By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
Like the proverbial Oliver Twist, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is seeking the support of the media for public enlightenment and sensitization of voters ahead of the coming elections starting with the next month’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council Election.
The INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu made this call in Abuja at the First Quarterly Consultative Meeting with Media Executives for the Year 2022 held on Friday at INEC Conference Room.
He said the Commission appreciates the role of media organisations in encouraging and mobilizing eligible Nigerians to be involved in the elections and to perform their civic duties especially those who have not registered to get their voting cards.
Yakubu however noted that there are still a lot of grounds to cover as voter apathy has continued to be the biggest concern of the Commission hence the need for the media to join in the campaign to get the voters out on election days going forward.
Said he: “There is a lot of information for public enlightenment and sensitization. We seek for the support of media organisations in this regard”.
“We appreciate the role of media organisations in encouraging and mobilizing eligible Nigerians who have not registered to do so”.
Speaking further he said: “We appreciate the existing strong partnership between the Commission and the NUJ under your leadership.
“We also look forward to strengthening such partnership, especially as we continue to conduct more off-cycle and bye-elections this year and implement critical activities towards the 2023 General Election which is just 393 days away”.
On the preparation for the FCT Area Council election, Yakubu stated that: “in the next 23 days i.e. 12th February 2022, a major end of tenure election will hold in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to elect 6 Area Council Chairmen/Chairwomen and 62 Councillors”.
“On this note, I want to draw your attention to the distribution of voters to Polling Units in the FCT, particularly the fact that 593 out of 2,822 (or 21%) of the total, do not have voters. This is because voters failed to take advantage of the expansion of access to transfer to these new Polling Units.
“The list of Polling Units having 0 – 50 registered voters in the FCT is among the documents in your folders for this meeting. The Commission looks forward to the support of media organisations to encourage voters who wish to transfer from their present Polling Units to new ones created as part of the Commission’s expansion of access polling units across the country.
“After all, your support was crucial to the success of the recent expansion of voter access to polling units for the first time in 25 years since the initial delimitation in 1996”.
According to Yakubu: “For emphasis, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) will be deployed in the FCT elections which is the second major election after the Anambra Governorship election held in November last year. The 68 constituencies cover extensive urban and rural locations sharing border with five States in the North Central and North Western parts of the country”.
“This is yet another opportunity to pilot the efficacy of the BVAS in a different geographical, geo-political and electoral context. The same technology will be deployed in all forthcoming elections across the country. Similarly, for all elections going forward, Polling Unit results will be uploaded in real-time on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal”.
In attendance in the Consultative Meeting with the Media Executives are the President Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) represented by the National Treasurer; Chairman of NUJ, FCT Chapter and Senior Editors and Bureau Heads.
