Professor Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC has expressed serious concern over reported violent attacks and clashes between rival political parties warning that the incidents send alarming signals ahead of the 2023 polls.
Addressing participants at the opening session of the elite Training of Master trainers on Election technologies, organized with the support of the International Foundation for Electoral System (IFES), in Abuja, Prof Yakubu also raised concerns over the denial of public facilities from opposition parties warning that the actions are a clear violation of the Electoral Act and negate the letters and spirit of the peace accord signed by all parties.
“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, the Commission boss said, is critical to the conduct of peaceful and credible elections, stressing that 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 said.
The INEC boss urged the 82 participants to pay special attention to the training as they would play a pivotal role in the skill sets that will be passed on to the other staff and ad-hoc staff of INEC.
“Today, we begin the process with the training of master trainers to serve as Registration Area Technical Support (RATECH). A total of 82 officials drawn from our offices nationwide will form the nucleus of the training.
“Over the next three days, they will receive intensive hands-on training on the new technology. Thereafter, they will train more officials at the 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 re-emphasized that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and INEC Result Viewing Portal (IREV) which has become a constant feature of some off-cycle elections have come to stay as part of the nation’s electoral systems.
“Over the last two years, the Commission has increased the deployment of technology in the elections in Nigeria. Systems and portals have 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”.
“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.”
Yakubu said these innovations have increased transparency and public confidence in the electoral process as they are also part of the legal requirements for conducting elections in Nigeria.
Also speaking Prof Abdullahi Zuru, board chairman of the Electoral Institute noted that Commission places high premium on the special training and retraining of all categories of electoral personnel as they are critical for the delivery of effective and efficient electoral services at all levels.
“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.
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