TEXT OF STATEMENT BY THE TRANSITION MONITORING GROUP (TMG) AT A PRESS CONFERENCE HELD AT THE INTERNATIONAL PRESS CENTRE, OGBA - IKEJA, LAGOS, NIGERIA ON THE 23RD OF DECEMBER, 2008 ON THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTION BEING CONDUCTED BY STATE INDEPENDENT ELECTORAL COMMISSION (SIEC) SUPPORTED BY THE EUROPEAN UNION
Introduction:
Distinguished Members of the Press,
Ladies and gentlemen,
On behalf of the Coordinating Committee and the entire membership of the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), we wish to formerly welcome you to this momentous Press Conference on the Conduct so far of the Local Government elections in Nigeria. We wish to thank and acknowledge the European Union for making this platform possible, and for providing the funding to TMG to observe the LG elections in our dear country.
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We have convened this press briefing to preliminarily and critically appraise the conduct of the all-important local government elections, which is still ongoing with a view to high lightening and sharing all the issues arising from the elections and most importantly, proffer some suggestions which we hope the media have a duty to disseminate.
TMG was inaugurated in August 1998 as a coalition of human rights, non-governmental and civil society organizations (CSOs) to monitor Nigeria’s 1999 transition to civil rule. Starting with only a handful of members. Today, the organization has become the strongest coalition of over 360 human and pro-democracy groups committed to the conduct of credible elections in Nigeria and across the world.
During the 1999 election period, TMG fielded approximately 10,000 monitors and is widely credited with making incisive comments and analyses, while making important recommendations for changes. TMG itself has therefore become an international best practice by showing how diverse groups can come together in common cause and coordinate effectively.
Today, membership of the TMG consortium has soared, with over 360 organizations already affiliated, and the number still growing daily. The wide range of organizations participating means that TMG has reached a wide range of sectors, communities and circumstances. It has drawn on these strengths for observing voter registration and political party conventions, and will continue to draw on its members’ talents and commitments to observe on Election Day and post-election activities including challenges. Most critically, it will add its voice to defining the way forward by preparing interim and more detailed final reports on the elections.
In 1999, TMG outlined four affirmative steps it would take to establish its credibility.
TMG’s Four Affirmative Steps: 1999
1. Maintain independence from partisan associations and promote an image of impartiality.
2. Communicate clearly and regularly
3. Ensure the integrity of TMG’s plan and methodology
4. Execute plans once laid out
These principles have since guided the organization in previous and current elections and will guide it come 2011. In addition, TMG has developed a rationale for domestic monitoring that consortium of its members subscribe to. TMG has recognized the importance of elections for Nigeria’s political future and development. Thus, it has built upon lessons learned from 1999 and 2003, 2007 and established a decentralized structure that includes 6 Zonal Coordinators (one for each geopolitical zone) and State Coordinators for each of the 36 states. TMG’s Secretariat, located in Abuja serves as the consortium’s ‘nerve centre’ and provides oversight to election-related activities in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
It is still very fresh in our minds that the 2007 general elections in which TMG trained and deployed close to 15,000 observers, was a complete failure and this much was witnessed and reported widely by the media themselves, as well as TMG and other domestic and international election observers. We had thought that with the election fallen shot of expectations; our hope now lied with the Local Government elections. But, we were altogether wrong, as we now know better. Let us revisit a few salient components that could have made or marred the LG elections.
Legal Framework for LG elections:
State’s Independent Electoral Commissions are the equivalent of INEC for the states. They were established pursuant to the provisions of Section 197 (1) (b) of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. They are accordingly charged with the responsibility of undertaking and supervising all elections to the Local Government Councils within the States. However, each State Assembly enacts and passes its own laws to supplement or compliment the provisions of the constitution whenever it pleases them. That is indeed why some states have structures in place for their LG elections, others don’t, some have conducted their elections, others have not, and there are yet controversies in some states over the timing of same elections.
For the benefit of doubt, TMG have so far monitored the LG elections in 33 out of the 36 states of the federation where LG elections have been conducted. Thus, this preliminary appraisal is based on the observations made by TMG observers and then of course, the media who by virtue of their resilience enjoy the benefit of getting the larger picture.
Background to the LG elections:
In most states where LG elections have been conducted there were controversies and rather ominous fears that the Chief Executives of the states may interfere or dictate the election process and probably cause the elections to be anything but free and fair. These fears were confirmed in quite a number of states such as Nasarawa, Lagos, Plateau, Abia, CRS, Oyo etc, where parties and candidates entered the election contest with premeditated plans to carry the day, whatever it takes. This is evidenced in the overall outcome of the results from those states so far observed.
