A Wake Up Call For INEC

   Abia Supplementary Polls: A Wake Up Call For INEC

After reviewing the conduct of April 11th governorship poll in Abia State we hereby ask for the following from INEC and the security authorities in Nigeria.

1.That the Abia INEC REC, Prof Selina Oko, be removed from her position and not allowed to further participate in the supplementary polls because she showed verifiable bias in favor of her relation Dr Alex Otti of APGA. She also has a record of messing up governorship polls as exemplified by her failures at Imo 2011 that led to her suspension and replacement before that election was successfully completed

2.That Professor Benjamin Chukwuma Ozumba be removed as returning officer due to

his inability to properly follow the extant rules governing the polls as confirmed by INEC chairman. We take due note of the following comments made by INEC Chairman with regards to the "cancellation" and "reversal of cancellation" debacle that obviously showed an electoral official that was either inept or compromised to the extent of ignoring elementary rules of electoral engagement.

“it was a mistake to cancel elections in 3 local Government areas in Abia State. We said particularly that affected wards should be cancelled and not the 3 LGAs. There were also allegations of no election take place, which we investigated and saw was not true. If a mistake was made and we could correct it within the legal framework then we intervene and make corrections”-Prof Atahiru Jega on 21/4/15

3.We want INEC to ensure that all 299 polling units for the supplementary poll

use pre-zeroed card readers for accreditation with total number of accredited voters announced at 1pm and signed off by the party agents before voting commences. No incidence form entries for accreditation and the card readers must work or no voting. Any result sheet that shows votes in excess of signed number of accredited voters should be discarded and voting should close at 5pm in all polling units and the result from each PU pasted.

4.INEC should insist that every result that will be accepted at the collation centre must be accompanied by duly accredited party agents and the attached polling unit police officers. From the LGA collation centres the results should be announced and then accompanied to Umuahia by relevant party agents and armed security guards to ensure that the results are not altered along the way or hijacked by hoodlums or their uniformed equivalents.

5.The security authorities should ensure zero vehicular movement in the concerned LGAs (NINE) and also prevent movement into them from other LGAs. Commercial motorcycles and tricycles operators should not be permitted to operate at the concerned locations as they are usually involved in conveying thugs and other miscreants to polling areas. Those wishing to vote should walk freely to the polling units and buses should also not be allowed to carry "electoral duties" stickers and move around with more than 2 passengers. Such buses are used to carry thugs.

6.Soldiers should stay away from the polling locations and only man entry points to the concerned towns and RAs. They should not come near polling or collation locations. Similarly, increase the number of policemen at each polling unit to 5 with 3 of them armed and 2 unarmed per polling unit. Security agents should raid hotels and homes to fish out imported and local thugs before polling day.

7. We want the result of the supplementary poll announced same day or LATEST, early Sunday morning with the winner declared. We don't want tension to build after the election. Only dully accredited party agents, media and security men should be at the collation centre. Party supporters should not be allowed anywhere near any collation centre, including INEC office Umuahia.

Fellow countrymen, are we asking for too much? Is it impossible to implement these demands and ensure a peaceful, free and fair supplementary poll in Abia?

Ifa single Abian loses his life because of the supplementary poll the authorities have failed us and INEC and security authorities should be held responsible. If the result is manipulated in anyway, Nigeria and the world have failed Abians.

We have resources at every polling unit involved in the re-run and will monitor the process from start to finish and update Nigerians using twitter and Facebook handles we will unveil on election day in association with an international poll monitoring group and media affiliates.

Thank you.

-Neighbors4Okezie Organisation