The opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has weig hed in on the controversy surrounding the selection of contractors for the country’s impending voter registration exercise by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In a statement issued here Sunday, ACN advised INEC boss Attahiru Jega not to use ‘allegedly compromised or incompetent contractors’ for the registration.
Local newspapers have been awash in reports that most of the companies selected to supply hardware and software equipment for the registration project were sponsored by INEC insiders or powerful governm ent officials and are largely incompetent.
ACN warned that the selection of the companies might be a ‘booby trap’ for the INEC’s new boss, by the discredited immediate past leadership of the commission, especially as some of the firms were also used for the poorly-executed voter registration in 2007.
According to the statement, one of the companies is alleged to have been paid over 500 million Naira in 2007 for data integration, but failed to deliver. Another was alleged to have pirated the software that messed up the registration in 2007, while at least one of them is said to have been sponsored by an INEC Commissioner.
‘Also, one of the companies is said not to be in the data business while another is an oil services specialist, with no requisite experience in the business for which it has been shortlisted.
‘If there is any hitch to the registration process as a result of the incompetence of these shortlisted contractors, the 2011 elections are already ruined before they are even held, and the blame will be laid squarel y on the shoulders of Prof. Jega,’ ACN said.
The party concluded: ‘Huge taxpayer funds are involved in the voter’s registration process, which is being repeated within three years because the last one was messed up.
‘The process itself is the bedrock of any free, fair and credible election. That is why it is critically important that Nigeria gets its right this time. Nothing must be allowed to stand in the way of a well-conducted registration process.’