by Hauwa Gambo

The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) isn’t one to join issues with candidates or parties in the public domain at least, but in this interview with Rariya, a Hausa newspaper, he took the candidate of the Congress for Political Change to task over allegations of corruption.

He also talked about election rigging, security agents and 2015. Excerpts from the interview are below.

Q. How would you compare your current job as INEC Chairman with the previous offices you have held before?

A. We are grateful to God for keeping us alive and giving us the chance to hold various offices just as you have mentioned. We are also grateful that we were able to do these jobs successfully and to have finished them well. Honestly I cannot begin to compare my present job with the previous ones. The challenge in the present office is far higher than all the ones I held before. Our prayer is that we would also complete it successfully as we did the previous ones.

Truth is I used to think that there is no job as difficult as the headship of a University; that is because of the intricacies involved in dealing with students and even lecturers who are all scholars in their fields and can claim adequate knowledge of everything. But coming to INEC and being involved in running elections is a different ball game. Dealing with Nigerian politicians is a herculean task but we are doing our best to understand the job and bring all the reforms necessary to improve the conduct of elections in the country.

We are also working to have a harmonious relationship between us and the politicians and all other stakeholders interested in credible elections. I never knew that conducting elections is such a difficult task until I was appointed. Thanks to God we are doing our best to ensure that everything goes according to the rules and we are able to chart a good course for the conduct of elections, unlike what obtains in the past.

By the special grace of God and the understanding and efforts of all concerned, I am confident we will have an improved and better election next time.

Q. When speculations emanated that you may be appointed INEC Chairman, many who know you said your appointment is a sign that the government is serious in conducting a credible election this time around, based on your pedigree, and when you were eventually appointed, almost everyone lauded the appointment. However, shortly after the elections, a lot of Nigerians started complaining, especially those who failed to win the elections; what do you think is responsible for this change in perception about your personality?

A. Like I said earlier, dealing with politicians, especially in Nigeria is difficult. We conducted that election to the best of our ability, with the fear of God. Of course, as human beings, we are not perfect so there may be little hiccups here and there but certainly nothing was done to short change or cheat anyone. Our politics is such that the winner will naturally be happy and commend the conduct of the election while the one that loses do not care whether the election was conducted in a credible manner or not; as far as he is concerned, he is cheated.

Because most of the politicians have supporters and followers who tend to accept whatever the politician said without caring to find out the veracity of the statement- I think that is the cause of what you mentioned.

The election we conducted may have its own flaws but compared to the ones conducted in the past, from 1999 to date- anyone who takes their time to compare (these) elections will know that there is a marked improvement. It may sound as if I am blowing my trumpet but the truth is anyhow one looks at it, they will know that we have improved the conduct of elections. For example, even the number of litigations after the elections has dropped drastically from what used to obtain in the past.

After the 2007 elections, there (were) about 1600 various litigations that emanated from the elections. But after the election of 2011, we had less than 600 litigations. As we speak, almost all the cases have been decided and if you investigate well, you will find out that INEC was vindicated in about 98-99% of all the cases. That alone will show you that we have recorded an improvement. I am not saying there were no flaws; I am just saying we have witnessed tremendous improvement compared to previous elections.

The biggest challenge remains how to keep on improving and also reflecting on the errors observed with a view to avoiding them in subsequent elections. That is what is facing us and that is what we have been trying to do at the commission at the moment.

However, since it is all about the people, one must take advantage of every opportunity provided to explain to them so that the wrong perception they had over the conduct of the election may be corrected. I know that you cannot please all human beings so we just accept things as they come and continue to do the right thing and also, as I say, explain to Nigerians whenever the opportunity is presented. Your question is very difficult to answer but this is as far as I can say. It is difficult to explain why people appear to have a change of perception. To my understanding, it may be as a result of politician’s inability to accept an outcome different from what they expect.