The results of the local government elections across the country has confirmed that the problems of election in Nigeria is not solely that of the ruling party but a governmental problems that know body in politics today can be blameless.
The Lagos local government election is a testimony to this fact where exclusive governance was topped by the criminality of self engagement.
Whereas, most independent minded Nigerians have hoped Lagos state will set the standard change we needed in Nigerian electoral system and processes.
The local government council election conducted across the country has generally conformed with the standard of unfairness, irregularity and manipulation set by INEC in 2007 and it is topped by a new trend in electoral dictatorship.
There were significant irregularities in the conduct of the elections. Our observers reported general citizens despair and consequential low turnout.
There are other states where closest opponents had to pull out of the electoral contests or even recourse to the law courts to address salient legal constraints or grievances over the elections. Again, Lagos (PDP) Kebbi (ANPP), Ekiti (AC), Osun (AC), Ogun ANPP and AC and Abia (PDP) come under this category.
The just conducted Adamawa and Ekiti states LG elections came under serious legal and constitutional questions. While as in Ekiti, the Governor on one hand, the opposition parties and the State Assembly are in disagreement over the conduct of the elections, the Adamawa scenario appears to be between the State Assembly and the State Independent Electoral Commission. These are all different background colourations that one way or the other constituted immense challenges to conducting the LG elections without rancour.
Summary of observations:
We believe that the SIECs in the states spent time to learn the ropes from INEC at the National level. This is because despite the shameful experiences of the 2007 elections, no lessons seem to have been learnt by the SIEC, Political parties and Politicians by way of doing things differently. By the reports we have received so far, it is evident that the on-going LG election has superseded the 2007 general elections in whatever parameter of irregularity you want to use to appraise it.
It is rather unfortunate, and TMG regrets to repeat the same popular pronouncement it made over the 2007 general elections, to the effect that it was ‘programmed to fail’ but in this instance, the LG election is ‘winners take all’. “Democracy without choice”. Again, we cannot agree any less that the LG elections as so far witnessed was devised to favour the ruling parties wherever they hold sway. It does not matter if it is the PDP, AC or ANPP, but the cardinal observation, which indeed has also become public knowledge, is that no party dare wins election where it does not control the state government. This has been proved beyond every reasonable doubt, especially when you are confronted by this kind of compilations that provides results on how the parties won and lost the LG elections in their states as follows;
LG ELECTIONS IN THE STATES: HOW THE PARTIES FARED
S/No
State
No of LGAs
PDP
ANPP
AC
PPA
Remarks
1
Gombe
11
11
2
Taraba
16
16
3
Kogi
21
21
4
Sokoto
23
23
5
Kaduna
23
17
3
2
6
Katsina
34
34
7
Zamfara
14
14
8
Adamawa
?
Election results being awaited
9
Jigawa
27
27
10
Kwara
16
11
Kebbi
21
21
13
Benue
23
23
14
Niger
25
25
15
Nasarawa
13
13
16
Plateau
17
17
17
Kano
44
2
42
18
Lagos
57
57
Elections were conducted in 20 LGAs and 37 Local Council Development Areas
19
Ogun
20
20
20
Ondo
18
18
21
Oyo
33
33
22
Osun
30
30
PDP won all
23
Ekiti
16
16
24
Imo
No LG election yet
25
Akwa Ibom
31
30
1
26
Cross River
18
18
27
Rivers
23
23
28
Ebonyi
13
13
29
Abia
17
16
Isiukwuato LG election result was cancelled
30
Anambra
21
No LG election yet
31
Enugu
17
16
1
32
Edo
18
16
2
33
Delta
25
25
34
Bayelsa
No LG election yet
35
Bauchi
20
20
36
Borno
27
27
The lesson in this scary trend is that politicians and parties in power deploy both material, financial and human resources of states they govern to prosecute and/or influence elections in their favour. For us in TMG, this is a terrible development that must be nip in the bud ahead of the 2011 dispensation.
We are quite convinced that when and if politicians and Parties resort to use of unpopular ploys to sway election results even at the expense of popularly accepted candidates at the local levels, it may be met with strong resistance, which unfortunately may culminate in a widespread violence as witnessed in the Jos (Plateu) incident.
From reports collated, the above experiences appear to have been relatively replicated across
different states where LG elections have been conducted, they include;
Undersupply of election materials or outright absence of them
Lack of secrecy in the polling stations
Manifest poor training of SIECs officials
Under-age voting
Poor election materials conveying arrangements
Aiding and abating by security personnel
In most of the states monitored there were reported ballot – stuffing while the election outcome did not reflect a genuine referendum on the performance of politicians.
The local government elections assessed by all fair standards, followed in the worst pattern of the 2007 elections conducted by the Prof. Maurice Iwu’s led Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The elections were marred by accusations from opposition parties who were obviously suppressed by domineering financial power of ruling parties and control of the institutional and administrative election process.
