The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has said that the commission will not bow to electoral violence nor declare results procured through violence and resistance to the deployment of smart cards come Saturday, December 5, 2020.
INEC would be conducting the Cross River north senatorial district and the Obudu State Assembly Constituency elections due to the deaths of the lawmakers, Senator Rose Oko and Godwin Akwaji.
Election Violence
Festus Okoye, the National Commissioner supervising the byelections in Cross River State, south-south Nigeria, told newsmen in Calabar, the capital city that the commission would not condone any form of violence during the exercise.
He stated, “political parties and their supporters must realize that violence in election diminishes the quality of the election and mandate given. Political parties must impress on their supporters that there are other means of earning a living than through electoral violence”.
“The Commission will not bow to electoral violence and will not declare results procured through violence and resistance to the deployment of smart card readers,” Okoye stressed.
He advised the political parties involved in the elections to properly train the polling agents that would be deployed to the 627 polling units to understand the creative and innovations introduced by the commission.
Election Logistics
The National Commissioner further disclosed that 9 political parties would be participating in the north senatorial district bye-election, while 6 have fielded candidates for the Obudu State Assembly Constituency.
According to Okoye, “the commission will conduct the senatorial byelection across 5 local government areas, which include Obanliku, Obudu, Bekwara, Yala and Ogoja.
We have 51 Registration areas with 627 polling units and a total voting population of 429, 488”.
“The commission is ready for the conduct of the two elections. The non-sensitive materials have been received and delivered to the 5 local governments and we have concluded the recruitment and training of ad hoc staff,” he said.
He affirmed that the card readers were purged, charged and configured, while Form EC8A (1) used for polling units results would be transmitted in real time using the Z-pad via the INEC viewing results portal.
Security
Meanwhile, Abdulkadir Jimoh, the Commissioner for Police, Cross River State command has deployed 1, 341 policemen to man the 627 polling units ahead of Saturdays byelections.
Jimoh, who broke away from a meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security to address newsmen in Calabar, said that the Nigeria Police Force with the support of other security agencies were set for the two election holding on Saturday.
The Police Commissioner said, “we also have seven mobile units coming from other parts of the country to join the two others on ground. We also have very senior officers coming from Abuja to augment our strength”
On fate awaiting would be perpetrators of violence during the elections, the Police boss said, “it is not tolerated in elections. So, they will face the repercussions if they try it at all. The police are everywhere across the state and we are very familiar with the terrain. We know how to work in this terrain”.
He advised voters to abide by the directives of the electoral commission and support the efforts of security agencies to maintain peace and order on the election day.
Nnenna.O
