•They violate Electoral Act, peace accord
By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has described the reports of attacks and clashes among political parties and their supporters in some states of the country during the ongoing electioneering campaign as worrisome.
Consequently, the Commission has cautioned political parties and their supporters to focus on issues and steer clear of attacks on each others.
The Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu said these yesterday in his opening remarks at the training of Master Trainers on election technology for the 2023 general elections in Abuja.
On Monday at its presidential campaign rally in Kaduna, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, supporters and members were reportedly attacked by persons suspected to be agents of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
However, Yakubu pointedly declared that these attacks and clashes 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, the INEC Chairman warned, should not, by acts of commission or omission, further complicate the prevailing security situation in the country.
A peaceful electioneering campaign,he stressed, is critical to the conduct of peaceful and credible elections.
His words, “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.
“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 will continue to monitor the situation closely and will convene a meeting with leaders of political parties next week to discuss, among the 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 disclosed.
Yakubu revealed that the Commission’s 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 total of 82 officials drawn from our offices nationwide will form the nucleus of the training.
“Thereafter, they will train more officials at zonal level to cover all the 8,809 Registration Areas (or Wards). In turn, these officials will be involved in the training ad hoc staff for the 176,846 Polling Units nationwide.
“I urge the 82 staff involved to pay special attention to the training that you will receive at this Workshop.
“Your role as master trainers is critical to the success of training at subsequent levels and ultimately the successful deployment of the devices during elections.
“For this reason, the Commission will not accept laxity on your part.
“Much as we have confidence in your ability to understand and discharge your responsibilities to the officials you will subsequently train, there will be consequences for unethical behaviour or any act of misconduct. I wish you a successful training”, he said.
In his remarks, the Chairman, Board of the Electoral Institute of INEC, Prof Abdullah Abdul Zuru explained that the special training and retraining of all categories of electoral personnel for delivery of effective and efficient electoral services at all levels is a standing principle of the Commission.
Zuru stressed further that the underlying philosophy is to ensure that Election officials imbibe the right knowledge, skill sets and attitude needed for the discharge of their duties and responsibilities towards the conduct of free, fair, credible, inclusive and transparent elections.q
In its goodwill message presented by its Country Director(IFES Nigeria), Seray Jay, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) described the training as significant, as it presents a huge opportunity for the Commission to enhance the transparency and credibility of elections through the deployment of technology on a large scale for the conduct of the 2023 General elections, using the Electoral Act 2022.
