BARELY few weeks to conduct the 2019 general election in the federation, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Development and integrity Intervention Goals foundation (DIG) has called on all the political parties and civil society organizations (CSOs) in Ebonyi State to sensitise the electorate mostly at the grassroots on how to embrace free, fair, credible election without tension in the state.
The duo gave the advice during a town hall meeting powered by the Development and Integrity Intervention Goal Foundation (DIG) under the Civil Society Situation Room supported by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) at Kazeem hotel Onwe road ABAKALIKI.
According to the Electoral officers in Ebonyi North that identified rural illiteracy, difficult terrain and migration as the factors militating against Permanent Voter Cards collection in the State, advocate for the provision of an enabling environment that is more secure and conducive for the electorate.
They further complain about the uncooperative attitude of some communities who show little or no interest in assisting INEC PVC distribution personnel with basic guidance and for effective operation.
Stating the achievement and challenges in ABAKALIKI local government, the Electoral Officer Elizabeth Chikwado, confirmed that Abakaliki has the highest number of uncollected pvcs in the zone and attributed the situation to the negative effect of electorates on transit.
According to her, most of the uncollected PVCs which accumulated since 2015, probably belonged to students and others who did not have permanent residence in the area and those who may have migrated before the issuance of the PVCs commenced.
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She put the number of uncollected PVCs in the council area at 44,912 as at date out of the initial total available of 63,912.
In Ohaukwu, the Electoral Officer, Ayi Godwin noted that out of the 150,296 registered voters, about 35,000 PVCs have been distributed leaving about 18,978 uncollected
Electoral Officer in Ebonyi, Nathaniel Chibueze also noted that 21,469 PVCs has not been collected, out of 114,871 total registered voters.
Ejekwu Modestus, the EO for Izzi also revealed that 15, 276 were not yet collected out of the 152, 604 registered voters in his council area as at yesterday.
The electoral officers who said they have started preliminary training of some Youth Corps members on their expected roles during the election called on interested others from federal establishments, penultimate classes in federal tertiary institutions who are interested in serving as ad-hoc personnel in the elections to visit INEC portal for online application.
They expressed their preparedness for the forthcoming election, adding that most insensitive materials had been brought to them from the INEC headquarters preparatory to the polls.
They, however, called on the participants, the traditional rulers, other non-governmental organizations and stakeholders to join hands in educating and sensitising the electorates in their areas of jurisdiction on the need to collect their PVCs before 8 days to the elections when the distribution will legally end.
In his remarks, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in the State Prof. Godswil Obioma, represented by Ibrahim Obiahu of INEC legal department, noted that the collaborative action with DIG, other non-governmental organizations, Civil Society Organisations security agencies and all and sundries have become imperative in order to protect vulnerable groups in particular and the voting population in general.
The Executive director of DIG, Oliver Aja Chima, while setting the tone of the meeting explained that tension which hitherto accompanied elections tended to militate against effective participation of all in the electoral process over the years.
He noted that the DIG has deemed it necessary to employ voter education, sensitisation and canvassing against abuses, hate speeches and other tension inducing practices in order to create a conducive electoral environment for the electorates, especially for the marginalized groups: youths, women and people living with disabilities.
He added that the Development and Integrity Intervention Goal Foundation has been accredited by the INEC headquarters in Abuja to coordinate observation, monitoring and sensitisation in lieu of the forthcoming elections, adding that it has remained neutral in all electoral matters.
He charged participants to transmit the knowledge acquired in the meeting to other electorates and stakeholders in their areas, concluding that “everyone has a role to play in achieving a tension-free election.”
Participants in the town hall meeting were drawn from INEC state headquarters and local government offices, the Civil Society organisations, Community leaders, journalists and other stakeholders.
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