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Propaganda, Vote Buying Trail Edo Governorship Election- CDD

Published

4 years ago

September 19, 2020

The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) has released its preliminary finding on the September 19 governorship election in Edo State.

One major highlights of the findings focuses on how the brazen buying of votes by the two major political parties in the election would taint the credibility of the outcome.

At a media briefing to present its key interim findings on the election, CDD Director Idayat Hassan said the nature of vote buying had become more sophisticated as politicians induced voters with such items as Ankara fabric, spaghetti, and cash ranging between N1000 and N5000.

Similarly, the group stressed that the other issue which stood out in the election was the attempt by politicians to shape narratives through the use of propaganda and false narratives on social media.

CDD noted that the high level of propaganda from the political actors, made it difficult for voters to ascertain the truth about what was happening in the electoral terrain.

She said: “CDD observers reported cases where tickets were also given in lieu of cash for voters to vote and then return to use the ticket for collection of the cash.

” In several other cases as reported by our observers, cash of between N1000 and N5000 was distributed to voters who agreed to cast their ballot for the party paying for the vote.”

The pro-democracy think tank lamented that despite the pervasive nature of vote buying during the election, the law enforcement agencies, many of which deployed in big numbers to Edo State, did not deem it necessary to apprehend and prosecute those who engaged in vote buying.

She said there was a need to specify, which of the law enforcement agencies would take responsibility for investigating and prosecuting those involved in the illegal acts of vote buying.

“CDD observer reported that law enforcement officials largely looked the other way while vote buying was going on. No efforts whatsoever were made to bring to book the perpetrators of these acts, which corrupt the electoral process.

” Vote buying was widespread in this election. For instance, CDD observers reported seeing voters discreetly exchanging their voters cards with money from party agents at Polling Unit 8 Ward 2 of Okpon Area of Ovia-Southwest Benin. It was a similar case in Etsako Central Ward: 1 Unit 5 and 6 where voters sold their votes for N1,000.

“The brazen manner with which votes were bought and sold in the open calls to question the relevance of the over 30,000 police officers deployed to enforce the law during the election. CDD is concerned that despite expending time and resources to deploy thousands of law enforcement officials to the electoral space, the officers did nothing in the face of infractions such as vote buying.”

On the arrival of INEC officials, the centre said its observation of the election shows there was late arrival of INEC officials across the state. “The consequence of the late arrival for commenting of polling is that voting started late in most parts of the state.

CDD observers report that the late arrival of poll officials was caused by poor logistics, especially transportation of personnel and election materials to polling units.”

CDD said the late arrival of INEC officials and election materials had an effect on the adherence to COVID-19 directives, as officials tried to rush commencement of the process to make up for lost time.

“This led to the flouting of protocols and directives for COVID-19 prevention. CDD observers reported pockets of protests by ad-hoc staff, who complained over issues such as non-payment of statutory allowances.

“The protests by ad-hoc staff led to lengthy delays in the election. These logistics issues, especially with respect to transportation of personnel and materials to polling units, and claims of non-payment of election workers, have been a recurring theme in the conduct of elections by INEC.”

On compliance to protocols for prevention of COVID-19, CDD stated there was a general non-compliance to key protocols for preventing further spread of the novel Corona Virus. The group said in a number of the exceptional cases where compliance was observed, it was limited mainly to the wearing of face masks.

“The flouting of rule of physical distancing was the order of the day, there was complete inability of INEC to maintain her 2 meter rules as written in her guidelines. It is important that the late arrival of INEC Staff also contributed to the non-compliance with the COVID 19 protocol as the INEC officials in an attempt to rush commencement forgo the processes.”

The group also lamented that INEC poll officials were also reported to have flouted COVID prevention guidelines, with many placing their face masks on the chin, while conducting the election.

CDD said in the light of the risks posed by the COVID-19, INEC should explore further preventive measures by instructing poll officials involved in the conduct of the election to self-isolate, while working with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to test poll workers, who conducted this election.

On incidents of violence in the election, CDD said its observers reported incidents of violence in Ikpoba Okha, Oredo, Esan West and Oriohomwan due to the activities of political thugs who disrupted voting in different polling units.

“In Ologbo, Ikhoba Okha LGA, for example, one person was reported to have been shot while in Ihomwonde LGA, Ward 5 PU 1, 2, and 3, voting process was reported not totally peaceful as conflicts erupted amongst party agents that resulted to disruption of the process.

” In Egor LGA, electoral materials were allegedly hijacked in Ward 9, Unit 15 by political thugs who are hell-bent to subvert the electoral process.

