By David Lawani
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, has expressed worry over attacks on political parties, saying these have reduced the essence of the peace accord signed by the parties for not embarking on mudslinging.

He said he is concerned that such untoward activities are almost becoming the other of the day since campaign kick-off on September 28th.

Yakubu, who was expressing his dissatisfaction over this unfortunate situation in a remark at the ‘Training of Master Trainers on Election Technology for the 2023 General Election’ held at the Ajuji Greenwich Hotel, Gudu, Abuja, noted that the reported denial by some state governors of access to campaign facilities doesn’t speak well of the need to make campaigns issue-based.

It will be recalled that a few weeks ago, political parties committed themselves, through signing a peace accord, that they will not be found, or their supporters were seen committing violence or supporting it in whatever guise.

According to him, “Even as the commission is working hard to ensure a credible process in the forthcoming elections. Reports of clashes among parties and their supporters in some states of the country during the ongoing electioneering campaign is worrisome. So too is the reported denial of access to public facilities for parties and candidates in some states of the federation. Let me caution parties and their supporters to focus on issues and steer clear of attacks on each other.”

2023: INEC chairman expresses worry over clashes during political campaigns

He added, “These are not only violations of the Electoral Act 2022, but also negate the voluntary commitment by all political parties and candidates to the letter and spirit of the peace accord signed about three weeks ago under the auspices of the National Peace Committee (NPC). Parties, candidates and their supporters should not by acts of commission or omission further complicate the prevailing security situation in the country. A peaceful electioneering campaign is critical to the conduct of peaceful and credible elections.”

The commission, he added, will continue to monitor the situation closely as well as convene a meeting with leaders of political parties next week to discuss, among other issues, the imperative of peaceful campaigns and equal access to public facilities.

In the same vein, the commission will also meet with the security agencies under the auspices of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) next week, he said.

The INEC chairman said over the last two years, the commission had increased the deployment of technology in the elections in Nigeria, adding that systems and portals had been designed and developed to cater for different electoral activities ranging from voter registration and accreditation, result transmission from the polling units, the nomination of candidates by political parties, to the accreditation of polling agents, observers and journalists for elections.
He said: “Of these innovations, most Nigerians are more familiar with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), which doubles as a device for accreditation as well as the upload of the polling unit level result sheets to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal in real-time on election day. These innovations have increased transparency and public confidence in the electoral process. They are also part of the legal requirements for conducting elections in Nigeria. The combination of the BVAS and the IReV portal have come to stay as a means of voter accreditation and transmission of election results.

“From the experience of recent off-cycle elections, the commission is convinced that a critical success factor in the deployment of technology in elections is training. We need to build the capacity of the staff involved not only to competently handle the devices during the accreditation process, but also respond effectively to any glitches that may occur during elections.

“Our plan for the 2023 General Election is to commence the training of election officials early and for a longer period of time for optimal understanding of the processes and procedures in order to serve Nigerians better. A key component of this effort is election technology.”

“Finally, I want to extend our appreciation to our donors; the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) for their continuous support and commitment to enhancing credible elections in Nigeria.”