By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
Worried by the spate of electoral violence and outright refusal of some state governments to grant opposition parties the right to hold rallies in their dormain in the early days of electioneering campaigns, the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu
has tasked the security agencies to quickly
arrest and prosecute violators of the 2022 Electoral Act.
This is even as the National Security Adviser (NSA) and co-chairman of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), Major General Babagana Monguno has said the nation’s security agencies already strategize new measures to counter the rising wave of violence in the polity.
Yakubu who spoke at the 3rd Quarterly Meeting of ICCES held at the INEC Conference Room, Abuja on Friday, urged the country’s security agencies to quickly embark on the arrest and prosecution of violators of the provisions of 2022 Electoral Act especially Sections 92 to 93.
Said he: Beyond vote buying, there must also be decisive action against negative mobilisation, incitement and violence during the electioneering campaign. It is exactly a month since the commencement of campaign by political parties on 28th September 2022, yet the incidents of physical attacks on supporters and destruction of campaign materials across the country is worrisome”.
Speaking further the INEC Chairman said: “At our consultative meeting two days ago, leaders of political parties in Nigeria also complained about the denial of access to public facilities and exorbitant charges in some States for the use of such facilities for the dissemination of their campaign materials, messages and rallies. These attacks and denials are a violation of the Electoral Act 2022 and ominous signs of what will follow as the campaigns enter critical stages”.
According to him: “They may also be a prelude to violence on Election Day and beyond. We should tackle the smoke before it snowballs into a major inferno”, suggesting that:
“The effective enforcement of our electoral law is the best way to deal with the menace. We should work together to ensure the arrest and prosecution of violators of the provisions of especially Sections 92–93 of the Electoral Act 2022”.
The INEC boss stated that: “As the 2023 General Election approaches, we will continue to appraise the security situation in the country and its possible impact on the conduct of elections”.
“We are right now working to harmonise our Election Risk Management (ERM) and Election Violence Mitigation and Advocacy Tool (EVMAT) for a more effective risk assessment and mitigation measures ahead of the General Election. We will continue to share information with the security agencies and most importantly work together to ensure that elections hold peacefully nationwide as scheduled”.
Yakubu therefore posited that: “Beyond the General Election, the Commission has released the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the three off-cycle Governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi States holding on Saturday 11th November 2022”.
He said the Electoral Act 2022 requires the Commission to publish the Notice of Election not later than 360 days before the date fixed for the elections. Beyond meeting the statutory requirements, pointing out that
this will give INEC ample time to prepare for the elections.
However, Yakubu said the Commission extends its profound appreciation to all the security agencies for the professional conduct of personnel before, during and after the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) across the country and the Governorship elections in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun.
He said there are important lessons from the Ekiti and Osun Governorship elections that will help our planning for the 2023 General Election, adding that synergy among the security agencies facilitated the timely deployment of election materials, the coordinated escort of personnel to various locations before the elections and the effective security at the polling units and collation centres.
“As a result, polling units opened on time, collation of results started promptly and declarations made in good time. Going forward, Nigerians expect an even better performance during the 2023 General Election. Therefore, a lot of work lies ahead but I am confident that we will do it effectively and professionally”, he concluded.
In his response, the NSA represented by Sanusi Galadima commended the tireless efforts of all security agencies in maintaining peace and order during the ongoing electioneering campaigns across the States.
However, the NSA said he has observed the violent dimensions of electioneering campaigns which characterizes attacks on campaign rallies, political campaign offices as well as passing of uncomplementary remarks and uncouth utterances among politicians which recently witnessed in some States signal potential threats to the smooth conduct of the forthcoming elections in February, 2023.
“Accordingly, while security agencies strategize new measures to counter the rising wave of violence in the polity, the Office of NSA hopes that the second phase of the signing of “Peace Accord”, by the National Peace Committee (NPC) scheduled for January, 2023, will be fruitful in deescalating the violent trend”.
