2019, as young and nascent as it is, is already bristling with all manner of emotions. From anticipation to hope; from fear to even despair. This chaos of emotions is not unfounded. This is because in Nigeria it is a year of general elections and if the history of elections is anything to go by then Nigerians have every reason to let their emotions run chaotic.
These emotions- especially fear- heightened on Thursday when the Independent National Electoral Commission announced Amina Zakari- supposed niece of President Muhammadu Buhari- as head of collation centre for the 2019 elections. While some have described the appointment of Zakari as a ploy to rig the 2019 elections others see the brouhaha surrounding her appointment as making a mountain out of a molehill. How powerful and influential is Zakari’s office.
What Is Collation?
Collation is the tabulation or summation of the votes cast during an election. It is a graphic reflection of the decision taken by the electorate who have exercised their franchise at the pool. There are various levels of collation depending on the type of elections. However, for the sake of credibility, at each level there is always an announcement of votes scored by each party participating in the election.
How Significant Is Collation?
For an election to be successful and credible demands proper planning and efficient conduct. The outcome of an election is a culmination of five processes i.e accreditation, voting, counting, collation and results declaration. Though the first three processes are important, the last two that is collation and results declaration are the critical stages in the election processes. They can make or mar the whole electoral exercise. If either of these two processes stalls the essence of the exercise might be jeopardized. It is during collation that the results of an election can be doctored to satisfy selfish end and defeat the purpose of election. It will be recalled that it was at this stage that the military Junta led by General (retd.) Ibrahim Gbadamosi Babangida scuttled the 1993 election and by so doing aborted what would have been the third republic. Fresh in recent memory is the drama enacted by Godsday Orubebe, a former minister and loyalist of former president Goodluck Jonathan, at the International Conference Center, which served as the National Collation Centre for the 2015 Presidential election. The purpose of Orubebe’s momentary disruption and outburst was to render the election inconclusive having realized that the results were unfavourable to his master’s reelection ambition. That should tell us the significance of collation.
The Functions Of Head Of Collation Center
While the fuss about the appointment of Aminat Zakari as head of collation centre may not be misplaced or unjustified, however, the office may not be as powerful as thought. According to a source in the Independence National Electoral Commission(INEC) “There are 12 members in the Ad Hoc Committee for the National Collation Centre. The committee will ensure that facilities such as power, access to the internet, live transmission for National and International Observers as well as security of the venue are put in place. This is what Mrs Aminat Zakari as the chair of the Committee will lead other members in doing”. In other words Zakari is not the returning officer at the national level, the INEC chairman has that onus but inalienable responsibility. Amina’s brief is to provide logistics and administrative support for the collation center. The roles spelt out by the INEC source make Mrs Zakari incapable of influencing the results of the elections. We can fault or question the ethical soundness of the appointment of Buhari’s supposed niece into that kind of office. Nepotism is one thing, competence another.