Where it is clear we played a role in someone being cheated, of course, they have a right to come out clearly and state this is how they were cheated and this is the role INEC played. To the best of my knowledge, we have done justice to everyone involved in the last election. Whenever an issue we considered wrong occurred, we have promptly ensured that we stopped it and the right thing was done. Even if we got to know after the offence has been committed, we made sure that the culprit is punished.

On the whole, if one looks at the conduct of the elections, and how some people are alleging that they were cheated, God knows that is not the case.

Q. Some people are of the view that you have something to say but are being constrained to say it at the moment. For instance, many say after you announced that the commission is ready for the election, you later suspended it therefore something must have happened that you don’t want to talk about now; any explanation?

A. I thank you for this question, but honestly, there was nothing that stopped me from speaking and I have on several occasions explained what happened. Truth is we have promised the world that the election will be held strictly based on the guidelines of the elections. We promised to conduct it freely, fairly and credibly.

However, we realised on Election Day that in some parts of this country- some parts, not all- a particular contractor that was supposed to supply some documents such as the election result sheet did not supply them. You know, they were printed outside the shores of this country and we gave out the contracts to several companies and we were distributing them as soon as they arrived.

(The) contractor, due to some reasons he gave which I have explained in the past, though it did not go down well with some people because it brought delay and some form of discomfort, said the goods did not come on time. At first, they said the goods will arrive by 9 p.m. and the Nigerian Air Force had given us about 14 aircraft- if they had come in by that 9 p.m., we would have distributed them but they said we had to wait till 12 a.m. If they had arrived by 12 a.m., we would still have distributed them. Still, they said the goods will now arrive by 2 a.m. and even at that (time) we were determined to distribute them. In fact, even if the goods had arrived by 7 a.m., we would have distributed them. And since we were determined to conduct a credible election, you will not hasten into taking a decision until there is absolutely nothing you could do.

As God will have it, the materials did not arrive until 9 a.m. on Election Day.

By the time the materials arrived, people were already on queue being accredited. It would not have been possible for us to distribute and circulate them to be used for the election on that day. We were faced with a big challenge, what should we do? We have promised the world to conduct a credible election and if we were to achieve that, results must be written down in the right document.

We were aware that in the past, elections were even held with nowhere to write the results on and they were only announced. But we had promised to do the right thing and even if there is a case in the courts, they can rely on the results sheet provided by INEC. That is why we decided instead of giving some people the chance to rubbish our vow to conduct credible elections, it will be better to hold on and I took responsibility for that error. If you remember, that is what I told Nigerians.

I am the leader, we have put strategies in place but due to some unforeseen circumstances, things could not go as planned. So, I have taken responsibility but we took the decision we felt was the right one at the time.

If we had gone ahead with the election on that day, it would have meant all the promises we made of conducting credible elections will be in doubt. That is why we stopped the election, as unpalatable as the decision was, because a lot of money had been spent and the rest.

Q. So what did you do to the contractor?

A. You know all contracts have guidelines and scope of responsibilities, so we explored all the terms and agreement of the contract and we acted on them by sanctioning him appropriately. Since it is a contract, we imposed a fine on him which he paid eventually. But all this happened after the elections. However, we have learnt from that incident and we would be careful next time not to engage such contractors again.

Honestly, we did all within our powers to conduct the election on that first day but as God would have it, we could not. We really felt we had a genuine reason to postpone the election, if we were to truly conduct a credible election.

I read somewhere recently where someone was saying that we postponed the election on the first day because their party was leading and is likely to win the election and so we had to stop the election so that they cannot win.

I swear to God, that is not true, it is complete falsehood. I can’t fathom why someone will just sit down and create all sorts of lies and communicate (them). I don’t know what they hope to achieve by spreading such lies.

Q. We know you are referring to Nasir El-Rufai’s book and the party in question is CPC but even the leader of CPC was recently quoted alleging that the PDP and security agencies are already merged with INEC, how did you feel when you saw that report?

