ELECTION REGISTRATION FALTERING IN PLATEAU STATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 002865

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/31/2016
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM NI ELECTIONS
SUBJECT: ELECTION REGISTRATION FALTERING IN PLATEAU STATE


Classified By: Political Counselor Russell J. Hanks for Reasons 1.4 (b
and d)


1. (C) PolOff and PolFSN went to Jos in Plateau State
October 29-31. During the trip, we visited the local
headquarters of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP)
and of the Independent National Electoral Institute (INEC).
Both of these visits suggested that election preparations are
going poorly and that elections stand a substantial chance of
being delayed.


2. (C) PolOff and PolFSN visited PDP State Secretary Alhaji
Sale Bayari on October 30. The visit was to discuss the
ongoing effort to impeach Governor Joshua Dariye (Septel).
The PDP official actively took the party line on a number of
subjects, including the impeachment of Governor Dariye.
However, we also asked him if he had yet registered to vote.
He said he had no idea how to do so, and indicated that he
did not know anyone else who had yet registered. This seemed
odd as INEC had already kicked off their voter registration
effort in the state. Without prompting, he opined that
flawed elections are better than no elections at all. When
we then asked him if he thought there would be timely
elections, he said that was not possible.


3. (C) Key to Sale Bayari's concerns about timely elections
was voter registration. He said that there are 11 of the
"direct capture" registration machines in the state and that
some of those are not working. He indicated that staff were
poorly trained and that registration would run well beyond
the December deadline. In his view, elections in April are
"not possible." He predicted elections sometime "in the June
to September time period" with a transition of power in
October. He said that for even those delayed elections to be
possible, the direct capture method of voter registration
would have to be abandoned and INEC will have to revert to
some sort of revision of the flawed 2003 voter rolls.


4. (C) After the meeting at PDP headquarters, PolOff and
PolFSN went to Plateau State INEC headquarters to visit
Resident Electoral Commissioner Martins Okunfolami. He took
a much more positive view of the situation and insisted that
registration will be completed on time. However, the
specific numbers are discouraging. He said that INEC had 20
registration machines in the state, and that he was confident
they could complete the registration in a timely manner if
they received the rest of the machines. When asked how many
total machines they need, he said 658. He was hopeful they
would be received by the end of the week, but did not know.
There was also no plan to distribute those machines to
registration centers or train people how to use them. He
acknowledged that the batteries on many of the machines are
not fully functional. He also said that his colleagues in
other states had received even less equipment than he had.


5. (C) COMMENT. The situation in the field seems to support
what we hear in Abuja. INEC does not have the equipment it
needs to complete voter registration and there is no firm
plan for when they will get it or how they will use it. Of
more concern, however, is the statement by the local PDP
secretary. We believe it is significant that a high ranking

SIPDIS
member of the ruling party would be so open in discussing
delays in the election and a change to the registration
procedure. When asked who he thought was responsible for the
delays, he relied, "The government of course." The situation
on the ground in Plateau State is another troubling
indication that the government is either unwilling or unable
to conduct timely elections in 2007. END COMMENT.
CAMPBELL