20101213
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The chairman of Nigeria's Independent National Election Commission, Dr. Attahiru Jega, has assured an audience in Washington, DC, that although he cannot promise a "perfect" election next year, the commission has dealt with many problem areas. Bunmi Oloruntoba reports for allAfrica.com.


In view of the tight time frame for Nigeria's 2011 polls and with memories of the marred 2007 elections still fresh, skeptical representatives of Washington think tanks, democracy watch groups and international media organizations joined a large number of Nigerians at the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Washington, DC last week, looking for assurances from the chairman of the country's Independent National Election Commission (INEC), Dr. Attahiru Jega, that the upcoming election cycle will be smoother, transparent and credible than past elections.

Dr. Jega addressed a packed room, which could be attributed to the fact that in less than five weeks, the commission he heads will commence voter registration for a voting population said to comprise 70 million. Once voters are registered, the commission will then have less than three months before the April 2 start of a series of polls to choose National Assembly members, a new president and new state governors.

The commission will be engaging 63 political parties to help mobilize voters. It estimates that it will have to train and deploy 300,000 ad hoc staff to operate voter registers and direct data capture machines in 120,000 polling stations across the country. Moreover, it will have to orchestrate an intergovernmental agency effort to ensure the security of voters and commission workers, even in pockets of the country prone to Boko Haram insurgencies and Niger Delta militants.

"The enormity of the challenge that lies ahead can't be understated," Dr. Jega said – to the extent that when President Goodluck Jonathan picked him to replace the much-maligned former INEC chairman, Maurice Iwu, "my family thought I was crazy to take the job." But, he added, he is an "incurable optimist" when it comes to the future of Nigeria. Therefore he saw the appointment as an opportunity to contribute positively to the country.

INEC's Laundry List

During his talk the chairman ticked off a laundry list of issues the commission has addressed since his appointment in July 2010.

He saw the goodwill towards the commission among legislators and the public as a reward for constructive engagement with different communities and stakeholders to make them participants in the electoral process. As a result of interaction with the government, INEC's push for improvements to the Electoral Act to be signed into law, and for additional time to prepare for the elections, were both approved and implemented in August and September this year.

Other issues the chairman ticked off his list were problems left over from the 2006 registration of voters. He recalled that INEC was besieged with problems which were a result of only 34,000 direct capture machines being procured. Three different vendors contracted by the commission each had their own proprietary license on the different software used in recording and encrypting data. As a result they were able to hold the commission hostage by refusing it access to data if the terms of their licensing fees were not met on time.

For the 2011 elections, INEC's billion naira budget is a "first line" charge on the federal consolidated accounts, and the body has more financial independence from the executive branch than in the past. Dr. Jega joked that having the largest budget the government has allocated in recent times has also made him in the eyes of many Nigerians "a walking 87.7 billion naira" fund. But having learned from past mistakes, the commission has saved the government five billion naira by developing its own in-house election software, using an open source platform.

The chairman said that – much to the chagrin of private vendors and proprietary system operators – the commission's embrace of an open source platform has prompted investment in more backend data storage and security, while providing INEC with new software which has tested well, proved robust and will ensure both the commission's independence in 2011 and avoidance of exorbitant licensing fees thereafter.

If there is one lesson to be learned from the 2007 elections, Dr. Jega said in answer to a question from the audience, "it is to keep things simple." Thus there will be no real time transmission of data; there will be multiple backups for movement of data; and INEC, in the short time it has been given, has incorporated enough reform to make it more efficient and independent, but not enough to change its structure.

One of the commission's challenges will be recruiting 300,000 ad hoc staffers, while avoiding hiring polling officers prone to financial inducements and intimidation by politicians and their supporters.

Dr. Jega said the commission intends to reach out to members of the National Youth Service Corps and students in tertiary institutions to find educated and committed poll workers. He figures the pool of NYSC and student recruits can be motivated through a group insurance incentive, and punitive measures, if necessary, can pursued through their institutions.

Security

The audience in Washington was concerned above all with the issue of security during the elections, and whether INEC will be able to deliver ballots and other voting material to polling locations on time.

Tugela Ridley/IRIN

Nigerians listen for the latest election news on their radios in Kano, northern Nigeria, 19 April 2007.

Responding, Dr. Jega said he could not promise a "perfect election." He implied that the commission's approach to averting security problems and delay of voting materials was to engage an intergovernmental agency approach and to start working and preparing with various agencies much earlier than they have done in the past.

He added that INEC is also looking to re-validate a "code of conduct" through which political parties can be held accountable. For areas of the country that have proven unstable and prone to electoral violence in the past, he noted that the commission might use the threat of result cancellation as a deterrent to violence. He noted, however, that such a threat will be used only as a last resort