From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The activities of all the registered political parties will, this weekend, shift to Ondo State as major stakeholders, comprising the electorate, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the security agencies will focus on the crucial off-cycle governorship election in the state.
The interest, anxiety, apprehension, and political traction the governorship election is generating is clearly understandable because the Ondo poll is the last in the two major off-cycle governorship elections the electoral umpire will conduct this year.
From the statistics of the final list of candidates, 17 registered political parties, comprising the incumbent governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and former deputy governor, Agboola Ajayi of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), among others, have been cleared to participate in the poll.
With just only two remaining items, the campaign deadline date and the actual voting, in the timetable and schedule of activities released for the election, all arrangements seem to be almost perfectly in place ahead of the poll.
In fact, judging by the assurance update from the Ondo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mrs. Oluwatoyin Babalola, almost all the items have been successfully concluded less than one week prior to the election.
She listed such items as the conclusion of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, production and distribution of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs), publication and presentation of the Official Register of Voters to political parties, and reconfiguration and distribution of over 4,002 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in addition to 812 backups.
Other resolved logistic arrangements, according to her, include massive voter education and public awareness, distribution of all non-sensitive election materials to the LGAs, all RACs across the 18 LGAs, and provision of materials for the comfort of the ad-hoc staff camping at the RAC on the eve of the election.
The training of Supervisory Presiding Officers, Presiding Officers, and Assistant Presiding Officers have also been finalised, just as she assured that the transportation of election material and personnel will be seamless after several engagements with the transport unions.
Expectedly, the major actors, especially the electoral umpire and the security agencies, have reassured for the umpteenth time, of their readiness to deliver a free, fair, credible, and transparent election in the state.
And while the police, the lead agency in election security, the military and paramilitary agencies, have adequately concluded deployments, comprising over 22,000 personnel, the electoral umpire has equally reassured of perfected logistic arrangements for the election.
To complete the successful build-up to the poll, almost all the participating political parties graciously endorsed and signed the peace accord document organised by the National Peace Committee (NPC) in Akure, the state capital.
In his update, INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, claimed that; “The 2024 Ondo State governorship election is not just a national election, it is also of global interest. The commission has accredited 111 domestic and international organisations deploying 3,554 observers for the election.
“We have also accredited thousands of agents representing candidates and political parties for all the polling and collation locations across the state. In our various engagements with the security and law enforcement agencies, we underscored the importance of providing security to guarantee the personal safety and protection of the observers, the media, our officials (both regular and ad hoc staff), service providers such as transporters, and the electorate.
“I am glad that the relevant agencies have given us the necessary assurances of security during the election, including unimpeded access to voting and collation locations for observers and the media. Let me reassure stakeholders that INEC is ready for the election.
“We are deploying the BVAS machines for voter accreditation at polling units and the upload of results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal. The mock accreditation exercise is to test-run our deployment of technology to safeguard the credibility of the election. It was successful and the result can be viewed on the IReV portal.”
Equally bringing more messages of hope for the possible conduct of a successful landmark election, AIG Zone 17, Abiodun Oladimeji Asabi, who represented the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun, at a stakeholders’ meeting in Akure last week, however, decried the desperation of candidates and their supporters to win at all costs.
He said: “Given that the process of election leads to the emergence of leaders, the stakes are always very high as most contenders with their followers tend to deploy all means to ensure victory. In our clime, some contenders strategize to generate some heat in the polity thereby posing security threats. Regarding such threats, provision of security before, during, and after the process becomes an essential and concerted duty.”
The AIG, however, announced that the security agencies are battle-ready to arrest any ugly development, appealing for synergy among sister security agencies, and warning political actors to desist from fomenting trouble.
“It is very pertinent for all stakeholders to discharge our various duties with security-conscious approaches. We should bear it in mind that performing our roles in a fair and orderly manner will certainly reduce security threats to the barest minimum, with a far-reaching effect on the credibility of the election.
“Security of voters, electoral officials, election materials, and the general public will effectively provide before, during, and after the election. To deliver adequate election security, the Nigeria Police, apart from additional manpower from sister agencies, will deploy a total number of 22,239 officers for the exercise.
“It is equally significant to advise the other stakeholders like the political parties, the contesting candidates, and their agents to conduct themselves peacefully and lawfully, in line with global best practices of democracy.
“All stakeholders should eschew violence, avoid do-or-die approach, deployment of thuggery, and play according to the rules in the spirit of sportsmanship for the loser to lose gallantly and the winner to be magnanimous in victory. It should be stated that violators of electoral laws risk diligent prosecution.”
Interestingly, the political campaign for the Ondo State poll has been relatively peaceful as no form of extreme violence was recorded one week before the election.
The political parties have conducted their campaigns with civility and decorum devoid of inciting language, violence, and other infractions in accordance with the provisions of Section 92-97 of the Electoral Act 2022.
And while commending the stakeholders for the peaceful campaign exercise, the INEC boss, Yakubu told stakeholders at the signing of the Peace Accord that; “I am also glad to note that so far, there has been no major election-related indent in Ondo State known to INEC.
“I am confident that with the signing of the Peace Accord, the proactive measures taken by the security agencies, the roles played by respected traditional rulers, the community and religious leaders, CSOs, the media, and all other stakeholders, the 2024 Ondo State governorship election will, by the grace of God, be peaceful.
