Ondo 2024: There’ll be consequences for dereliction of duty – INEC boss, Yakubu warns staff

By Jude Opara

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) Prof Mahmood Yakubu has warned staff of the electoral body that there will be consequences for dereliction of duty in any way or form.
Yakubu gave the warning yesterday at the stakeholders’ meeting on the Ondo State governorship election held at the International Culture Centre in Akure.
The Chairman noted the INEC will further address the staff, including the Electoral Officers from the 18 Local Government Areas on Friday.
He said, “As you are aware, election is a multi-stakeholder activity. INEC has a role to play and we have done so always in consultation with stakeholders. However, our role has to be complemented by all stakeholders.
He urged political parties to continue to restrain their supporters from any disruptive behaviour.
The INEC boss added, “We have produced accreditation tags for all your agents bearing their names, photographs and location of deployment.
We have also added a QR code to the tags that can be read even from mobile phone applications.
“The practice of issuing party tags without name, photograph or location of posting to party agents must stop.
“That is how in some polling and collation locations, we have impersonators where two or more people claim to be agents of one Political Party, sometimes resulting in unnecessary disagreement among themselves or with agents of other parties leading to disruption of processes.
“I urge Political Parties to follow the example of other accredited observers and the media by using the tags issued by the Commission and displaying the same at all voting and collation locations.”
Yakubu also announced that candidates in the election are expected to sign the Peace Accord on Friday, 8th November 2024, at 10.00am at this venue.
“I invite you to honour the Peace Committee by your presence here tomorrow and, most importantly, abide by the terms of the Accord for a peaceful election.”