Nigeria’s electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), is set to conduct bye and re-run elections in 39 constituencies across 12 states on 3rd February 2024.
The bye-elections resulted from the death and resignation of some members of the National and State legislative houses affecting two senatorial districts, four federal and three state assembly constituencies.
The second category is the re-run elections by order of the Election Petition Appeal Tribunals after the 2023 general election.
During a meeting with members of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), INEC National Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu said the elections initially affected only 35 National and State constituencies, however, four additional orders of the Court of Appeal have been served on the Commission in respect of Yabo/Shagari Federal constituency of Sokoto State, Madara/Chinade State constituency of Bauchi State as well as Kudan and Kauru/Chawai State constituencies of Kaduna State.
Mahmood said this brings the total number of affected constituencies to 39, which translates to 2.6% of the 1,491 constituencies for which elections were conducted nationwide in the 2023 general election.
“The nine bye-elections are fresh elections covering the entire constituencies. However, with the exception of three constituencies (Plateau North Senatorial District, Jos North/Bassa Federal Constituency in Plateau State and Kachia/Kagarko Federal Constituency in Kaduna State), the re-run elections are to be held in a few polling units. In some cases, only one polling unit is affected in an entire federal or state constituency”.
Prof. Mahmood Yakubu called on the members of ICCES to ensure security for the elections.
“For this reason, the Commission has already provided to the Nigeria Police Force, as the lead agency in election security, the full information of the locations where the elections will be held broken down by States/local government areas, registration areas/wards and polling units. We have similarly provided the number of registered voters and Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) collected in each polling unit. The same information will be shared at this meeting with other members of ICCES. The updated information will also be uploaded to the Commission’s website and social media platforms for public information immediately after this meeting”.
He noted that election is a multi-stakeholder responsibility, which rests on the shoulders of INEC and other stakeholders.
“As security agencies, it is your responsibility to secure the environment to enable us deploy personnel and materials, the protection of observers, the media as well as the polling and collation agents representing the political parties and candidates. Without a secure and peaceful environment, the conduct of credible elections is imperilled”.
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The INEC National Chairman explained that some candidates and their supporters at bye-elections and re-run elections can be very disruptive due to the isolated nature of the elections.
“A re-run election conducted in one polling unit or a handful of polling units can be severely disrupted by acts of thuggery knowing full well that these few locations will determine the outcome of the election. Arising from the reports we received from the States, concerns have been raised about the impact of the prevailing insecurity in some States on the conduct of the elections, made worse by incendiary statements by some political actors. We will present such concerns and reports at this meeting for appropriate security response”.
No election season
As it stands, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu said that there is no longer election season in Nigeria as polls are held throughout the year between one general election and another which adds to the enormous pressure on both INEC and the security agencies.
“In addition to the bye-elections and re-run elections holding next week, the Commission has also released the timetable and schedule of activities for the two off-cycle governorship elections in Edo State scheduled for 21st September 2024 and Ondo State on 16th November 2024”.
Mahmood said that as required by the Electoral Act 2022, party primaries and nomination of candidates shall be done not later than 180 days before the date fixed for the elections.
“Accordingly, party primaries for Edo State will commence next week and end three weeks later that is 1st- 24th February 2024. For Ondo State, primaries will be held between 6th and 27th April 2024. Our collective experience as election managers and security agencies shows that party primaries can sometimes be more acrimonious than general elections”.
Deployment of security
The National Security Adviser and co-chair of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, ICCES, Nuhu Ribadu, said President Tinubu is committed to the protection of lives and property as well as the security of election materials, voters and candidates.
Represented by Hassan Yahaya Abdullahi, Ribadu said “In future elections especially the upcoming bye-elections and re-run elections we must prevent and manage elections against violence, intimidation and other security threats so as to uphold the credibility of the process. Office of the National Security Adviser and security agencies under the platform of ICCES would sustain collaboration to ensure that elections are conducted in a secure and peaceful environment”.
He said the coordination of security agencies, deployment of personnel and adoption of proactive security measures would be paramount.
The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, said the police are mindful of the challenges associated with isolated elections and are on top of the situation
“We have conducted threat analysis in all the states where election is going to take place and we are going to deploy according to the threat assessment. We are also going to deploy massively and adequately for this election just as we did in the three states during the last election”.
Egbetokun assured Nigerians that the upcoming election will be hitch-free, as the police will ensure the safety of election materials and electoral officials to be deployed, electorates who are coming out to vote and guarantee free and fair polls.
As the electoral commission and ICCES prepare for the bye-elections and re-run elections, they are equally preparing for the two major elections later this year in Edo and Ondo States.
Emmanuel Ukoh
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