Politicians responsible for problems in recent Kogi, Bayelsa polls ― INEC

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said on Tuesday that politicians constituted most of the problems that the commission encountered in recently concluded gubernatorial polls in both Kogi and Bayelsa states.

The elections in the two states, which had attracted wild condemnation, were rocked with violence and ballot snatching, among others, with Kogi State mostly affected during the exercise.

Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, the spokesperson to INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this in Lagos at the Public Presentation/Media Stakeholders’ Round table with the theme: “Trend in Reportage of zpst 2019 Election issues (Scorecard for July- September 2019),” organised by the International Press Centre (IPC).

According to Oyekanmi, the politicians, who he did not name, were ones that caused the problems identified during the exercises in the two states despite the fact that the commission “engaged them before the elections at stakeholders’ meetings, reached an agreement with them on fair and peaceful elections and shake hands with them.”

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He said notwithstanding, the politicians still went back and did something else, adding: “If politicians were not the ones, we wouldn’t be having the problems we had in Kogi and Bayelsa states.”

“They were the ones that were responsible for the violence and ballot snatching we had in Bayelsa and Kogi states,” he said, declaring that the experience witnessed in those two states had no doubt thrown a new challenge.

Spokesperson to INEC chairman, while speaking further, said the commission had been more transparent and open in its work, made itself available and provide up to date information about its activities to the world, but quickly admitted that there was still a long way to go in terms of information dissemination.

Oyekanmi, who noted that the number of registered voters in the country has since increased to 90million and, therefore, the need to reach out to them as part of the challenges facing INEC, disclosed that the commission had since made efforts to reach out to Nigerian teeming youths by going to university campuses, using star artistes with a view to encouraging them to register and also vote in elections.

“How do we engage the youth? One of the things we did, we went to universities, employed star artistes to help us appeal to the youth and it works. You see many of them came out to register and also vote,” he said.

He commended the IPC for a job well done, noting that when one was doing something, “you need a professional to criticize you to let you know what you are doing.”

“What the IPC is doing is to beam searchlight on INEC and the media,” Oyekanmi said.

Speaking, IPC Director, Mr Lanre Arogundade, said media was strategically placed to reach a wide range of audience within the shorted possible time and, therefore, the justifications for journalists’ coverage of elections.

Arogundade contended that for democracy to be meaningful, citizens should as a matter of right have access to information during political campaigns and elections.

He said they needed this to be well-informed about the process and to hold and express opinions about government’s activities generally.

“Therefore, they must not only have unhindered access to accurate, up-to-date and full information about the programmes and policies of contesting political parties and their candidates; the issue being canvassed and the arrangements for the elections but also have opportunities for feedback,” he said.