” CDD observers also reported an incident of shooting in Orhionmwon Local Government Area. Party agents were also major drivers of violence in areas with incidents as the engaged in altercations, which later snowballed into fisticuffs.”

The group however said the level of violence was not as widespread as had been envisaged.

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Business

Tax Reform Bills: The Verdict of Nigerians

Published

1 week ago

March 6, 2025

The Gleamer

Ismaila Ahmad Abdullahi Ph.D

The public hearings conducted recently by the two Chambers of the National Assembly have elicited positive responses from a broad spectrum of Nigerians, cutting across regional interest groups, government agencies, civil society groups, concerned individuals, the academia, and Labour Unions, among diverse others. Contrary to a few dissensions hitherto expressed in the media, almost all the stakeholders who spoke during the week-long sessions were unanimous in their declaration that the hallowed Chambers should pass the tax reform bills after a clean-up of the grey areas.

The public hearings were auspicious for all Nigerians desirous of economic growth and fiscal responsibility. They were also a watershed moment for the Federal Inland Revenue Service, which had been upbeat about the tax reforms. Indeed, the public hearings had rekindled hope in the tenets of democracy that guarantee freedom of expression and equitable space for cross-fertilisation of ideas. Without gainsaying the fact, the tax reform bills have been unarguably about the most thought-provoking issues in Nigeria today, drawing variegated perspectives and commentaries from even unlikely quarters such as the faith-based leaders, student bodies, and trade unions, which speaks much about the importance of the bills.

In the build-up to the public hearings, not many people believed that the bills would make it to the second reading, much less the public hearings. Even the Northern stakeholders who seemed unlikely to support the passage of the bills have softened their stance and have given valuable suggestions that would enrich the substance of the bills. The Arewa Consultative Forum came to the public hearings well-prepared with a printed booklet that addressed their concerns. It concluded with an advisory that the bills should be “Well planned, properly communicated, strategically implemented and ample dialogue and political consensus allowed for the reforms to be accepted.”

The concerns of ACF ranged from the composition of the proposed Nigeria Revenue Service Board as contained in Part 111, Section 7 of the bill, the unlimited Presidential power to exempt/wave tax payment as proposed in Section 75(1) of the bill, the family income or inheritance tax as contained in Part 1, Section 4(3) of the bill, to the issues around development levy and VAT. On the development levy, the ACF stated that unless the Federal Government is considering budgetary funding for TETFUND, NASENI and NITDA, it does not see the “wisdom behind the plan to replace (them) with NELFUND”.

The position of the North was equally reinforced by the Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria, Northern Elders Forum, Kano State Government, Professor Auwalu Yadudu, and the FCT Imams. Like the ACF, these stakeholders lent their respective voices to the Section on the Inheritance Tax in Part 1 of the bill and the use of the term ‘ecclesiastical’, which, in their views, undermines certain religious rights and beliefs. The Kano State Government, represented by Mahmud Sagagi, affirmed that “we support tax modernisation” but cautioned that “we must ensure that this process does not come at the expense of states’ constitutional rights and economic stability”. Professor Auwalu Yadudu, a constitutional law professor, drew attention to the use of the ‘supremacy clause’ and cautioned that the repeated use of “notwithstanding” in the bills would undermine the supremacy of the Nigerian constitution if passed as such.

Other stakeholders that made contributions at the sessions included the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Nigeria Customs Service, and a host of others. While most of their concerns bordered on technical issues requiring fine-tuning, they were unanimous in their support for the bills. They aligned with the position of the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji, Ph.D. and the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, which is that the extant tax laws and fiscal regulations are obsolete necessitating reforms aimed at creating a fair and equitable tax and fiscal space to grow Nigeria’s economy.

In one of the sessions, Dr Zaach Adedeji expounded on the criss-cross of trade activities in the Free Trade Zone whereby companies misuse tax waivers as exporters to sell their goods or services in the Customs Area at an amount usually less than the price the operators in the Customs Area who pay VAT and other taxes sell theirs thereby disrupting business transactions. This way, the operators in the Free Trade Zone shortchange the government in paying their due taxes by circumventing extant regulations, which are inimical to the economy’s growth.

Overall, the presentations were forthright, foresighted, and helpful in elucidating the issues contained in the bills. According to the statistics read out at the end of the hearings at the Senate, 75 stakeholders were invited, 65 made submissions, and 61 made presentations. At the House of Representatives 53 stakeholders made presentations. By all means, this is a fair representation. Given the presentations, it is evident that the National Assembly has gathered enough materials to guide its deliberations on the bills. As we look forward to the passage of the bills, we commend the leadership of the National Assembly for their unwavering commitment to making the bills see the light of the day.

Abdullahi is the Director of the Communications and Liaison Department, FIRS.

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