By David Lawani
Following the need for steps to be taken to ensure that the governorship election in Ekiti scheduled to hold on Saturday, 18th June 2022 is free, fair, credible, inclusive, and safe, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has assured the Ekiti Voters and all stakeholders that the choice of who becomes the next Governor is entirely in the hands of voters.
Professor Yakubu gave the assurance during the Ekiti state Governorship election Stakeholders’ meeting held in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti state.
Reiterating INEC’s non-partisan stand in the election, the INEC Chairman said “for us in INEC, let me reassure political parties, candidates, and the electorate that the choice of who becomes the next Governor of Ekiti State is entirely in the hands of voters. INEC will not take any action to the advantage or disadvantage of any political party or candidate. Our focus is on the processes and procedures as provided by law”.
He noted that “the election holding this weekend is historically being the first Governorship election that the Commission will be conducting based on the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 which came into force about four months ago on 25th February 2022”.
“It is also the first election to be conducted based on our revised Regulations and Guidelines anchored on the provisions of the new Electoral Act. We have also revised our Training Manual to reflect the provisions of the new Electoral Act as well as the Regulations and Guidelines”, the Chairman added.
Professor Yakubu disclosed that about 76% of the registered voters in the state had collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) as of Monday 13th June 2022, and announced that the Commission will continue to distribute PVCs till Thursday, 16th June 2022 in the state.
He said “I am happy to note that many citizens have already collected their cards. Of the 988,923 registered voters in Ekiti State, 749,065 (or 76%) have collected their cards as of yesterday Monday 13th June 2022. However, in the last few days, the Commission has received several inquiries from citizens who are yet to collect their PVCs and are demanding to know when the collection of cards will be suspended before the election”.
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He continued: “In response to these inquiries, I wish to announce that the collection of PVCs will continue in all our 16 Local Government Area Offices until Thursday 16th June 2022 to allow us one day (i.e. Friday 17th June 2022) for movement to the Registration Area Centres. I appeal to all registered voters that are yet to collect the PVCs to seize the opportunity to do so”.
Professor Yakubu disclosed that the Commission was deploying a high-powered delegation to support the Ekiti state office to deliver credible elections. He said “for more effective supervision of the process, we have deployed four National Commissioners, eight Resident Electoral Commissioners, and many senior officials to support our State office here in Ekiti State to deliver a credible election.
Commenting on the Commission’s commitment to an inclusive process, the INEC Chairman said “To underscore our commitment to an inclusive, credible, and transparent electoral process, the Commission is deploying several assistive devices for Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) to have a more pleasant voting experience on Election Day”.
“Magnifying glasses, Braille Ballot Guide, and Posters for voters with hearing conditions will be deployed at the polling unit level in areas of need based on data collected in collaboration with the PWD community. Similarly, our revised Regulations and Guidelines provide for priority to be accorded at polling units to PWDs without waiting in long queues during voting as is the case with elderly people, pregnant women, and nursing mothers”.
Commenting on the Functionality of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and other technology deployed for the Ekiti governorship election, Professor Yakubu said “the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System will be deployed for voter accreditation and uploading of election results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal on Election Day. The devices have already been configured and charged for the election”.
He continued: “Steps have been taken to ensure that the BVAS machines function optimally during voter accreditation based on lessons learned from the conduct of recent elections. A few weeks ago, a mock accreditation exercise was conducted in polling units across the three Senatorial Districts of Ekiti State”.
“I observed the mock exercise in Ado, Ikere, and Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Areas. We are encouraged by the successful outcome of the exercise. We have also trained enough Registration Area Technical Support (RATECH) staff and made adequate transportation arrangements for their rapid response in the event of reported glitches on Election Day.
The INEC Chairman raised concern over incidences of voter inducement but assured that the agencies responsible for addressing such challenges were on alert to deal with offenders. According to him, “like every conscientious Nigerian, the Commission is deeply worried by the use of money to induce voters on Election Day. Vote buying is a threat to our electoral democracy.”
“To discourage the practice, we changed the configuration of our polling units to bring the ballot boxes closer to the voting cubicles and also banned the use of mobile phones and photographic devices by voters while in the voting cubicles. We have also intensified our collaboration with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to deal with both the buyers and the takers under the law. I urge all stakeholders to join the Commission in tackling the menace,” he added.
The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Usman Alkali Baba, said the Police Force has in place appropriate strategies and set up actions that are directed at mitigating possible threats to the election and guaranteeing adequate security across the state, before, during, and after the election.
He assured that personnel of the Police Force and other security agencies, including the military that has been mobilized to complement the police shall remain apolitical, firm, and professional in the discharge of their election security mandate.
The IGP disclosed that the Police will be deploying 17,317 personnel to secure the electoral space in Ekiti. He assured that while the security personnel will remain civil enough and protect the law-abiding citizens, they “will be decisive in dealing with any political and subversive deviants that may test our will by attempting to disrupt the peaceful order during the election”.
IGP Baba called on peace-loving law abiding citizens to go about exercising their franchise without fear or intimidation as the Security agencies were fully trained on their duties to protect them. He however warned those who may be planning to disrupt the process for political gains through thuggery or other means to have a rethink, as they will be identified, isolated, and decisively dealt with as prescribed by law irrespective of their status, inclination, or political affiliation.
In his remarks, the Supervising National Commissioner for Ekiti state, Mr. Sam Olumekun, noted with delight that the campaigns by political parties and their candidates, scheduled for between 20th March 2020 and 16th June 2022 held with a minimal challenge in terms of violence and offensive language. “We pray this activity concludes peacefully as scheduled on the 16th June 2022”, he said.
The National Commissioner added that “It is also our hope and prayers that this gathering of stakeholders will end with a renewed commitment to the successful conduct of the 2022 Ekiti State Governorship Election on 18th June 2022”.
In his welcome remarks, the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Ekiti state, Dr. Adeniran Rahmon Tella, said “the Commission has deployed all the non-sensitive materials that will be used for the conduct of the election to all the INEC Offices in the 16 LGAs of the State.”
According to him, “the sensitive materials that will be used are already in the custody of the INEC State Office. These will be distributed on Thursday, 16th June 2022 in the presence of Party Agents and security personnel”.
Dr, Tella used the medium to call on all election stakeholders especially the political party leaders to positively play their various roles during the period of this election “by desisting from making unguarded utterances; shunning all forms of violence, malpractices, thuggery and other forms of vices that are inimical to the peaceful conduct of this election”.