A. I heard the report but I simply assumed General Buhari could not have made that statement because I also read a lot of things in the papers which are credited to me and which I know I did not say. So, I honestly don’t think he made those statements but if he did, it is definitely not true. God knows, INEC is an independent entity; so also are security agencies and the government.

All we are trying to do is to ensure we are fair to all and to also make sure we don’t dance to the tune of any candidate or political party. We are holding office in trust and only God and of course myself know the truth of all these things. I will just continue to do my best while acknowledging that people are free to raise all sorts of allegations. Whenever we get the chance, we will explain to the people the true position of things otherwise, we will just leave everything to God.

But definitely, what was credited to the General is not true and I don’t think he made those statements; but if he did, it is unfortunate because it is not true.

Q. Recently, the same General Buhari was reported to have told a gathering in London recently that INEC leadership is corrupt; although, he did not mention your name or any other official. But I am also aware that the General did not come out to deny both the earlier allegation and this one, so it is safe to assume that he did raise those allegations, are you taking any action? How do you feel?

A. I heard this one too but as I said, it is not everything I read that I regard as the truth. He may or may not have made the statements and in Nigeria today, one cannot come out to deny a statement saying there is corruption in a particular agency. But if the goal is to stop it, it will be better to have come out and say this is the corrupt act and these are those who are responsible. Knowledge of that will enable administrators do the right thing and if they fail, then it means they condoned what is going on.

All I know is that in the election we conducted, I have not come across anyone who committed a corrupt act or something of that nature that I did not take action. We don’t have any evidence or knowledge that someone has collected money in the name of the election we conducted. I can assure you on that. But if anyone knows someone who did, we are always ready to listen; besides, there are anti-corruption agencies such as the EFCC. To my knowledge, we have taken action on all issues that came to our attention. Even the Youth Corps members that we used in the election, who has helped us tremendously to improve the conduct of the election, some of them found to have been compromised were punished. Some were fined while others were even jailed for between three to six months. This is common knowledge but people hardly take note and appreciate all these.

Corruption does take place and until the government stand firm, anyone that gets the chance will indulge in corruption but here in INEC we have tried to do the right thing and we are still doing so. We always take action on anomalies.

But I keep reiterating that if anyone has information that I or any of my staff were involved in any corrupt act, they should, please, bring it out. No one can be protected once it is established they have erred. So, I cannot say what he stated is false but I am not aware. But if he has any evidence, let him bring it out so that we will see what action to take.

Q. You have taken your time to explain how you have tried to improve the conduct of elections but it is generally believed that our elections are still fraught with rigging. How can that problem be solved?

A. There are many ways of rigging elections; thankfully, we have identified a lot of the ways in which rigging takes place even before the last general election and we have taken measures to block a lot of them. For example, when we say we will conduct election with a ballot paper that has no serial number, you know that we are not being truthful. So, we ensured that all ballot papers used in the election have serial numbers. In the past, ballot papers had no serial numbers. Apart from that, we also introduced colour coding to the ballot papers. Before, you can, for instance, divert ballot papers meant for Enugu to Sokoto if it is easier to get at Enugu.

So, we introduced different colours such that one cannot divert ballot papers from one state to another- e.g. from Enugu to Sokoto- but even within Enugu, you cannot take a ballot paper meant for a particular local government to another local government and use it because the colours are different.

Apart from that, all the ballot papers we used right from the 2011 elections up to the recent governorship re-run elections contain some security marks that are known only to me because I put them there. If you want, I can show you now from some of the remnants we have. So, the issue of someone bringing in a different ballot paper does not arise because no one knows that mark that is on all the ballot papers except me.

However, one thing we failed to address adequately is the issue of the purchase of voter’s cards by politicians. Some of them buy and burn them in areas where they feel they are not strong or distribute them to their supporters to go and use them to vote. We have taken a stand to ensure that each voter is identified from the picture on the voter’s card but you know in this country sometimes people come and threaten electoral officials or they (the electoral officers) are overwhelmed by the magnitude of voters in a particular voting unit and so it is difficult to identify each and every voter from their picture.

