Introduction
As
in every election since 2003, CLEEN Foundation deployed observers during the 2015
gubernatorial and state houses of assembly elections held on Saturday April 11,
2015. With support from Justice for All (J4A) Program of UK Department for
International Development (DFID), CLEEN Foundation recruited, trained and
mobilised a team of five hundred and twelve election
observers to observe the conduct of security personnel in order to assess their
effectiveness and adherence to the benchmark of acceptable behaviour.
Furthermore, the Foundation printed and circulated posters and flyers of the
abridged version of the Police Service Commission’s Guidelines for the Conduct
of Security Personnel on Election Duty with the aim of enlightening the police
and the general public in this important exercise of ensuring effective and
accountable policing during elections. This information, education and
communication materials provided the public with hot-lines for complaints,
report and commendation on the general conduct of the security personnel and
the election proceedings in general.
This
interim report presents a summary of our findings based on our observation of
the 2015 Gubernatorial Elections.
Observation
a)
Punctuality and adequacy of
officers
Compared
to the 2011 general elections, there was a marked improvement in the arrival of
security officials at their designated polling units; before 8:00am when they
opened: 80% of security officials had already reported at their posts and 4%
arrived at 9:00am or thereafter. Furthermore, nearly a half of the observed
polling units (48%) had three or more security officials in attendance. Another
third of the polling units (34%) had two officers while 18% had one official.
In
69% of the units, security officials remained at their post throughout the day,
however, in 31% of the units, officers left for brief period, to ease
themselves (64%); eat (29%) and for other reasons (7%).
b) Civility and impartiality of officers
In
95% of the units observed, security officials were described as very
approachable and approachable, only in 5% of units were they described as
somewhat approachable. Furthermore, in 97% of the polling units, officers wore
name tags that were easily identifiable to observers. Officers were described
as impartial in 94% of the units. At the close of polls, security officials
were reported to have provided escort for the election materials to the
collation centres in 90% of the polling units.
c)
Orderliness and feeling of safety
at the polling units
Orderliness
and crowd control are essential to the election process. Observers described 89%
of the polling unit as orderly. Consequently, 89% of the polling units were
observed to be safe and secure. However, some polling units in Rivers, Edo,
Imo, Akwa Ibom, and Abia were observed to be insecure. In 98% of the polling
units, security officials complied with the instructions of presiding officers.
Incidents which threaten the security of the polling unit were reported in 16%
of the observed units. Observers also reported that the incidents which arose
were well handled (78%) by the security officials present.
d) Use of Force
There
was no use of force in 87% of the units. However, in 11% of the units, the use
of force by security officials was observed; an increase of 5% compared to the
trend observed during the Presidential and National Assembly Elections.
Security officials bearing firearms were sighted in 11% of the polling units.
e) Overall Assessment of the Conduct of
Security Officials at the Polling Unit
In
the light of the findings above, the conduct of the security officials during
the elections were judged as good in 88% of the polling units by the observers.
Highlights
of insecurity and misconducts at Polling Units
In
spite of the satisfactory conduct of security personnel, cases of insecurity
and misconduct were observed in some polling units, some of which are
highlighted below:
·
Ballot snatching, illegal possession of
ballot papers and result sheets across the country, including snatching of
result sheets and attack on voters by a retired senior police officer in
Urukaman LGA, Akwa Ibom.
·
Cases of murder in several states
including Rivers, Imo, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Katsina, Kebbi, Akwa Ibom, Abia and
Lagos.
·
Arson in a few states including Rivers
and Ebonyi
·
Violent attacks and intimidation by
thugs in many states across the country.
·
Killing and assault of security agents
by thugs.
·
Violence in polling units across Rivers,
Akwa Ibom, Imo, Abia, Enugu, Katsina states.
·
Isolated incidences of security officers
killing thugs at polling units for example, in Ali- Kazaure Ward, Jos in
Plateau state and Bayan-Dutse in Zuru LGA
of Kebbi state where three people were reportedly killed by soldiers.
·
Inducement of voters with money, food
and other materials within polling units.
