials to their destinations “because the conditions in Nigeria demand so”.

He said that the Commission had recommended restriction of movement on the election days, but pointed out that it did not recommend closure of the nation’s borders.

The INEC boss stated that the police had been asked to be on the trail of those who engaged in multiple registration with a view to apprehending them for prosecution.