Former Governor of Cross River State, Mr. Donald Duke, whose tenure spanned from 1999 to 2007, recently addressed civil society groups and politicians at a meeting in Abuja tagged: ‘Change Agent,’ where he gave detailed accounts of how past elections in the country are rigged. At the event attended by important personalities such as Chairman of Change Nigeria Project, Dr. Isa Odidi, Chairman, Save Nigeria Group, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Professor David Rice and many others, Duke who reportedly resigned from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said all political parties participate in election rigging. The former governor who started by describing the immediate past Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Maurice Iwu, as an enigma, said Iwu should not be crucified over past election irregularities during his five-year tenure at INEC. His words: “So, even though he was being attacked and scolded and all sorts of things were said about him, he didn’t shy away from even going to the United States and talking to Nigerians in the Diaspora about his work; he didn’t shy away from it. I was told he organised a rally to ensure that he will come back to do the work he was appointed to do. “Why do I call him an enigma? The truth is, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission has little or no bearing on the success of elections. That’s the truth. To me, it’s actually immaterial because he is head of the administration, he takes the brunt,” Duke said.
On Nigeria’s electoral process, Duke said the presiding officers are the most important people in any election, not the chairman. According to him, if there are 120,000 polling booths, “there are 120,000 presiding officers, they are the most important people in the elections, not the chairman. “So, as long as we keep applying that same method, you will get the same results. It’s crazy to think that because you substituted Iwu with ((Prof. Attahiru) Jega, all will change. In other words, Iwu is a crook, Jega is a saint. Jega is great, he has an impeccable reputation. Iwu was great, now he seems not so great. Okay, they are both professors, they have reached the peak of whatever discipline that they profess. The point is that it is the system and the personnel and the chairman has little or no control over that,” Duke declared.
Giving graphic illustration on how elections are compromised, Duke said it usually starts when the Resident Electoral Commissioner who he said is usually from another state, arrives the state of his posting and suddenly discovers that he has no accommodation; monies have not been released for the running or conduct of the elections. He pays a courtesy call on the governor. “It’s usually a televised event, you know; and of course he says all the right things. ‘Your Excellency, I am here to ensure that we have free and fair elections and I will require your support.’ Now, at that courtesy call, most governors, at least I did, will invite the Commissioner of Police because he is part of the action and he sits there.
“After the courtesy call, the Resident Electoral Commissioner now moves in for one-on-one with the governor and he says: ‘Your Excellency, since I came, I’ve been staying in this hotel, there is no accommodation for me and even my vehicle is broken down and the last commissioner didn’t leave the vehicle; so help me to settle down quickly.’ And the governor says, ‘Chief of Staff, where is the Chief of Staff? And the Chief of Staff appears.
Governor says: “Please ensure that the REC is accommodated; put him in the presidential lodge, allot two cars to him. I give you seven days to get this done. Then the relationship has started. I am going to share some of these things with you so that we don’t leave here with any illusions,” Duke revealed.
According to him, once that relationship has been established between the governor and the REC, the governor from time to time will visit the REC to ask him how he is fairing. According to him, a few weeks to the elections, the REC goes to the governor to ask him to give names of about 4,500 people so that they can train them as presiding officers.
According to him, once that relationship has been established between the governor and the REC, the governor from time to time will visit the REC to ask him how he is fairing. According to him, a few weeks to the elections, the REC goes to the governor to ask him to give names of about 4,500 people so that they can train them as presiding officers.
The REC, according to Duke, will go back to the governor to request for money to train the presiding officers, a development he hinges on the inability of the headquarters to send money to him. He said at such an occasion, the governor will ask him how much he needs and he will direct his Chief of Staff to provide the money for the REC which he said would be in millions stashed in Ghana-must-go bags. “In other words, it’s cash. Okay, now, cash in huge Ghana must-go-bags, some of my colleagues will shoot me,” Duke said.
Turning to the audience, he asked, “is any former governor here?” Realising there was none, he said: “Good. Cash is lodged in huge Ghana-must-go-bags for the REC and of course, to be fair to them, they call their electoral officers and say the governor has been very benevolent; he has given us this and that...
“The governor now turns round and says: ‘call me the party chairman.’ The party chairman appears and the governor says: ‘INEC requires 50,000 people for the conduct of the elections. See to it that we meet their needs.’ The chairman goes and airs in the evening on radio and television: ‘There will be an urgent meeting of all local government chairmen and secretaries of XYZ party at the headquarters. They should report promptly at 10am because matters of urgent interest will be discussed.’ End of announcement. Now we have texts messages, so it’s easier, in no time everybody is here,” Duke said.
The meeting, according to Duke, is usually very short. He said party leaders are told to go back and return within 48 hours to submit their lists from each local government, disclosing that within a week, everything is done, noting that even photographs are sent to INEC, while teachers who are party members are recruited for the assignment.
“This is even where it gets even more interesting. So, you have each of the three or four thousand polling booths; they are manned by party stalwarts. They are usually party stalwarts. You don’t send any peripheral member. The remuneration from Abuja has not arrived but that of the state was received 48 hours prior to the elections. On the day of elections, each polling booth has no more than 500 ballot papers that are stranded.
