Observer’s Diary

As one of my long waiting expectations, I finally had the opportunity alongside many student journalists to contribute to the development of democracy as well as gather data that would enable the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to fortify the electioneering process in Nigeria. 

In 2015, during the presidential election that brought us thus far, I had looked forward to being involved in the process, observing elections in the ambit of the law. 

So, having been selected as an election observer by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) to observe the electioneering process at the recently concluded election in Osun State whilst as a student created a lasting yet challenging memory.  

On Monday, the 4th of July, I received a call from a friend, Oluwayitomisin. It was the national debate competition she saw on the net and called to inform me as one of the instructions stated that three or four members from the same academic institution must make a team to shoot five minutes video, speaking on any of the highlighted themes on the competition page.

Meanwhile, she resides in Ado-Ekiti, and I reside in Ibadan. We were indecisive about how to come together and who would make the third member when it was just less than four days and a week to the deadline and gubernatorial election in Osun State, respectively. 

Days were counting while I was waiting to receive further information on #OsunDecides2022 from the team; Mrs Busola Ajibola and Mr Mboho Eno from CJID, a non-governmental organisation, working to promote independent media that advance fundamental human rights.

To have foresight in election observation and be prepared for whatever scene that may unfold while on duty, CJID trained about 50 election observers virtually for two days, learning and taking note of the modus operandi of election reporting and how to observe through the lens of inclusivity. 

However, as much as I did not want my mapping strategy ahead of the Osun elections to fall out, I did not want to let go of the competition, the awards and the advantages for the winners.

Arrival Day

On Thursday, right after we finished the competition video and some parts of the editing, I received a message that all the shortlisted election observers should meet at Halatria Hotel and Tower in Osogbo, Osun State. The message tone sounded more or less like a decree. Some parts read, “If you are not at the hotel by 2 pm, you most definitely will be sent back.”

Being a first-time observer and realising that it’s an official engagement, I did not want to consider the risk of arriving at the location later than the said time. However, having checked my wristwatch and saw that it was 11:30 am, the atmosphere was heavy and too difficult to accept the reality of arriving at the hotel late. 

The moment I checked and saw a two-hours-and-thirty minutes drive from Ekiti to Osogbo on Google map, I was tensed as my mind was navigating all possible solutions to beat the time. 

Well, it was too hard to believe, but I made it. And no one could have imagined the decision I took. Private car?! Really, I thought it was a dream until I was choked by the notification I received on my phone.

At exactly 2:10 pm, when I arrived at the hotel and asked the young lady at the receptionist about my reservation under CJID, then the reality that I actually transferred the sum of *** (you don’t want to know the amount I paid) to the driver dawn on me. 

With a mixed feeling, I walked down the aisle to my room. Met Oluwatosin Ologun, Samuel Agbelusi and other colleagues inside, having a random conversation. Oluwatosin was my roommate at the hotel, and through the “meet and greet” at different corners as well as the night session we had with Mr Mboho and the civil talks from Mrs Busola, I had fun and quickly forgot all the scenes that played out earlier in the day. 

INEC Headquarters 

On Friday morning, though with some hiccups at the early hour in the hotel, the other election observers and I gathered in a hall with Mr Ajibola Hamzat from the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR) having a more interactive session to keep us charged for the election. 

As we were getting prepared to collect our observation kits at the state INEC headquarters located in Osogbo, the team knew more than enough that we needed to amuse our stomachs, so we were served a delicate breakfast as each election observer was paired in two. While some were made ‘certified loners’ to observe a local government area out of the 30 local government areas present in Osun State. 

Myself and Adeniyi Nicholas were paired to observe the state capital, Osogbo. Nicholas is an ‘all-time’ election observer and was also the president of my school press chapter before he graduated. That means we have been working together as a team for a long time, and that made the adventure so easy for me (but not without him on the field). 

Upon our arrival at the INEC headquarters, the ambience of the environment was intense, seeing all the nooks and crannies hemmed by armed security personnel, including security dogs inside a cage, vibrating like they were ready to tear anybody apart. 

An hour later, after everyone had collected their observation kits, we converged again at the hotel to take our loads and launch packs and then forged ahead to our respective local government areas within the state. 

However, since my observation assignment was in Osogbo, the location of the Halatria hotel, Nicholas and I remained in the hotel. While other colleagues got another accommodation in their respective local government areas. 

D-Day

It was on Saturday, the 16th of July, when the good citizens of Osun State came out and made a decision with their voters’ cards.

