PDP Reps candidate urges INEC to find permanent solution to logistics challenges…

From Boniface Okoro, Umuahia

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) House of Representatives Candidate for Bende Federal Constituency last Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections, Hon. Nnenna Elendu Ukeje, has called on the Independent National electoral Commission (INEC) to proffer a permanent solution to the perennial problem of logistics during elections.

The female parliamentarian who had represented the Bednde Federal Constituency between 2007 and 2019, also suggested that with the introduction of electronic accreditation of voters, the Commission should go beyond getting its ad-hoc staff acquainted with the operations of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machine by giving them sound technical training on fixing minor technical issues involving the machine.

Elendu-Ukeje spoke on Saturday evening at Ezi Alayi Community Hall housing EziAlayi Polling Unit 010/020 while polling was in progress. She said that INEC has had to grapple with logistics challenges leading to late delivery of ad-hoc staff at their areas of assignment, as well as voting materials on polling days during general elections which have always had profound negative impact on the exercise.

According to her, INEC should come out with a concrete logistics arrangement that would ensure timely delivery of both elections materials and ad-hoc staff to ensure a transparent process during the time for ballot casting and conclusion of polling.

She noted that it was not proper that the same logistics problem would continue to mar elections in every general election cycle.

She said that Saturday’s polls took off late in Alayi and in some other parts of Bende in general due to the same logistics challenges, thereby occasioning late arrival of materials and INEC officials.

“It took off late. It was a logistical nightmare trying to actually get the materials out,” she said.

She stressed that the late delivery of materials always impacts negatively on the voting proper as it could lead to disenfranchising prospective voters who arrived polling centres early, waited for long and decide to go home or even create a scenario whereby all those who turned out may not be able to cast their votes due to time constraint.

She, however, expressed happiness that Saturday’s elections were greeted with a large turnout of voters who had to endure a long wait at polling centres.

“The Turnout has been very impressive. I always expect that a successful presidential election will be one that witnessed about 50 per cent turnout. And in this case, it is a lot more. As you can see, people are still voting. It is very animating. In some cases, tempers flare because of the anxiety and fear of the voters of being disenfranchised because INEC ad-hoc staff want to close and go,” she said.

The former federal lawmaker who is re-launching her bid to return to the Green Chambers of the National Assembly disclosed that the electorate in her constituency were sensitized to arrive at the polling centres very early, in the hope that INEC would stick to its 8.30 am commencement of voting.

“In sensitizing them, we told them to come out really early. A lot of them actually came out to vote very early, in anticipation that the materials will get here on time but, unfortunately, the materials didn’t get here until 3 p.m. Maybe, the level of preparedness didn’t take into account the distribution of materials,” she said.

The PDP candidate equally complained that malfunctioning BVAS helped to slow down the speed of voting in several polling units in Alayi community and beyond.

“The BVAS here is slow and we have gotten reports from some places that the BVAS are not working. In some places, it is slow, in some others, it is not working right,” she said, adding, however, that INEC rectified the BVAS challenges.

She urged INEC to give technical training to its staff tasked with the responsibility of operating the BVAS beyond teaching them how to just operate the machines, to enable them to fix simple technical challenges that may arise while they were on duty.

On whether she was hopeful of emerging successful at the end of the contest, she said the answer lies with people. “I think if it was left to me, I will; but I think it is left to the people. So, we just gonna have to wait till the outcome of the vote.

“Am I hopeful, absolutely; do I believe I will make it, that’s for the people to decide,” she added