“This is even where it gets even more interesting. So, you have each of the three or four thousand polling booths; they are manned by party stalwarts. They are usually party stalwarts. You don’t send any peripheral member. The remuneration from Abuja has not arrived but that of the state was received 48 hours prior to the elections. On the day of elections, each polling booth has no more than 500 ballot papers that are stranded.
“There is not a polling booth that is more than 500. So only 200 people appear here, 300 there, 100 there, 50 there, 400 there. At the end of elections what happens? The presiding officer sits down and calls a few guys and says, ‘hey, there are a few hundred papers here, let’s thumb print. This is the real election.
“Well, this is not a PDP thing. I am not here to castigate the PDP; it’s a Nigerian thing. This process may sound comical and jovial, it happens throughout the country. Whether it’s Action Congress or (All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), it’s the same thing. We are all the same. They start thumb printing. Some are over zealous. So, at the end of the day, you find that votes are more than the number of people that were registered to vote,” Duke said.
“Well, this is not a PDP thing. I am not here to castigate the PDP; it’s a Nigerian thing. This process may sound comical and jovial, it happens throughout the country. Whether it’s Action Congress or (All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), it’s the same thing. We are all the same. They start thumb printing. Some are over zealous. So, at the end of the day, you find that votes are more than the number of people that were registered to vote,” Duke said.
Duke who commented on the 2011 general election, apart from saying that dates for elections should be a fixed thing, said Nigerians must come out to cast their votes.
“It is important because the more ballot papers that are legitimately used on election day, the fewer available to be used to rig the vote; that’s the truth. Don’t keep to yourself and think that they will announce results. They are more sophisticated than that. And that’s why the aspirants who felt cheated and had the resources to employ forensic personnel, like those elections upturned in Edo and Ondo states could establish multiple voting by thumb print,” he said. On how to change the process, Duke said since attitude cannot be changed quickly, there should be mass participation.
“It is important because the more ballot papers that are legitimately used on election day, the fewer available to be used to rig the vote; that’s the truth. Don’t keep to yourself and think that they will announce results. They are more sophisticated than that. And that’s why the aspirants who felt cheated and had the resources to employ forensic personnel, like those elections upturned in Edo and Ondo states could establish multiple voting by thumb print,” he said. On how to change the process, Duke said since attitude cannot be changed quickly, there should be mass participation.
“In an election where there is a very high turnout, the results are usually genuine. The most celebrated election in Nigeria, June 12, 1993, what happened? People came out. The more the people who come out to vote, the fewer there may be mago, mago here and there but there wouldn’t be much in such a critical manner to upset the will of the people. Beyond that, if you don’t vote in an election, you have no reason to criticise the government and I tell folks everywhere that ‘guys,’ I would say, ‘I have lived my life. You guys have not and you are all criticizing Nigeria but did you vote in the last election?’ Most of them say no. Then I say, you have lost the moral right to criticise what the government does because you were not part of the process,” he said. Another way to address the problem of rigging, according to Duke, is by employing technology.
“For the purpose of this - 3455, this number is for a phone and that number is unique for you and valid for that election or the set of elections. And each party has a numerical equivalent. AC could be one, the PDP could be five, the Labour Party could be three, whatever. And on the date of elections, you decide that even if you don’t have a phone, you can go to a centre where they have a bank of phones and once you put in your number, 3455, it recognises you. It cannot be duplicated.
“It’s only you that have that number and for that election on that date, once it’s used, it cannot be used by anyone else. Then you can do this one from your house or anywhere and any time between the hours of 9-12. When it says which party, you say 3 0r 4 whatever the number, they ask you, ‘are you sure you say yes?’ You press it, then you have voted. With that, I think we can conduct elections but people say ‘ah, it’s too technological’ and I say, why do you always underestimate the people in the rural areas?
According to him, this type of approach ensures credibility in the system. He implored Jega to design along with his team a system that will be full proof. “In other words, he himself must understand the system of elections. He needs to know how it works and how it’s been holding.
According to him, this type of approach ensures credibility in the system. He implored Jega to design along with his team a system that will be full proof. “In other words, he himself must understand the system of elections. He needs to know how it works and how it’s been holding.
“As I speak to you, we have not started voters’ registration. That exercise will take any where from three to four months. It will take at least 90 days to run through its course; another six weeks to tidy up before it is published; let’s not kid ourselves. You can have elections anytime, but you can’t have credible elections in January.
“So, for those thinking we can have elections in January, I think we have to rethink the process; we cannot have credible elections in January. We may have elections but it may not be credible. Where are we? We need to get out of these holes; we need to traverse the length and breadth of this country.
“We need to recruit an army of people, maybe 5,000 in each state, 200 young men and women who will reach our people, give each of them a task to ensure that he registers at least a 100 person. That done will bring 20 million people into the fold. This is what they did in the Obama election,” he revealed.
“We need to recruit an army of people, maybe 5,000 in each state, 200 young men and women who will reach our people, give each of them a task to ensure that he registers at least a 100 person. That done will bring 20 million people into the fold. This is what they did in the Obama election,” he revealed.
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
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