I have not seen the card reader, the newly acclaimed anti-rigging technology in the country. At least, that is the position of the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega. Nobody is so sure whether Jega is proceeding on a terminal leave preparatory to leaving the plum job or he would be allowed to finish the job he has started. The only thing I know is that Jega has been on fire since the February 14 poll was shifted to March 28. The shift enabled many Nigerians to savour their favourite Saint Valentine Day celebration, which has crept into our primary and secondary school extra-curricular activities. I have said it before that I hate the job of an electoral umpire in Nigeria.
It is a thankless job though the occupant may not be poor after it. It is one job that is full of trouble, no matter where the pendulum swings. Those who lost the election would like to crucify the umpire while those that won will canonize him. Have you looked at our past electoral umpires? They have been silenced whether the job is well done or badly done. The electoral umpire has no friend among politicians. He, like Nigeria, is an orphan. He has no father and no mother. Those that lost elections will curse his village and generations unborn as if they were responsible for his failure. He is called unprintable names and vilified unnecessarily. Even among the winners, he is not the best of friends. Whether the election is free or not, he will not be spared accusations of rigging by the losing side.
If you doubt me, ask those that have done that job before. That is why I do not wish my friend such troublesome job as the electoral umpire. The umpire’s job is closer to that of the central referee in a football match. Left for me, I would not like Jega to go as some people are suggesting and I have my reasons. Jega did this job in 2011 and he was hailed by majority of Nigerians. And he has been doing it. For goodness sake, he should be allowed to finish it. Stopping him in the middle will be misinterpreted in some quarters. I do not think it is in the best interest of the country to sack Jega now or shift the lection dates again. The accusation of ill-preparation for the poll, one of the reasons for shifting the poll in the first place, is no longer enough to dispense Jega. Moreover, there is no election in Nigeria that its results have not been disputed from independence to the present. Nigeria has a history of bad election losers. That is why all elections will end up in courts. We hardly accept defeat. We always see ourselves as the best and the champion and our opponent the fall guy who must be defeated.
That is the dilemma of Nigerian elections. Before the shift of poll date, over 30 percent of registered voters have not collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) but now, it has reached over 80 percent collection or thereabout. We are indeed making progress even if slowly towards the 2015 general elections. I think that it fair enough. After all, even if every registered voter in the country collected the PVC, now used mainly as an identity card, all of them will not vote during the election in view of the charged atmosphere and hate campaigns. Many Nigerians will not near the polling booths if there is no adequate security for the polls. That is why I have advocated for full deployment of all security agencies including the military for the polls to reduce voter apathy.
I remember that Prof. Humphrey Nwosu of Option A4 fame can be regarded as the only person in living memory that has conducted an election adjudged to be truly free and fair in the country. I am talking of the June 12, 1993 poll believed to have been won by the late business mogul, Chief MKO Abiola. If you ask me why that election was free and fair, I can safely say that it was largely because of the formula adopted by the electoral umpire. Nwosu’s Option A4, an indigenous electoral formula. That Nigeria’s major contribution to world democracy may still save us the day now that the 2015 poll appears to be even more contentious without even balloting. It will save us the accusations of rigging occasioned by the introduction of the card reader, a new technology that attests to the authenticity of a voter card.
The outcome of the recent mock test of the new instrument shows that it failed and passed at the same time depending on whom among the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC) teachers, sorry politicians, is marking the script. While the PDP teacher scored the card reader zero, APC teacher gave it 100 percent. Indeed, neither the zero score nor the 100 percent will be acceptable. As an impartial observer, I score the card reader 60 percent success and 40 percent failure. Since, this is the first time that this technology is being deployment for elections in Nigeria; I suggest that it should be subjected to further testing with larger population than the first mock test. And in view of reported Internet failure and battery weakness, I suggest too that this technology be either modified or be put on hold until its use for elections is generally agreed by all Nigerians. Its deployment for the polls or otherwise is never a contest between PDP and APC alone. Not even Jega and his commissioners will impose the card reader on Nigerians.
The most serious accusation against the device is that it wastes lots of time in its accreditation process. It is possible of giving wrong reading as well. Some have argued that the card reader can actually be deployed to disenfranchise some voters in some areas, a sort of scientific rigging. In view of the confusion trailing the card reader, it is better that the instrument be suspended for now. In its place, Option A4 can be used to conduct the 2015 polls. What is important is for us to realize our set objective, to conduct a credible poll. I strongly believe that Option A4 will just do that for us. Jega may wish to consult Nwosu for a free lesson on that tested electoral formula.