In most states observed opposition parties could not campaign to present issues to the people to enable them make inform decision for change.
Preparations for the LG Elections
Reports from most states of the federation such as Kaduna, Jigawa, Bauchi, Taraba, Niger, Benue and some others presupposes that preparations were duly made to ensure the elections were held without hitch. However, in states such as Osun, Oyo, Ondo, Abia, Lagos, Plateau, Yobe, Kebbi, Nasaraw and a host of others, the preparations were suspect and may not be unconnected with the desire to aid and abate irregularities right from the preparatory stage of the elections.
In many states, election did not commence on time due to the usual late arrival of materials. It was reported from Kebbi that most of the KSINEC officials were not well trained to preside over election process, while as Niger and Cross River states recorded poor logistics, which reflected in the lack of available vehicles to convey election materials. In fact, CRS and Edo recorded less availability of ballot papers and result sheets at some centres. Edo particularly, lacked election materials in some centres, for instance, in ward 006 (Ikpo-Okha and Egor area of the state, materials arrived when the election should be rounding off.
However, ahead of most of the elections in the states, the media reported in a number of cases where there were growing disagreements between the state SIECs, state Assemblies and even the state executives in some cases. For instance, Rivers state LG election experienced some hitches following the government’s appointment of caretaker committees to man the administration of LGAs just before the elections. Lagos experienced another type of controversy that was more constitutional in nature than political that was why PDP eventually boycotted the elections. Adamawa and Ekiti had the same kind of controversy as some major actors in both states were at loggerheads with either the state’s election body, the executive or the political parties. These disagreements have a way of affecting the conduct of the elections negatively.
Management of the Elections
Observers and media reports from the states suggests that the election was not generally well managed. Good management of elections manifests clearly in the approach or method adopted by the election management body to provide logistics as it is a major aspect of the elections. The SIEC in most states such as Niger, did not rise to that challenge, as SIEC officials in that and other states hadn’t any solid arrangement on ground for conveying election materials. Another fundamental challenge noticed during the elections is the interlocking and subsisting electoral arrangement, which provides that INEC will produce the Electoral Register for LG elections. It is no longer news that INEC have been particularly inefficient in getting this done even for its own election, talk less of the LG elections. In fact, in Abia state, it was gathered that, INEC had promised to provide trucks for ABSIEC to convey and distribute election materials but failed to do so. In the same state of Abia, observers gathered that political parties were protesting non-funding of some political parties in the state.
Security and Safety in the Elections
TMG believes that Security agencies play very critical role in democratic elections. As is traditional, security agencies normally reassures the citizenry of their safety and protection. It really does not make any sense to engage in a ritualistic exercise of winning the people’s confidence as we are sure was done in the case of Jos, only to be confronted with the stark reality of senseless violence and killing that visited Plateau on the aftermath of the LG elections. It had been reported that the state of Plateau was engulfed by killings and burning of religious institutions, business premises, private properties. The state government was indicted over terse deployment of security personnel and their gross inability to respond to early warning signals in a place traditionally noted for violence in the past. Reports gathered from the TMG coordinator in the state revealed that perpetrators of the Jos violence, had several hours field day enjoying the carnage before security operatives could understand what was going on.
In most other states such as Taraba, Kaduna and Delta states however, men of the Nigerian police, the Civil Defence, vigilante groups, immigration, Road Safety and even the Nigerian Prison personnel were deployed to keep and maintain the peace. Accordingly, reports from some of the states commended states like Kaduna, Zanfara, Sokoto, Taraba etc for maintaining public peace through out the elections. However, in states like Delta, Niger some security personnel were sighted voting at the election rather preoccupying themselves with security matters.
Malpractices and Irregularities
Heavy irregularities and all sorts of electoral malpractices were observed and reported in various states where LG elections have been conducted. In Plateau state for instance, the following were recorded; under-age voting, disregard for voters register, none use of indelible ink, lack od secrecy for voters, open campaign at polling stations and lack of special arrangements for the blind voters.
Other Lapses
Reports from most states suggests that several lapses were observed during the elections. The voting process in Taraba state was said to have been marred by irregularities, ranging from unseen electoral materials, diversion of ballot papers, use of already thumb-printed ballot papers and results. In Bali LGA of the same state, it was observed that there were common incidences of under-age and multiple voting. The observers insisted that there were so many abnormalities and anomalies that cut across almost all the sixteen LGAs of the state.
In Abia state, there was reports of the behind the scene selection of candidates that actually stood for elections. When the election eventually commenced proper, the logistics challenges caused the exercise to start very late behind schedule.
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