As always on election day, the road was not busy; the marketplace and everywhere that always had a large number of people visiting was free and quiet, and the creatures and the plants knew what was up on this day. 

For domestic election observers like myself and my partner, we had our tags on us and other official documents kept inside our waist purses then the adventure began! 

Meanwhile, Nicholas and I had shared all the 15 wards in Osogbo local government area and hired a bike man plus a bus driver respectively to move us to all the polling units under the wards. 

It was now my bike man touring every polling unit under my list and me. Nicholas had gone with his bus driver immediately after we rode off. 

One out of all the pictures I took while observing was the picture of the two hearing-impaired men parading different polling units in the Olorunda local government area. They moved close to voters and showed them their PVC to say that they have the right to vote however, they jokingly used their sign language to communicate as they asked for money before proceeding to cast their vote.

Another picture was a 67-old-woman who, after voted, said the process was smooth and quick as she claimed she voted less than 20 minutes after she arrived at her polling unit. 

Her story and other elderly people’s stories, as observed, acknowledged the fact that there was a priority of voting at almost all the polling units in the Osogbo local government area. 

Meanwhile, it didn’t stop the nuances that always occurred during elections. 

In Alekuwodo premises, Mr Olayemi, my hired bike man, who had been moving me around and showing fatherly love right from the beginning of the adventure, got to a place and saw a group of people raising their voices that we could notice something fishy.

I told him, “Sir, ẹ jẹ ka lọ sí bẹ” Sir, let us go there. He didn’t refuse however he cautioned me to be careful upon our arrival at the spot.

To have clear evidence and not to make any of the people involved suspicious, I dropped my tags, waist purse and collected my bike man voters card to act as if I was one of them; waiting to receive the sum of five thousand Naira they waited to collect from Olusola Kehinde Francis, Registration Area Collation Agent for NYM political party. 

With my phone camera having a video recording of each face, I stood in their midst and had a friendly-like conversation with one of them. Jokingly a young man said, “The amount is N5000, but you must collect a number before you could be in the queue. The man is coming, and if you are not in the queue, you won’t be given any money.” 

With my heart beating very fast, I knew it was high time I left the spot. Quickly I turned off my camera and pocketed my phone. 

The moment I was about to leave, Olusola Francis, the author of the scene, came and said, “Please, don’t be angry! I am coming to settle all of you.”

Then, my confidence raised again and I decided to capture his face before leaving the environment. 

Well, I eventually did take his portrait twice, clear and sharp. Meanwhile, a young lady at his back had noticed I was taking pictures from a bit distance. 

She approached me without knowing and insisted I open my phone to see my photo gallery. 

Looking at the environment and the faces standing at different corners, I knew the best option was to find a way at all costs and run. 

However, before I could make such a quick decision, two thugs joined us in the argument, and one of them forcefully collected my phone with a slap. The other went behind to carry a big stone and rest it on my head. 

Thank God I was able to run as fast as I could, and my bike man was able to inform Nicholas that there was a fire on the mountain. 

The rest of the story was about how police officers actively showed that “Police is your friend” is an otherwise statement. 

The Ad-Hoc Staff

These are electoral officers and they are mostly corp members that hold the post of Presiding Officer, Assistant Presiding Officer I, Assistant Presiding Officer II and Assistant Pressing Officer III during an election. Some of their duties are to oversee the voting process and ensure the resulting poll at each polling unit gets to the INEC office for an announcement. 

Not only do journalists or election observers face a hard time during elections, but some of these officers also go through challenging situations at their various polling units. 

In Alagba Ward 07, Ibokun road, Osogbo local government area, the ad-hoc staff at the polling unit were stranded for hours, waiting for a bus to convey them to the INEC office after they had posted the result. Difficult for them at the moment as it was late and there were ballot boxes and other official documents with them. 

Meanwhile, the party agent for PDP, whose candidate had won at the polling unit, threatened the corp members because they insisted on not accepting his offer by providing a bus for them, and an attempt to snatch the ballot box was played out before the arrival of the official bus.

Conclusion 

As I positively wait for the results of the debate competition, I would like to stress that the July 16 election in Osun State was a success!

Right from the accreditation of voters to the announcement of the results, I keenly observed that INEC as a national body is improving and there is still more to do at the levels of security. 

Ahead of the general election in 2023, police officers and other security personnel must be enlightened and understand that journalists and other accredited bodies during an election are working in the ambit of the law and there should not be restrictions from any end.