Viral videos suggesting Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) is discriminating against people from the Igbo ethnic group and refusing to allow them to register for Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) are misleading.
The videos, which were shot within and outside the Inec office in Igbede, in Ojo Local government Area in Lagos State, show some people fighting and others complaining that they were refused a chance to register to get their PVC because they are Igbo.
In one video, bystanders can be heard asking in Igbo language if the people who were then fighting inside the compound of the Inec office “can fight”.
However, eyewitnesses said the conflict had to do with a fight between members of the community where that registration was taking place and had nothing to do with Inec staff refusing to register people because of their ethnicity.
"A fight that started it all"
One of the eyewitnesses, Chinaza Ikemeziem, said the cause of the conflict was the insistence by the people who came to register that Inec staff must not take any of their capturing machines away from the premises.
“What happened was that there was an influx of people. Alaba Market was closed so people can come for their PVC. There were thousands of people and the Inec staff couldn’t handle them. What caused trouble was when the Inec staff came to move their materials to other places where they do registration. The people who came to do registration refused to allow them to go and fight broke out,” Miss Ikemesiem said.
Miss Ikemesiem insisted that before the conflict over the movement of machines, there was no issue of discrimination on account of ethnicity.
“The issue was that only one machine was functional in the office and the people there didn’t want the other machines to be taken away from there,” She said.
Lawal Waheed, who also witnessed the conflict, said he was attacked after he got the Inec staff to safety.
“There are some machined that the Inec officials usually take out to other communities so that those people who cannot come here will be captured. This has been ongoing for some months. Some of the people who came to register were insisting that they must be captured before the machines are taken to another location.
"Attempts to explain to them that the machines that will capture them were in the office and these were meant for another location fell on deaf ears. They attacked a male Inec staff and prevented him from leaving, but his female colleague managed to get into an okada and leave. They beat me and tore my clothes after I guided the Inec staff to safety,” he said.
He added that a local chief was assaulted during the fracas, and this was what angered the youths in the community who arrived to confront the angry citizens.
Mr Waheed said that there was no time Inec staff tried to prevent anyone from being registered.
"There was nothing like 'Igbo people should not vote'"
“It was while the fracas was going on that we heard some people saying that they were taking the machines away because they don’t want Igbo people to vote. There was nothing like that at all,” Mr Waheed said.
A video shared on Twitter shows the Inec official returning to the office. Comments by bystanders also support his account as people could be heard saying “how can Alaba be here and they will be allowed to take the machine away” in Igbo.
The conflict occurred close to the Alaba International Market in Lagos.
The President of the Electronic Section of the market Paulinus Ugochuwu had shut down the market for one day to enable traders to register to vote in next year’s general elections.
Mr Ugochukwu confirmed that there were “issues” during the registration process but stressed that there was no case of attempted voter suppression or refusal to avail people of the registration process because of their ethnicity.
Inec to get more machines to Igbede
“We are aware of the issue that occurred in Igbede. When we heard of the issue, we called our people and asked them to remain calm and they did. Everywhere is calm now and people are still being registered,” he said.
He added that they are liaising with Inec to get more machines to ensure that those who want to be registered will be registered.
Mr Ugochukwu said he was inspired to call for the registration of voters in the market after he discovered that only about 500 people among 5000 had permanent or temporary voters cards.
“Our people don’t have voters cards because they don’t vote. But, since we started this process, people are very eager and many say they don’t mind if the market is shut down for one week for them to get their voters card,” He said.
Inec officials at the office in Igbede refused to speak about the issue because they are not authorised to do so.
An influx of intending voters
However, the Inec Spokesperson in Lagos state, Nike Oriowo said the commission is continuing to register people across the state and added that they are seeing an influx of people in registration centres, especially at their centre in Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos.
The Lagos State Police Spokesperson Mr Benjamin Hundeyin reacted to the trending videos on Twitter, saying the framing of what occurred was misleading.
The Igbo are one of 3 major ethnic groups in Nigeria and are the most numerous traders in Alaba International market which is also in Ojo Local Government.
The Registration of voters was supposed to have ended ON May 31 2022, however, Inec extended it to June 30 2022.
