Ahead of off-season governorship elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) Professor Mahmood Yakubu has cautioned candidates to call their supporters to order.
Yakubu gave the warning on Tuesday while speaking at a meeting with leadership of political parties.
The meeting was held at the INEC Conference Centre in Abuja to review the 2023 general elections.
Check revealed that governorship elections are expected to hold in Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo in November. Campaigns have since commenced in the States.
In Kogi, Governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Murtala Yakubu Ajaka has consistently pointed fingers of scorn at the ruling All Progressives Congress for the attack on his campaign office in Lokoja, the state capital.
Professor Yakubu said reports of clashes between political parties were disturbing.
He said: “As we review the general election, we also need to focus our attention on the forthcoming bye-elections and the three off-cycle Governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi.
“For the Commission, we are looking at some of the lessons learned from the general election to improve our performance in the forthcoming elections. We are focusing, among other issues, on election technology, recruitment and training of ad hoc staff, the conduct of some of our regular and ad hoc officials, security issue, logistics in particular and our relationship with other service providers in general. I also appeal to party leaders for similar introspection on the conduct of your candidates and their supporters.
“The use of thugs during elections to harass election officials, intimidate voters and disrupt processes, sometimes resulting in the destruction of election materials or even worse must be addressed. Campaign in public by parties and candidates in the three States commenced on 14th July 2023 as provided in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the Governorship elections. Sadly, there are already disturbing reports of clashes between opposing parties with claims and counterclaims of innocence or culpability. These claims help no one. Call your supporters to order.
“At the same time, I must also acknowledge the perennial complaints from some political parties that the power of incumbency is used in some States to restrain some parties and candidates from access to public facilities for media campaigns and outdoor advertising through exorbitant fees or outright denial. This often leads to the mutual destruction of advertising materials such as billboards, resulting in altercations and violence involving supporters of opposing political parties.
“This matter will be discussed at the next meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) scheduled for Friday this week.”
In his own presentation, National Chairman of Action Democratic Party and Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council, Engineer Yabagi Yusuf Sani, also warned against open intimidation of INEC staffers and opposition parties chieftains by incumbent ruling governors in states where the off-season elections would hold.
He said the unfortunate development in the last general elections in Adamawa State was an eye-opener.
He said: “Mr Chairman as we approach the off-season elections in Imo, Bayelsa and Kogi in November, all hands must be on deck to ensure that the Resident Electoral Commissioners and Returning Officers are not pressured by some governors and INEC itself to falsify results in their states.
“The Adamawa 2023 governorship election result declaration saga and the embarrassment caused INEC and the nation at large is a case in point. The prosecution of the Adamawa REC in court by INEC is highly desirable and commendable.
“Equally desirable is action by all relevant security agencies to check the misuse of state resources in violation of the Electoral Act 2022 which prohibits “the use of state apparatus to the advantage or disadvantage of any political party or candidate” (section 92(2)).
“Finally, IPAC understands that there are so many other factors that affected the conduct of the 2023 election, such as obvious ethnic profiling, religious sentiments, voters’ suppression, ballot snatching, hate speech, etc, which are beyond the Commission, hence the need for all the key stakeholders to work in harmony.
“With the INEC 2023 elections review report, stakeholders are now presented unique opportunity to work together with a view to improve the electoral process for future elections beginning with the three off-season elections in November in Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo states.”
The ruling All Progressives Congress, the main opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party and the Labour Party, amongst others, were represented at the meeting which also had the Young Party, recently accorded official recognition in attendance.
Deputy National Chairman, (North) of the People’s Redemption Party, Usman Abubakar, however, caused a mild drama as he stormed out of the INEC Conference Room before the meeting commenced.
Abubakar while introducing himself as a national officer who stood in for the party’s national chairman, has expressed strong reservations about the agenda of the meeting which was to appraise INEC’s performance in the last general elections.
He submitted that the gathering was misplaced as some of the political parties that fielded candidates for the presidential elections were still in Court challenging the outcome of the process.
Apparently peeved by his expression, the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu asked the PRP National Working Committee member to take his seat.
“Please, take your seat! You aren’t the only one attending this meeting,” the INEC Chairman said.
Usman who dropped the microphone stormed out of the INEC headquarters in anger.
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