PVC: INEC has failed Nigerians – Fashola

The Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), on Saturday dismissed explanations being advanced by the Independent National Electoral Commission to back its non-distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards in parts of the state.
Fashola said the Commission’s request for re-registration made no sense.
On Friday, INEC pasted notices in some wards, including Fashola’s Ward G3, Unit E002 in the State Junior Grammar School, Itolo Street, Surulere, directing the voters to come for fresh registration scheduled to start on December 3.
INEC said the unit had no PVCs.
The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner of the state, Dr. Adekunle Ogunmola, said the non-distribution of PVC at Fashola’s and other Polling Units across the state was due to the loss of data captured during the registration in 2010 occasioned by the crash of the Commission’s computing system.
But fielding questions from newsmen in an interview at the Lagos House, Marina, Governor Fashola said he will hold onto his Temporary Voter Card for the purpose of voting in the 2015 elections in case the process for the production of the PVC was not concluded before then.
He advised all those affected by the incident to do the same, adding that INEC must be made to explain its true purpose in Lagos State.
He said: “Honestly as I said yesterday, I have the Temporary Voter Card.
“On one hand, you say we should go and register, but I have already registered, so why should I register?
“It does not make any sense because then they will say the governor registered twice.”
Asserting that his name had been on INEC database since he was 20 when the commission was still known as the Federal Electoral Commission, Governor Fashola declared: “I have been voting since then.
“I voted in 1999, I voted in 2003, I voted in 2007 and I voted in 2011.
“Why should they say I should go and re-register?
“It is only in this country that they do registration of citizens and after four years, they will say you should come and re-register.
“What did they do with the previous one?
“This nonsense must stop.
“INEC has a lot of explanations to give to Lagosians and Nigerians and they should stop hiding behind the fingers and come out and tell us what they really want us to do.”
Fashola dismissed the explanation of system crash, which the Commission is currently blaming for the shortfall in the state’s voters’ lists, saying as a result of the inconsistency of INEC, it has become hard to believe the electoral body on anything.
The governor recalled that when the State Government complained about the disappearance of about 1. 4 million voters from the Commission’s announced registration, it attributed the shortfall to AVIS and later said it was double registration.
After this, the Commission they again mentioned “business rules that makes the numbers to reduce”, adding: “Now the official reasons why 1.4 million votes disappeared, which include ostensibly my name and millions of Lagosians, has changed from double registration, AVIS and business rules to system crash.
“When did the system crash?
“We need to know because a system does not crash in bits and pieces even though I am not a computer expert.
“If the system crashed, why did it not take the 4.8 million voters?
“We are not stupid people.
“They must credit us with some level of intelligence.
“I think they should stop hiding behind the finger and come out and tell us truly what the reasons are.
“They have failed without any logical explanation for it.
“The system can’t crash in parts.
“If you store data in one place, it’s either you lose it or recover it.
“What is the integrity of INEC if it is telling us that it does not have a data recovery system?”
Expressing disappointment at the electoral body’s seeming lack of transparency in the handling of the PVC saga, Governor Fashola said it would amount to irresponsibility if INEC said it did not have a disaster recovery system in a national assignment as important as the one it is handling, adding: “Lagos State has one.
“Every serious company, every company that issues out phone cards has data recovery system if they are serious.
“INEC has a lot of explanations to make and should stop hiding behind the finger.”