The rulling All Progressives Congress and the opposition parties have welcomed on the proposal by the Independent National Electoral Commission to phase out the use of Permanent Voter Cards for election and to also introduce Diaspora voting.
While ruling APC wholeheartedly welcomed the proposed innovations, the opposition parties, however, harped on sincerity of purpose on the part of INEC.
Last Thursday, INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, explained that the reforms, if implemented, would improve the country’s electoral system following lessons learnt from the 2023 general elections and subsequent off-cycle polls.
Yakubu added that the commission would soon present the proposals and a few others to the relevant committees in the Senate and House of Representatives.
In an interview with The PUNCH on Sunday, the National Publicity Director of the APC, Bala Ibrahim, said the ruling party has no objection to the move, since it has always been at the vanguard of reforming the country’s electoral processes.
He said, “If, in its wisdom, after consultation and seeing what is happening in other places, INEC feels there is a need to introduce some changes that will enhance and add to the credibility of the electoral process, so be it. I don’t see anything wrong in that.
“After all, it is our party, the APC, that initiated some electoral reforms, including the ones that INEC is talking about now. So, we have no objection to it, provided it will boost the confidence of the electorate. It will also make the election to be more credible and carry the message and wishes of the electorate.”
When confronted with the possibility of Nigerians rejecting the proposals over suspicion, Ibrahim disagreed.
“Nigeria is a very complex country to govern. No matter what you do, as long as you are introducing changes, there are people who will come with scepticism and some with doubt.
“Some will always infer and imply that the intention is mischievous and an attempt to commit something unconstitutional. Whatever you do, some Nigerians will question it.
“But what matters is the feeling of the majority. It should be introduced, I don’t see anything wrong. But if we insist on bringing a change that will be accepted by 100 per cent Nigerians, nobody can do that,” he stated.
Also, the National Legal Adviser of the Labour Party, Kehinde Edun, said introducing diaspora voting would take care of the interest of Nigerians abroad, who have major stakes in Nigeria.
He, however, feared the possibility of abuse.
Edun said, “There will be fear of abuse. Many people have been advocating daspora voting and it is a positive thing. For instance, most of our young people are leaving the country in droves. It is because they are not satisfied with the situation here.
“I believe many should be given an opportunity to vote from wherever they are. Many have families here and still support their people in Nigeria. I know some wouldn’t have left if things are better. It is fair to give them opportunity to participate.
“However, nothing can be completely foolproof. As to phasing out the PVCs, I think that will be down to the technology being deployed. This is because even with the PVCs, you have a lot of party agents buying and stockpiling them. Everything is about sincerity. I think INEC should make efforts to make Nigerians believe them and it will improve the turnout.
“The turnout we are having in our election now is too poor. It shows that a lot of people are disillusioned and no longer believe in the system. Improvements should be made to make people have confidence in the electoral empire again. What they are trying to introduce may save costs of producing those PVCs.”
The Peoples Democratic Party Deputy National Youth Leader, Timothy Osadolor also welcome the electoral innovations but said effective implementation was key.
In an exclusive interview with The PUNCH on Sunday, Osadolor also urged INEC to rid itself of corrupt individuals and restore its credibility.
He stated, “Innovations and technologies are very good, but only if they are genuinely not manipulated by the same INEC and the officers who are seated with the manager handling the processes.
“A recent case in point was in Edo, where we saw how many times INEC edited their IREV results to make them conform to the vote allocations they did in different parts of the state. So, you see, it’s not about the innovation itself. More importantly, it’s about the people responsible for managing these technologies.
“Either INEC is going to sack all its staff and recruit people from heaven, or it is going to provide training courses for its personnel so that they can uphold high standards of integrity. INEC should purge itself of bad characters. Are they competent enough and have the capacity to pass the integrity test for such sensitive positions?”
According to him, INEC has much to do to gain the trust of Nigerians.