But for the 2015 election, we want to give every voter a permanent voter’s card which will be read via a chip in the card at the point of accreditation. The card reader will highlight both his picture, name and finger prints. So, even if someone purchases a card, they cannot use it. We are trying to ensure that all the loopholes identified in the last election are corrected before the next one.

We are also aware that sometimes thugs come and disrupt elections, so we are strengthening our collaboration with security agencies for them to really appreciate and understand these problems so that they will find a way of arresting and prosecuting everyone involved.

The major part of the problem is that unlike what obtains in other parts of the continent; our politicians here are always devising new strategies of rigging elections. While you are trying to tie the loose ends, they will continue to untie the ones you did previously.

So, while they continue to device new strategies to rig, we will also continue to device means by which to stop them. The goal is to ensure that we have a more improved election in 2015.

Q. If you say everyone must thumb print, what happens to lepers and others equally physically challenged- who are unable to use their fingers?

A. Even during registration we have taken data to indicate one is a leper or challenged. Besides, everyone is known in their polling unit.

Q. When CPC went to court to challenge the presidential election, part of their prayers was to examine electoral materials at which, INEC directed their lawyers to oppose the move.

A. Honestly that is not the case. You have mentioned CPC so I will call the name. What they asked for is not electoral materials- which we would have given them- but they said everything must be gathered and brought to Abuja and we disagreed. We told them that all election materials are left in the states the elections are held. So, we advised them to come up with a schedule to travel with our lawyers to all the states they want to go to inspect the materials to go and inspect whatever they want, we have no problem with that.

But the problem is that we have equipment here that has the data of all the persons that were registered in the country; and that is what they wanted us to give them. But we told them that both the constitution and the Electoral Act did not make provision for that. Both the constitution and Electoral Act made it mandatory to protect the secret of voters because it has the addresses and names of all voters. What we have in the equipment involved peoples’ home addresses and telephone numbers. If we were to give this to anyone, they can easily go to constituencies and know who voted for who because the names are there. Election results and ballots have no names but the equipment has names. So, with it, it would have been easier to say go to a particular place and ask who so and so person is at so and so house, he voted for so and so.

So, we said if they really want that, they should argue with the court to see if it will order us to give them. What happened? They approached the court and it gave an order asking us not to give them. What is being bandied about is not true.

Q. In spite of INEC being referred to as ‘independent’ many are of the view that the agency is not independent since it depends on the government for almost everything. So how would you convince readers that you are independent?

A. In most cases whenever an agency is referred to as independent, two things come into play: the first one being how was it established and the second one is how is it funded? How it is established is based on five major principles which many countries when compared to ours follow. The first is to ensure that the government either plays no role at all or play very little in setting up the agency. Muhammad Lawal Uwais committee has given recommendation on how Nigeria should set up an Independent Electoral Commission.

In terms of independent funding, most countries simply do one thing; the commission’s budget goes to the Assembly and once approved by the legislature, the executive has no power to temper with it. In Nigeria today, the funding part has been solved and so INEC can be said to be Independent in that regard. This is because once the National Assembly approves our budget; the executive cannot do anything about it.

There may be little delay at times but eventually, what is due to us comes to us. What is left is to look at the recommendations of Uwais committee that says government should play little role in appointments into the Commission.

What I want people to understand is that just because the government appoints you does not mean you cannot do anything other than what it wants. That is not the case. You find out that some persons may be appointed by the government but they know they have come to serve the nation and not those in government. People should take note of this, it is wrong to generalise. As for me and those I work with here, we are always focused on working for the good of the nation and not the government or any political candidate.

I can swear to you that since our appointment our pre-occupation has been the fatherland, not the government or any individual politician. We just work according to the constitution and the Electoral Act. Unfortunately, a lot of people just make statements they know nothing about.

