The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has concluded plans to use all its powers to thwart the plan of some politicians to rig in the general elections come 2015.
In an interview with a Hausa newspaper, Rairiya, Chairman of INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega, stated the commission’s resolve to protect the votes and franchise of all Nigerians in the next general elections.
“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.
“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.
“So, while they continue to devise new strategies to rig, we will also continue to devise means by which to stop them. The goal is to ensure that we have a more improved election in 2015,” Jega noted.