“On our part, I want to assure you that we have taken measures to address Election Day challenges, especially the perennial logistic problems.”
In fairness to the candidates for the Ondo State poll, they have actually tried to eschew deep-rooted animosity, rancour, controversy, vindictiveness, and the usual verbal abuses that characterised the recent governorship election in Edo State.
The signing of the peace accord and the diplomatic participation in television debates, where the candidates displayed a high sense of maturity and adopted issue-based ones, were reflections of mellowness.
On the flipside, it was not however a perfect peace as pre-election reports indicated that verbal and physical confrontations were recorded in some areas, particularly in Akoko South West LGA.
The report also claimed that apart from insecurity, especially with incidents of kidnapping, and armed robbery, one more worrisome issue was the proliferation of small arms and light weapons.
According to a pre-election report from Yiaga Africa, a frontline CSO; “17 political parties are contesting for the highest political office. However, the ruling APC, Labour Party (LP), Social Democratic Party (SDP), and the PDP have so far been more prominent in their campaigns across most of the LGAs in the State.
“Verbal and physical confrontations are becoming more frequent, particularly in Akoko South West LGA. Supporters of different political parties and citizens face attacks for supporting opposing candidates. The pre-election observation report also indicates LGAs with more reports of insecurity, especially incidents of kidnapping, armed robbery and, more worrisome, the proliferation of small arms and light weapons.”
Judging by the success story so far, many political watchers believe that the sincerity of INEC to live up to its promises of ensuring the conduct of a peaceful, free, fair, credible, and transparent election would guarantee the high confidence many stakeholders reposed in the poll.
Latching unto that impression, Yiaga Africa, noted that; “the Ondo governorship election provides an opportunity for INEC to conduct an election that upholds integrity standards. It will also serve as a litmus test for INEC’s neutrality and professionalism at all levels of election administration as citizens go to the polls for the governorship election.”
Already, stakeholders have started expressing reservations over the neutrality and capability of the commission to live up to its promises, claiming that it has always reneged in its lofty assurances.
An analyst who spoke to Daily Sun in confidence argued that; “INEC’s promises have become like the romantic ones given to the ladies that are never kept. If you have been a keen observer in the conduct of elections, the greater number of promises from Yakubu has never been kept.
“He promised heaven on earth about the functionality of the IReV during last year’s general elections, gave similar promises during all the off-cycle governorship elections, but many of them ended in disappointments. For example, Nigerians are yet to be updated on what was the outcome of the investigations of the prefilled result sheets during Kogi State governorship election.
“The incident of clinical rigging during the recent Edo State governorship election is still very fresh in the minds of many Nigerians yet they were told to wait for the judicial pronouncement. I have learnt to take INEC’s promises of a free, fair, credible, and transparent election with some pinch of salt.”
In what looked like testing the neutrality and readiness of the electoral umpire to conduct a transparent poll, certain stakeholders petitioned it to express doubt over the possibility of the REC, Babalola, conducting an unbiased election, demanding her outright redeployment.
Close to one week, hundreds of protesting Ondo youths grounded activities at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja to insist that she must not conduct the Ondo poll. They brandished posters with various inscriptions such as ‘Remove Ondo State REC’, ‘INEC must avoid repeat of Edo State fiasco’, and ‘INEC, let Ondo be the example of transparency needed to rebuild public trust across Nigeria’.
Protesting under a group identity, Ondo Youth League, Action for Credible and Transparent Election, they insisted that; “In the interest of ensuring a free, fair, and transparent governorship election, we urgently call upon Yakubu, INEC Chairman to redeploy Mrs. Babalola as the REC of Ondo State.
“Concerns regarding impartiality and alleged affiliations with local political entities cast doubt on the integrity of the upcoming election. To uphold the public trust, we request the immediate assignment of a neutral REC with no affiliations to Ondo State or any political interests within its polity.”
Without sounding immodest , it seems to have become impossible for both the commission and the security agents to find lasting solutions to cases of vote buying among members of the political parties and the use of IReV to curtail or checkmate issues of rigging perfected at collation centres
With the realities on ground, the incidents of vote buying and rigging will still be prevalent, especially as it would be difficult for pundits to stake their necks on where the victory pendulum would swing to. The odds seem to favour the incumbent Governor Aiyedatiwa. However, judging by the hostility against him, it will definitely not be a stroll into the park.
Only recently, some APC factions under the auspices of Ondo Patriots (OP) had officially written a letter of petition to the party’s National Chairman, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, to inform the party of their decision to work against Governor Aiyedatiwa during the poll.
The letter, signed by the coordinator of the aggrieved factions, Comrade Dele Oyewo, declared its intention to support the governorship candidate of SDP, Otunba Benson Akingboye, claiming that he is more or less an APC family member, “whose track and philosophy are similar to that of our dear President Bola Tinubu.
“Following the background that our dear party leadership in Abuja has sided Governor Aiyedatiwa’s questionable emergence at the shallow primaries conducted in April 2024, the leadership of the various organising groups within the party structure in the state for the umpteenth time, hereby re-emphasize that it is going to be almost impossible to work with the party and the governor on the November 16th governorship election.”
The die is now cast as the state reputed for election violence is on the march again for another pact with history in this weekend’s governorship election.