Q. Based on the law, political parties are the ones expected to name their candidates to elective offices but during the 2011 elections, INEC named some candidates in some states, why?

A. Give me example of any state that…

Q. Like in Katsina state for instance…

A. What happened in Katsina state has to do with differences among the aspirants in the political party. The party was factionalised into two and each faction was claiming to be the right one to produce candidates for the party. So, we simply followed what the rule says, and that is to identify the ones that followed the due process in selecting their candidates. How was it supposed to be done? That is what we used. Those who felt short changed went to court. In the end, what happened? At the end, they came back to the position we took. The same thing in Kano. Wherever you see these problems, they are caused by the political party itself. Let me tell you something, I swear to God, there was a party that presented a candidate in which fake documents were brought- someone that is supposed to be arrested- and we reported the matter to the police because we knew it was not right.

All these parties making these allegations, that is what they do. Section 31 of the electoral Act said we should accept any name presented to us by a political party without verification. As a result, some people did not even signify intention to run, they did not participate in primaries yet, someone’s name is removed and his own is presented to us. If we decided not to accept that name, it would appear as if we are arrogating to ourselves powers we don’t have. Ours is just to follow the rules and reduce the high rate of allegations of bias against us. Whether we are right or wrong, people will definitely raise allegations of bias. We just tried to eliminate room for errors on our part. It is definitely not true that we imposed any candidate on any political party.

Q. Some say INEC’s inability to have control over security agents is also a contributory factor, that is why some are suggesting that you get UN to send in independent troops during election. Are you thinking along that line?

A. In the first place, we don’t have to go to the UN for troops; the country disallows that except if it is in a state of war. What we need to do is to improve our security situation such that we will do the job perfectly well. We can learn from some countries such as India and the rest. What they do there is to say that on Election Day- or even a week to the election, it will be announced that all the military or police are under the electoral commission. They only carry out the orders given by the head of the electoral commission. But can I dare do that in Nigeria? Already so many allegations are flying around. So if that happens, even the orders I did not give will be attributed to me.

Truth is, there is a way to improve the security situation. Right now, we have an excellent cordial relationship with the Inspector General of Police and other heads of the military on how to improve the security situation as far as elections are concerned.

We have recorded success in Ondo and Edo. It was only in Kano that we faced a little challenge during the by-election held recently in Gaya and Garko constituencies. Honestly, we were not happy with what happened. There were security lapses which if not taken care of will create unnecessary damage. We are determined to ensure that such does not repeat itself. Thankfully, there was an election two weeks ago in Gombe and there was adequate security measure such that what happened in Kano did not repeat itself.

What happened in Kano is like we are back to the old days. Thugs were brought to polling units and they prevented people from coming out to vote and they undertook all sort of rigging right in front of the security agents who did nothing. Perhaps, it was because they were overpowered or they felt if they decided to act, it could degenerate to a total breakdown of law and order. So, I call on governors particularly that of Kano to take steps to ensure that such an ugly episode does not repeat itself because it is like taking us backward again.

Q. What assurances do you have that the election of 2015 will be acceptable to Nigerians than that of 2011?

A. My hope and promise to Nigerians is that if we are able to conduct the election of 2015, we will come out with strategies and will be more determined to make sure that we organise an election that will be most acceptable to Nigerians.

However, conducting election is not the responsibility of INEC alone; everyone has a role to play, ranging from traditional rulers, clergies, and other eminent Nigerians.

We all have to be determined and show and act that we want to change things for the better, everyone should contribute his quota. With proper understanding among the people, issues that many assume it’s only INEC or security agencies that can handle them, may end up being handled by the people themselves.

We are therefore, calling for the support of all Nigerians and we pray God will continue to help us all so that we can make progress in the conduct of elections in Nigeria.

If we want Nigeria to develop, we must first develop the conduct of credible election.