Amidst flooding, insecurity, INEC expresses readiness for Bayelsa, Kogi, Imo elections
…Tasks journalists to take caution, be professional
Joel Oladele, Abuja
Ahead of November 11 off-season Governorship Elections in Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo states, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has ignored flooding and insecurity which have been tagged in the last few weeks as major threats to the election.
The Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu in his remarks at a two-day capacity building and workshop for INEC Press Corp in Akwanga, Nasarawa State on Monday reeled out efforts made by the Commission so far to ensure that the off-cycle elections are held and called for cooperation from stakeholders.
Recall that there have been concerns in recent time across the three states that the exercise might be marred by the rising rate of insecurity.
Other threats that might probably affect the smooth conduct of the election, according to analysts, include flooding, especially in Kogi and Bayelsa States with Imo exempted as it has not been one of the States prone to flooding over the years.
In 2022, Bayelsa was one of the worst hit states with 70 percent of the state affected while millions of Naira worth property was damaged.
Just recently, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) raised an alarm over the pending flooding in some States with Kogi and Bayelsa topping the list.
Also, a few days ago, INEC expressed concern over the rising insecurity ahead of the election and appealed to political parties and their candidates to avoid actions and utterances capable of heating up the polity, adding that “The commission is concerned about the spate of insecurity and violence, including clashes among supporters of political parties and candidates in the forthcoming elections.
“In our engagement with political parties, the commission has constantly called on parties to rein in their supporters from actions capable of jeopardising the peaceful conduct of elections in Nigeria,” INEC said in a statement.
However, with the update made available to journalists on Monday, one can conclude that all is now set for the election, regardless of the challenges as INEC has successfully conducted mock accreditation of voters last weekend and efforts are in top gear towards making other processes a success as well.
“As you may be aware, the Commission on Thursday 12th October 2023 presented the soft copies of a combined total of 5,409,438 registered voters for the Baylesa, Imo and kogi Governorship elections to Chairmen of political parties in the states.
“The Commission also successfully carried out the Mock Accreditation of Voters in selected Polling Units across Senatorial zones in the three states on Saturday, 14th October 2023. Some of you accompanied the Hon. Chairman to witness this exercise in Kogi state.
“For the three governorship elections scheduled for 11th November, the Commission will deploy the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to authenticate the Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) and upload polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IREV) seamlessly on Election Day,” Yakubu said
He appealed to political parties to give time to studying the Electoral Act and be guided by it in their electoral process, especially those that concern peaceful conduct of campaigns.
“We urge political parties participating in the off-cycle governorship elections to critically study and pay attention to the provisions of the Constitution, the Electoral Act, the Police Act, and the Public Order Act for the proper and peaceful conduct of political campaigns, rallies, and processions.
“A political campaign or slogan shall not be tainted with abusive language directly or indirectly likely to injure religious, ethnic, tribal, or sectional feelings. Abusive, intemperate, slanderous, or base language or innuendoes designed or likely to provoke violent reactions or emotions shall not be employed or used in political campaigns.”
He warned the media to be apolitical and not allow themselves to be used by politicians.
“Let me also remind the media of their constitutional obligations. State apparatus including the media shall not be employed to the advantage or disadvantage of any political party or candidate at any election. In other words, equal coverage and visibility shall be allotted to all political parties by all public print and electronic media organisations. The same applies in equal measure to privately owned media organizations subject to payment of appropriate fees.”
In furtherance to the preparedness of the Commission, he said, “INEC Press Portal Recruitment of Ad -Hoc Staff – Ad-Hoc staff portal for the November 2023 off-cycle Governorship Elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi States was opened on Thursday, 31st August 2023 at 8.00 a.m. and closed on Monday, 2nd October 2023 12.00 Midnight.
“The summary of successful applicants shows that Bayelsa and Kogi have full complement of their requirements for all categories of Ad-hoc staff, while Imo has a shortfall of 6,154. The shortfall will be sourced from the neighbouring state.
”The Commission is harvesting operational vehicles from neighboring States and headquarters for logistics purposes to complement the number of vehicles needed by each of the state during the elections
“The non-sensitive materials required for the governorship elections have been deployed to the three States.” He stated.
Also speaking, the INEC National Commissioner and member, Information and Voters Education Committee (IVEC), Prof. Kunle Ajayi said “electoral processes in Nigeria are particularly delicate, considering the uniqueness and sensitivity of election management generally. This is because elections, particularly so in Nigeria, are perceived as very high-stakes game, so much so that some people negatively tag it as a “do or die affair.”
He therefore called on members of the 4th Estate of the Realm to do away with fake news capable of heating up the polity.
“The Commission’s distasteful experience with fake news in the 2023 General Elections has shown that, if not nipped in the bud, fake news can become the bane of election management in Nigeria.
“The alarming prevalence of misinformation, ‘fake news,’ hate speech, and the weaponisation of disinformation has become very worrisome to the Commission. Disinformation is used to provoke religious, political, and tribal sentiments in an already polarised society such as ours, especially, during election season, which is often the leading cause of electoral violence and uprisings.
“Election-related disinformation has become a major strategy used by nefarious individuals and groups in the political space to manipulate the general public to their advantage, regardless of the consequential effect such propaganda may have on the peace and stability of the electoral process and the country at large.
“Consequently, to create an environment of peace where the electorate feels safe and free to come out to exercise their franchise on election day, we, therefore, appeal to the media in general to be objective and unbiased in their reporting and avoid fake news and inflammatory and sensational news.
“The Press must commit to delivering thorough, verified, and unbiased information, pulled from credible sources to the public. At the same time, they must refrain from reporting information that encourages divisions or antagonistic discussions, which are likely to incite violence or endanger social life.
“In essence, in reporting the activities of the Commission; pre-election, election, and post-election activities, we plead with the media to be factual, objective, and professional in their reportage. Journalists covering the elections should on no account, interfere with the processes and procedures of voting or in any way distract the attention of Presiding Officers in the performance of their duties,” Ajayi urged.
Speaking further, Ajayi said the Commission on its part will be as transparent as possible.
“On our part, as an electoral body, we will remain transparent in all our activities and consequently communicate all relevant information to the media. When necessary, feel free to fact-check any considered grey areas for clarity from the Voter Education and Publicity (VEP) Department of the Commission.”
He also urged journalists to be security conscious as they go about their professional duties in the forthcoming off-cycle elections.
“Furthermore, in the quest for timely reporting, I must strongly admonish members of the INEC Press Corps to be safety and security conscious. Bayelsa and Kogi have pockets of flood-prone areas with high water levels, for those to be deployed to such areas, please endeavour to have your life jackets as part of your essential field gear.
“Finally, for areas that are marked as high-risk locations, please ensure you have your media-accredited tags at all times, and establish a cordial relationship with the security agencies, as we are all equal stakeholders in the effort to ensure a free, fair, credible, and inclusive election,” he cautioned.
