Tinubu, disagrees with Jega over barring polling agents from polling Booth

The All Progressives Congress of Nigeria (APC) has expressed disagreement with an order of the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, barring polling agents from within 300 metres radius of the polling booth, saying it is not consistent with the provisions of relevant sections of Nigeria’s electoral act.

The media aide to former Lagos State Governor and one of the national leaders of the party, Senator Bola Tinubu, Mr. Sunday Dare, in a statement yesterday reeled out several sections of the Electoral Act that allow polling agents to be present at the polling booth, adding that Jega “did not only goof but demonstrate a high level of ignorance of the Electoral Act, 2010, which regulates electoral activities in Nigeria.”

In another statement, the party also pointed accusing fingers at the Minister of State for Defense, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, who it claimed had abandoned his office and abdicated his responsibilities of superintending over the protection of hapless Nigerians, to intimidate the electorate in the isolated governorship election, while Nigerians are being tormented by the Boko Haram terrorists, according to reports from This Day.

The party premised its argument against Jega’s position on Section 45 of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) which stipulates the mode of appointment of polling agents by political parties at the various polling units and collation centres; Section 45(2), which provides that a candidate shall not be precluded from doing any act or thing which he has appointed a polling agent to do on his behalf under the Act and  Section 45(3), which provides that where an act or thing is required to be done by or in the presence of a polling agent, the non-attendance of the polling agent at the time and place appointed for the act or thing or refusal by the agent to do the act or thing shall not, if the act or thing is otherwise done properly, invalidate the act or thing.

Against these backgrounds, the APC contends that a candidate in an election is at liberty to be his own agent or appoint any other person to act on his behalf, inasmuch as it is impossible for a candidate to be at all the polling units at the same time.

“It is inevitable that he (a candidate) must appoint agents. There are so many rights a candidate or his agent possesses at the polling booth and for which it is imperative that the agent or the candidate must be present within the polling booth,” Dare insisted.

According to him, an important provision on the need for polling agents to be present at the polling unit is contained in section 50 of the Act, which provides that: “A candidate or a polling agent may challenge the right of a person to receive a ballot paper,” in a case of irregularities.

He noted that where an agent is prevented from being at the polling unit, it would be impossible for the agent to challenge the issuance of ballot paper to undeserving persons.

Dare, who argued further that “a supervisor cannot be separated from the scene or event to be supervised ” also referred to Section 59 of the Electoral Act which affirms that: “A polling agent has the power to inform the presiding officer that he has reasonable cause to believe that a person is under the age of 18 years or that the person has committed an offence of impersonation where such a person is still within the polling unit.

“Based on information provided by the polling agent, the Presiding Officer has the right to order a police officer to arrest that person which shall be sufficient authority for the police officer to so act. To perform this task, it is mandatory that the polling agent has to be within the polling booth in order to identify “a person under the age 18 years or an impersonator.” If he is metres away from the polling unit, how can he inform the presiding officer?”

-Today.ng