By Festus Okoye

Managing the process of electoral succession through free, fair and transparent elections is a serious political, organisational, supervisory, security and legal challenge. In arriving at free and fair elections, various stakeholders play various roles. Ad hoc staffs (who may not necessarily be staff of the Commission) act as Presiding Officers and Poll Clerks. These are the line officers that report to the Electoral Officers at the Local Government level (who are the Managing Directors of Elections).

Prof Attahiru Jega, INEC chairman

Prior to the use of members of the National Youth Service Corp as Presiding Officers and Poll Clerks, the Electoral Management Body recruited motley of persons including civil servants, teachers and the unemployed as Presiding Officers and Poll Clerks.

However, the Independent National Electoral Commission used members of the National Youth Service Corp in the conduct of the re_run Governorship Elections in Ekiti, Osun, Sokoto and Delta States. The Electoral Management Body also used them in the conduct of Senatorial re_run elections in Kebbi, Osun and Gombe States. They also participated in numerous State Assembly and Local Government Elections.

For Corps members to perform their assignments in the April 2011 elections with minimal difficulty it is important to interrogate why the Electoral Management Body abandoned the use of ad hoc staff in preference for the services of members of the National Youth Service Corp. It is also important to identify the challenges Youth Corp members faced in previous elections and put in measures to tackle those challenges or ameliorate the problems.

During the 1999, 2003 and 2007 elections, the Electoral Management Body used ad hoc staff in the conduct of elections. Unfortunately some of the ad_hoc staff recruited and used in the electoral process had no fixed address. Quite a good number of them were found to be either partially trained or not trained at all and ill prepared for the roles assigned to them during the electoral process. Some of them who had been recycled over a period of time constituted themselves into an institution and developed a life and authority with entrenched ideas and attitudes.

Furthermore, the process of their recruitment was mostly shady and opaque. Chairpersons of Local Governments with known and transparent political loyalties and affiliation played a key role in the recruitment of the ad hoc staff. Some were already compromised while others made themselves ready and available to be compromised. Some committed various degrees of electoral fraud could not be located and identified after the elections and could not face disciplinary proceedings and possible prosecution. Their continued use therefore was an embarrassment to the nation and the electoral process could not grow and have credibility without their replacement.

With these shortcomings, the engagement and involvement of Youth Corps members in the electoral process has ensured the following: 1.Engagement of persons with the intellectual ability to undergo training and understand the dynamics of the electoral process. 2. A reservoir of trained personnel with the requisite skill and needing minimal supervision. 3. Low level political affiliation and most of them are posted to states other than their states of origin. 4. The availability of a clear and comprehensive mechanism of recruitment and identification in cases of fraud and misbehaviour.

In carrying out their assignments, Corp Members have faced various degrees of challenges including the following: 1.Some wards and constituencies have difficult geographical terrain and are not easily accessible and the late arrival of electoral material and personnel exposes Corp members to harassment and hostility from the communities who sometimes erroneously believe that the non arrival of materials and personnel and on time is meant to disenfranchise them.

2. There is a huge language barrier and challenge in some polling units. Members of the National Youth Service Corp are mostly posted to states other than their own and in states of primary assignment language is sometimes a barrier to effective communication. 3. The lack of adequate training relating to the rules of procedure, guidelines and laws guiding elections makes Corps members look and appear incompetent in the discharge of their assignment. 4. The level of security cover for some Corps members in difficult constituencies and terrain is hopelessly inadequate and exposes Corp members to danger and violence.

3. There is low response to the search and rescue of Corp members in danger. To manage Corps members to deliver free, fair and credible elections requires skill, knowledge, creativity, courage and patriotic instinct. It requires a leadership with the requisite creative ability, knowledge of the electoral process and the courage to speak to power in the protection of the interests of Corp members in the electoral process.

To get the best out of Corp members and to encourage them to discharge their functions effectively and professionally those managing, assembling and supervising Corp members on electoral duty must insist on the following:

1. That the Electoral Management Body in conjunction with the NYSC should carry out comprehensive and adequate training for Corps members. This must include a good knowledge of the key issues in the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines relating to accreditation of voters, the voting process and counting and declaration of results.

2. That the procedure for the use of the Modified Open Ballot System must be clearly and comprehensively explained to the Corp members. The Corp members must also be given specific instructions on what to do in cases of operational challenges and difficulties in the implementation of the modified open ballot system.

3. That INEC should in conjunction with the Presiding Officers and Poll Clerks carry out simulation exercises in some pilot polling units to determine the number of voters that are likely to be accredited between the hours of 9am in the morning and 12 noon when the accreditation stops and voting starts. This will enable the electoral management body take a decision on the number of voters a particular polling unit can actually handle and the necessity for additional voting points with the main unit as the hub of the sub voting units. This will prevent confusion in the polling units and the possibility of violence, disruption of the voting process and endangering the lives of the corps members.

4. That the Corp members must be acquainted with the exact location of the polling units before the elections. Some polling units are not properly defined and are located at very awkward places.

5. That the provision of adequate security for Corps members is fundamental to their effective and professional performance. While corps members should be accompanied by unarmed security personnel, armed security officers must guard the parameters of the polling units and roads leading to major centres.

6. That INEC and the leadership of NYSC must set up good communication facilities and network headed by properly trained personnel to track the deployment and movement of Corps members and provide search and rescue support for Corp members in danger.

7. That the facilities and logistics for the camping of corps members before elections must be improved with concrete assurances on when and how allowances will be paid.

8. That concrete arrangements should be made for the movement and deployment of Corp members on Election Day as their late arrival to poll units is a major security challenge. Those conveying them should also be properly screened as some transporters have dubious and shady political affiliation and have been known to compromise the security of electoral personnel and the integrity of the electoral process.

9. That there must be effective supervision of deployed Presiding Officers as some politicians with dubious intentions have resorted to sowing the uniform of Corps members and forging identification cards of Corps members. These are given to political thugs and other dubious elements to pose as Presiding Officers and at the end they compromise the electoral process and it is blamed on Corps members.

10. That the discipline of Corps members is a key component of their performance. Some of them are known to organise and protest at the slightest sign of difficulty or challenge. Terms of engagement must be agreed upon and deployment plans and strategies worked out to avoid confusion.

The fate of the electoral process hangs on the shoulders of Presiding Officers and Poll Clerks. They will make history either positively or negatively. If they perform well the Nigerian people will be better off and have a leadership with legitimacy. If they compromise and an interloper assumes the mantle of leadership the Nigerian people will continue to suffer from electoral deficit and leadership credibility.