INEC and the Anambra polls

In defence of JAMB

It is cheering news that prospective voters were willing to come out and be registered to vote in the upcoming elections in Anambra State, as reports show that the just concluded Continuous Voters Registration witnessed an encouraging turnout.

The exercise was conducted in the 326 wards to update the voter register to include citizens who turned 18, after the last voter registration exercise; or those who couldn’t register in previous CVR exercises.

Uncollected Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) were distributed during the exercise as well issues relating to the transfer of registered voters lost or omitted PVCs were addressed. More so, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) successfully launched its new Direct Data Capturing machine which it said was faster and more effective.

The CVR process in Anambra can be tagged a relative success as the commission was able to successfully deploy its staff to all the 326 wards of the state and there was no report relating to non-opening of any ward centre. The DDC machine introduced by the commission also worked efficiently. This means that all things being equal, an estimate of 20 people can be registered within an hour while at least 120 prospective voters could go through the DDC by the end of the six hours allotted for the CVR daily.

INEC officials in Anambra can get a pass mark as there was hardly any report on the violation of the electoral process during the entire five-day exercise as

Iofficials to a large extent confirmed the registration status of voters before registering them. While the collection of Permanent Voters Card was relatively low probably due to inability to collect by proxy, the issuance of Temporary Voters Card immediately after registration was well above 80 per cent.

The INEC has also made provisions to carry people with disabilities along in the forthcoming governorship election in the state. With this in place, it is obvious that the stage is set for the elections, but INEC must ensure that officials arrive on time on the day of the exercise. It should also work with security agents to guarantee safety of lives and property before, during and after the exercise. n recent years, children of the common man have been denied the opportunity to gain admission into Nigerian universities due to very high points set by JAMB. This is because many children of the common man do not have access to “miracle centres” where they could get free points.

Another issue is that marks scored in JAMB, is not the true test of intelligence. We must understand how it works. Actual academic performance in the course of pursuing first degree can best be determined at the end of the first year. JAMB cannot be a yardstick for judging a student’s intelligence. We have had cases where a candidate who got very high points performed badly after gaining admission.

Also, reducing the mark required to gain admission will help to rid the streets of youths, who could easily be lured into crime.