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With a few weeks to the November 11 gubernatorial elections in Imo, Bayelsa and Kogi states, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has raised the alarm over the wave of insecurity in the three states. The commission is particularly worried over the spate of insecurity and violence, including clashes among supporters of political parties and candidates in the forthcoming elections.
Consequently, the electoral agency has warned political parties, their candidates and supporters to avoid unguarded utterances and acts capable of heating up the polity. According to INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, the electoral umpire would continue to closely monitor the situation and engage with security agencies and stakeholders to ensure peaceful elections in the affected states.
About 5.4 million registered voters are expected to cast their ballots in the November 11 governorship elections in Imo, Bayelsa and Kogi states. Out of this number, Imo State has 2,419,922; Bayelsa State, 1,056,862; and Kogi State, 1,932,654, all totaling 5,409,438 registered voters for the three states. Not less than 17 political parties are sponsoring candidates for the poll in Imo State, 16 in Bayelsa State and 18 in Kogi State.
The recent mock accreditation in the three states to test-run the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and upload of polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) would hopefully deepen the deployment of technology in our elections. However, the electoral agency must do everything possible to prevent the technical glitches, which it claimed marred the conduct of the 2023 elections.
The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has reassured Nigerians that the commission would transmit real-time all the results of the November 11 polls in the three states. The INEC boss gave the assurance in Lokoja, Kogi State, while assessing the mock accreditation, facilities and the readiness of INEC office in the state to conduct the poll.
We hope that INEC will not deviate from this promise to transmit the results of the elections electronically. We witnessed such a deviation in the highly flawed and discredited 2023 elections. Therefore, we urge INEC to stick to its rules in the conduct of the elections, especially in the transmission of election results electronically.
To ensure transparency in the conduct of the off-cycle polls, INEC has accredited about 119 domestic and eight foreign observers for the November 11 gubernatorial elections. INEC should use the off-cycle elections to prove that it is capable of conducting credible polls. The exercise gives the electoral agency another opportunity to redeem its dimming image.
Following the shoddy conduct of the 2023 elections, many Nigerians lost confidence in the electoral agency for its failure to obey its rules in the exercise. We urge the INEC boss and other officials of the agency to be patriotic and transparent in the conduct of the off-cycle polls. Nigerians and members of the international community are watching the electoral agency. Therefore, INEC has no reason to fail this time around. The government should provide it the needed logistics to ensure a free and fair exercise.
The federal government and the security agencies must address the security concerns raised by INEC over the polls. If the festering insecurity in the three states is not quickly curbed, there is the likelihood that the elections may not hold in many parts of the three affected states of Imo, Bayelsa and Kogi states. That is why the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, should deploy enough policemen to provide adequate security for the polls.
If the police can ensure adequate security in a national poll, they can do much better in the forthcoming off-cycle elections in just three states. Therefore, there will be no excuses for any breach of the peace during the exercise. However, other security agencies should be mobilised to assist the police in ensuring adequate security in these states before, during and after the elections. Rigging, vote-buying and voter inducement should not be tolerated during the polls.
We enjoin the political parties, their candidates and supporters to avoid violence and other electoral malpractices during the elections. Apart from ensuring adequate security during the elections, the police should also arrest those who perpetrate electoral violence and other infractions during the exercise. The voters should be allowed to exercise their franchise without any interference. We advise INEC to ensure that the results of the polls reflect the wishes of the people.
