OFF-CYCLE ELECTION: INEC ADVICE POLITICAL PARTIES TO SHUN VIOLENCE DURING CAMPAIGNS

...As IPAC chair charge INEC to restore hope in the people

The Independent National Electoral Commission,INEC, says it has delivered all non-sensitive materials for the off-cycle  elections in three States; namely, Kogi,Imo and Bayelsa.

The INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu made the disclosure at the quarterly consultative meeting with political party at the commissions headquarters in Abuja. Prof Yakubu also disclosed that training of various categories of ad hoc staff is ongoing. 

"We have made the soft copies of the complete register of voters available to all political parties participating in the elections. We conducted the mock accreditation of voters and the upload of results to our IReV portal using the BVAS. Stakeholder engagements are ongoing. Our State offices have concluded the readiness assessment of our facilities as well as the movement of critical facilities to our 56 Local Government offices across the three States."

As part of preparations for the Nov. 11th the INEC boss said political parties have uploaded the names of their polling and collation agents to the dedicated web portal. 

"As I informed Nigerians at the meeting with our Resident Electoral Commissions (RECs) last week, a total of 137,934 agents made up of 130,093 polling and 7,841 collation agents have already been uploaded to the portal. However, not all the political parties have nominated agents for all the polling units and even the collation centres in the three States. In the next few days, the Commission will publish the detailed distribution of agents uploaded by all political parties for public information. I urge you to consider the submission of names of agents as important as the nomination of candidates for election."

"I am glad to report that the printing of agents’ identity cards will be completed this weekend. This will allow political parties ample time to distribute the cards to their agents. All the identity cards are QR Code-readable to ensure maximum security and to avoid impersonation by unaccredited persons," he added.

On the issue of candidature, the Commission said it is concerned about the spate of recent judgements and orders of court in respect of the nomination, substitution or disqualification of candidates after all the sensitive materials have been printed. The reprinting of the materials in compliance with court orders within a short period of time is not only expensive but the management of the process very challenging. 

"Although the Commission has already published the final list of candidates for the three States, four recent court orders have compelled us to review the list. These changes have been reflected in the updated list of parties and candidates on our website. However, this decision is without prejudice to any pending appeal by the affected candidates or their political parties."

Prof  Yakubu also reminded the party representatives to maintain peace during the campaign rallies and procession. I

"As electioneering campaigns continue to intensify, the Commission reiterates its concern about the spate of violence in the three States involving parties and candidates. I wish to remind you as party leaders that free and fair elections are only possible in an atmosphere of peace. After all, election is a process involving human beings as voters, election officials, observers and the media whose safety is of paramount concern to us. While we will continue to work with the security agencies in this regard, political parties acting individually or collectively through the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) also have an obligation to impress on your members, candidates and supporters to maintain peace during the campaign rallies and procession. I urge you to also appeal to them to maintain the same disposition on Election Day and beyond."

On his part, the chairman, Inter Party Advisory Council, IPAC, Engr. Yabagi Sani while commending INEC on the commissions charge it continue to demonstrate impartiality, transparency, and a commitment to conducting free, fair, and credible elections. 

He said, "This is not only a moral imperative but a necessary step towards preserving the integrity of our democratic system.,

"There is no doubt that INEC is showing its best efforts in its preparations in spite of obvious encumbrances. However, a lot more needs to be done to ensuring that elections in Nigeria are hitch free, credible and substantially comply with the provisions of the controversial 2022 electoral act."

Furthermore, I challenge INEC to work diligently in persuading our security agencies to play by the rules of engagement and resist the temptation of being used by desperate politicians. The involvement of security agencies in the electoral process, when it becomes unavailable, must be based on professionalism, neutrality, and a commitment to the defense of our democracy, rather than partisan interests,"he concluded

This is the first time that the Commission will be conducting three off-cycle Governorship elections simultaneously across different geo-political zones. And it is as a result of coincidence of the end of tenure of the current holders of the offices which fall within the constitutional timeframe of not earlier than 150 days or later than 30 days before the expiration of their terms of office as enshrined in Section 178(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).