The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC says the conduct of off-cycle elections in Kogi, Imo, and Bayelsa states is crucial to the Commission.
It says that is the reason why it is working extra hard to ensure that it is free, fair, and credible.
INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu explained to Civil Society Organisations during a meeting that the commission was making deliberate efforts to fulfill its constitutional obligations in the conduct of the historic and crucial poll on 11 November 2023.
Prof. Mahmood said that the commission would present identity cards to all accredited Civil Society Organisations and ensure their safety during and after the polls in the three states.
“Overall, the Commission has accredited 145 organisations deploying 7,896 observers. In the next few days, accredited organizations will be invited to collect the identity cards for their observers,” he said.
Use of BVAS and IReV
The INEC Chairman said the commission’s focus is on the success of the up-coming off-cycle elections.
“As you are aware, the Commission conducted a mock accreditation involving actual voters in designated polling units in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi States two weeks ago. By doing so, we tested the efficacy of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for both biometric authentication of voters and the upload of results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV). Some of you observed the mock accreditation exercise and viewed the results on the IReV portal. We have received no adverse report so far.
“By this, we are encouraged that the test was successful, and we look forward to improved performance of the BVAS in voter accreditation and result upload in the forthcoming Governorship elections and beyond,” he explained.
Stakeholders Role
According to him, “Election is a multi-stakeholder activity. In discharging our responsibilities, we will continue to engage with all stakeholders. One of such engagements is with the security agencies. In previous elections, civil society organisations have expressed concern about the safety of persons involved in elections as well as the protection of the process, including polling units and collation centres.
“Similarly, civil society organisations have on several occasions urged the Commission to intercede with the security agencies to grant you unimpeded access to voting and collation locations.
“I want to reassure you that we will continue to do so as we engage with the security agencies both at the national level and in the three States. At the same time, I wish to remind all accredited observers to strictly adhere to the code of conduct for election observation”.
Prof Mahmood Yakubu informed the CSOs that the final report of the 2023 general election would soon be finalised and presented to Nigerians.
“You may recall that our last meeting held three months ago focused on the review of the 2023 General Election. The review report is being finalised. So too is our 2023 General Election report. As soon as they are ready, the Commission will, as usual, share the reports with you. We believe the two reports will contribute to the ongoing conversations towards improving the future conduct of elections in Nigeria”.
Speaking on behalf of the Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, Mr. Funsho Tunde of the Justice and Equity Organisation, said they have some concerns pertaining to the election coverage and are glad that efforts are being made by the commission to ensure the polls are free, fair, credible and observers are provided adequate security.
Mr. Tunde noted that providing secured identity cards would help eliminate some challenges faced by observers on the field and they look forward to reading the finalised report of the 2023 general election.
Confidence Okwuchi
