VOTER REGISTRATION IN OGUN STATE STILL WAITING TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 001355

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/W
STATE FOR INR/AA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/11/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV NI
SUBJECT: VOTER REGISTRATION IN OGUN STATE STILL WAITING TO
TAKE OFF

REF: LAGOS 1313

Classified By: Consul General Brian L. Browne for reasons 1.4 b and d


1. (C) Summary: The Ogun State Independent Electoral
Commission (INEC) registration has been hampered by a lack of
registration machines, by maintenance issues, and by
inexperience. NGOs report registration stations are
inaccessible to most rural residents. Journalists recount
allegations by opposition parties of rigged registration and
violence. State officials, while critical of the process
believe they have no power to influence things for the better
and have few options except to believe "things will work
out". End summary.

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Few Machines, Inexperienced Personnel Hamper INEC
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2. (U) In a late October visit by Pol/Econ/Chief and POLOFF
to Ogun State (Ogun neighbors Lagos State),INEC Public
Affairs Officer Dansu Ronald noted the registration process
began as scheduled on October 25. Each INEC machine was
registering 90 persons a day, more than the 80 persons per
day predicted. This means registration is being conducted at
the rate of four to five minutes per voter, he pointed out.
However, Ogun State INEC Administrative Secretary E.O.
Fakorede noted the lack of machines had severely restricted
the process. The State had only 24 machines, although
Fakorede expected INEC to deliver 13 more machines the
following week. However, Fakorede estimated the State needed
900 machines to register an estimated 2 million voters.


3. (U) The machines' Achilles' heel is their lack of battery
power, Fakorede told Poloff. Some machines run out of power
inexplicably after a few hours. By late afternoon all
machines are out of power and need to be recharged, a process
lasting two hours. Without power in much of the region,
generators are necessary. INEC has provided some generators
but the State needs more dedicated to this purpose, Ronald
commented.


4. (U) To hire registration workers, Fakorede said, INEC
invited applications, sought out university students,
National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members, and others for
the temporary assignment. The INEC support staff is mostly
young persons under 25 years of age. Because INEC had not
yet received machines, INEC trained its employees for a month
using only a manual. INEC registrars' initial encounter with
the machines was on the first day of registration. This led
predictably to significant delays as the registrars attempted
to learn how to use the machines. To speed up the process
INEC rotated their registration personnel from polling
stations that did not yet have machines through polling
stations that did have machines to observe the machines in
operation, Fakorede said.

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Ogun State Officials Critical but Optimistic
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5. (U) Kayode Samuel, Chief of Staff to the Ogun State
Governor, remarked the local INEC was off to a slow start and
lacked a sufficient number of machines. However, Samuel said
"INEC will get its act together". State Assembly Speaker
Titi Oseni was not as optimistic. INEC has done a poor job,
she said, noting that 14 out of 20 local governments still
have no INEC presence. However, Oseni insisted, those who
want to register will find a way to do so.


6. (C) A far more blunt assessment came from the Ogun State
People's Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Toju Fadairo. He
termed the lack of machines "disastrous" and referred to Ogun
State INEC Commissioner Jacob Nwakpa as an "idiot". However,
Fadairo advised that voters should "not lose hope" in the
process.

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Registration Inaccessible to Rural Ogun
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7. (U) Kehinde Kolawole, Chair of the Community Human Right
and Advocacy Centre (COHRAC),a local NGO that works to
empower community groups, told POLOFF that most people do not
believe there will be an election, and the desultory
performance of INEC only reinforces this belief. Kolawole
commented that INEC registration is still inaccessible in
much of Ogun State, occurring far from most rural villages.

LAGOS 00001355 002 OF 002


Kolawole remarked that his home village is one and a half
hours away from the nearest INEC polling station. When
registrants from his village arrived, they had to wait for up
to four hours to register.

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Opposition Claims PDP Rigging Registration
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8. (C) Tomy Agbetuyi of the Daily Independent stated that
opposition parties claim INEC is only registering PDP members
and is ignoring non-PDP registrants. Agbetuyi recounted an
incident in which two All-Nigeria People's Party (ANPP)
members attempted to register. While he did not know the
specific details of the dispute, Agbetuyi reported that two
ANPP members ended up in the Abeokuta hospital.


9. (C) Comment: By almost all estimation, without more
machines, INEC cannot register all eligible voters in Ogun
State before the December 14 deadline. Unless INEC manages
to improve significantly and swiftly, that expiry will come
and go while many unregistered voters remain. End comment.

BROWNE