Getting to Vote
This blog is continued from Part 1 which covered the day of elections up to the point where voters were ready to vote.
Nigeria: #NigeriaDecides Election Review IV - Part 1 to Voting
The review attempts to document in general the mood and situation rather than publish the results and for those who did come out to participate in the elections the great reward is to see that their votes count to the final results that gets announced for the winners.
Despite the postponements from last weekend, it does appear INEC had really gotten their act together, the logistical issue mostly dealt with and the personnel quite aware of what they needed to do ensure a smooth voting process.
Many stakeholders and politicians felt that the conduct was good and they probably were not able to influence activities because they were not accredited to monitor the process.
People soon began to vote, though there were Polling Units where accreditation was still taking place, with people reporting their experiences and views.
@Tellng: Kwara PDP gubernatorial candidate Fatah Ahmed casts vote, says happy with turnout even though low http://tinyurl.com/3zcz636 #nigeriadecides #Cool2Vote
#NigeriaDecides #ReVoDa PU: 24/15/02/005: the Queue is almost out...but sum1 still insist he his voting by 3pm...Way to go
@MsChika411: Still confusion at polling unit in Owerri North. At past 2 still doing accreditation #nigeriadecides http://plixi.com/p/90851842
@sfladipo: Just voted and I can confirm that Labour Party (LP) wasn't on the Senatorial ballot paper! #NigeriaDecides
@4eyedmonk: Voting ends when the last accredited voter casts his vote or 5pm. Whichever is applicable #NigeriaDecides
Making it count
Once voting ended, the count began, openly, publicly, transparently for all those who waited behind to ensure their votes count. The @inecnigeria Twitter account openly encouraged everyone to send information of all activities. Most especially, pictures of the result sheets were asked for which I believe was to prevent middle-man manipulation of the results during the collation process.
The chain of custody from Polling Unit to Registration Area to Local Government to State and the National level will be painstakingly monitored by the voters and observers so that discrepancies with expected results can be quickly sorted out.
Over time that was a steady flow of results filling the Twitter timeline creating trends and discussions between power gains and losses, the most important issue being votes were evidently counting.
@LAkintobi PU 24/13/07/049: counting along with INEC/Corpers. Tedious, but the crowd insisted #NigeriaDecides http://plixi.com/p/90891912
@vnedu: #Nigeriadecides. PU: 04/17/02/011. Results:House of rep. ACN -30, ADC-17, APGA-24, CPC-2, PDP-5. Invalid vote 3. ACN wins.#iamLagos
@tolasol: I've voted. Whole process very orderly and efficient at 24/11/02/019 #NigeriaDecides cc @inecnigeria http://plixi.com/p/90843114
Jega Speaks
The INEC Chairman after visiting a number of Polling Unit addressed the media and took question debunking a number of news trends that had been published about the electoral process without corroborating and verifying such reports with INEC. He has also previously released a statement with regards to the bombing in Suleja the night before.
@reclaimnaija: The INEC Chairman to go out and inspect and monitor some polling stations soon. #NigeriaDecides #ReclaimNaija
@inecnigeria Take a legible picture of the results sheet at your PU in order to prevent changes or modifications. #NigeriaDecides Pls RT
#NigeriaDecides This is what the picture of the results should like - complete, clear and useful in evidence twitpic.com/4itizn
@inecnigeria If you are in Delta State, Sapele, please report on Twitter or by SMS to 0813-832-7889 or 0812-728-0713. #NigeriaDecides
@inecnigeria Report ballot box snatching to 0813-832-7889 and 0812-728-0713. #NigeriaDecides
@inecnigeria INEC: Make sure the Corpers at Polling Units use the Form EC 40A to account for used and unused ballot papers. #NigeriaDecides
@inecnigeria Make sure the Presiding Officers at PUs use the Form EC 40A to account for (un)used ballot papers. #NigeriaDecides
@samuelsonly: If you think your vote doesn't count, why do you think they are willing to pay for it? #NigeriaDecides
BSKukawa: Thumbs up to Jega #nigeriadecides
@gbengasesan: Jega says even though a mob action burnt down the house of ballot snatchers in Zaria, the culprits have also been arrested. #NigeriaDecides
Confidence
This time, it appears no one could rig the elections with impunity, they culprits will be apprehended and prosecuted, it meant Nigerians could begin to trust the process and it should serve as an impetus for Nigerians to come out en masse to vote next Saturday.
@Nnaziri: What's amazing about the attempted rigging this time around is that they are being caught #NigeriaDecides
StanVito: In all our euphoria, let's not forget to commend GEJ for enabling this level playing ground #NigeriaDecides
NigeriaNewsDesk: FLASH: A PDP local govt chairman earlier snatched ballots away from Owerri East and now he is detained by police forces. #nigeriadecides
From the debacle of 2007 through the opprobrium heaped on INEC over the last week that made Nigeria out as being unable to conduct credible elections, we might just have the makings of the best ever and as one tweet suggested, we in a silent revolution.
waleedarh: #nigeriadecides ... a silent revolution.
Reference Notes & URLs
Nigeria: #NigeriaDecides Election Review I
Nigeria: #NigeriaDecides Election Review II - New Election Dates
Nigeria: #NigeriaDecides Election Review III - Who votes on Saturday.
Nigeria: #NigeriaDecides Election Review IV - Part I to Voting
Nigeria: #NigeriaDecides Election Review IV - Part II - We can
To contact INEC
#NigeriaDecides: INEC incident reporting addresses: inec@yahoo.com, inec@gmail.com, inec@hotmail.com, inec@nigeria.org
Follow @inecnigeria, @EiENigeria, @reclaimnaija on Twitter if you are voting tomorrow. You will get useful alerts and information.
If you are tweeting about the elections, please use the hashtag #NigeriaDecides.
Send SMS Reports to INEC on these numbers 0816-666-2222, 0812-000-6622, 0809-666-2221.
Use these HOTLINES for incident reporting: 0707-0273-6781-9 (9 lines.)
General Election Information
Nigeria: A Primer on INEC Elections in April 2011
Nigeria: INEC Election Guidelines - Critical Information
Nigeria: Table of INEC Electoral Chain of Custody
Participate in monitoring
Reporting from your Polling Unit - ReVoDa | How it works
Submit a report as a monitor to ReclaimNaija – Click to Submit a Report
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are accepted if in context are polite and hopefully without expletives and should show a name, anonymous, would not do. Thanks.