Ahead of the November 16, Bayelsa and Kogi governorship elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has accredited 135 domestic observer groups, consisting of 67 for Bayelsa and 68 for Kogi, and 16 foreign observer groups with 8 for each State.
Mahmood Yakubu, INEC Chairman who disclosed this Tuesday at the quarterly stakeholders meeting with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Abuja reminded the observer groups of the imperative of submitting their reports in line with their terms of accreditation.
Yakubu said for the 2019 General elections, the Commission accredited a total of 159 observer groups out of which 120 were domestic and 39 foreign and collectively, they proposed to deploy 73,562 observers: 71,256 domestic and 2,306 foreign.
He however, lamented that seven months after the general elections, INEC has so far received reports from only 72 observer groups (45.2%) out of 159.
The INEC Chairman urged those that are yet to formally submit their reports to the Commission to do so in earnest in both hard and soft copies as required of them under their terms of accreditation.
He stated that for the groups that have submitted their reports, INEC has analysed their recommendations for implementation even though the majority of the recommendations tend to be general and not detailed and specific enough for remedial action, especially where inadequacies or failures that can lead to action taken against individuals or groups were reported.
“More detailed and accurate recommendations will help us identify locations, individuals or groups responsible for infarctions and take appropriate action or in the case of exceptional performance to commend those responsible.
“Furthermore, often times we hear of observers’ reports and recommendations on the media after a public presentation. While we all have an obligation to the public, accredited observers also have obligations to the Commission”, Yakubu explained.
The Chairman said the Commission has already engaged with the security agencies to ensure unimpeded access to voting locations and collation centres for accredited observers and the media in addition to adequate protection for all, including election officials and the voters, adding that the concerned parties have agreed that the rules of engagement for security officials on election duty should be reprinted and made available to the security personnel and stakeholders.
Yakubu noted that the Commission is similarly concerned about possible voter harassment, inducement (including vote-buying) and other sundry violations of the Electoral Act and re-emphasised that voters are not allowed to carry their mobile phones or any photographic devices into the voting cubicles on election day.
He reassured that CSOs will continue to play an important role in the nation’s democratic process as through their diligent observation of elections provided valuable assessment of the strength and weaknesses of the processes that in 2019 took place in 176,996 voting locations and 10,367 collation/declaration centres nationwide.
Speaking on the purpose of the meeting, Yakubu said, with only 17 days to the Governorship elections in Bayelsa and Kogi States, the main focus of this meeting is to brief you on the Commission’s preparations for the two elections which will be combined with two more elections by court order.
“In Bayelsa State, the Governorship election will be held simultaneously with the Brass 1 State Constituency supplementary election in six polling units in Cape Farmosa Ward of Brass Local Government Area. The supplementary election would have been held seven months ago but for protracted litigation that was finally settled by the Supreme Court. The six polling units have a total of 2,076 registered voters.
“In Kogi State, the Governorship election will be combined with the Kogi West Senatorial re-run election by order of the election petition appeal tribunal. The total number of registered voters in the Senatorial District is 432,515.
“For the Governorship election, Bayelsa State has 8 Local Government Areas (LGAs), 105 Registration Areas (RAs), 1,804 Polling Units (PUs) and 923,182 registered voters of which 498,790 (54.3%) are male while 424,392 (45.97%) are female. The number of PVCs collected across the State as at 30th September 2019 is 889,308 (96.3%) with 33,874 (3.7%) uncollected.
“Kogi State, on the other hand, has 21 LGAs, 239 RAs, 2,548 PUs while the number of registered voters is 1,646,350 of which 825,663 (50.1%) are male and 820,687 (49.9%) are female. The number of PVCs collected is 1,485,828 (90.2%) leaving 160,522 (9.8%) uncollected.
“The Commission will make available detailed figures of PVCs collected in each State by LGA and RA as part of our continuing effort to deepen transparency and accountability. Copies will be made available at the Commission’s stakeholders’ meetings in Yenagoa and Lokoja. The same information will also be uploaded on the Commission’s website”.
He revealed that all uncollected PVCs have been retrieved from the Commission’s Local Government Areas Offices and will be deposited at the branches of the Central Bank of Nigeria in Bayelsa and Kogi States for safe keeping pending the resumption of Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).
According to Yakubu, so far, 10 out of the 14 activities itemized for the Bayelsa and Kogi governorship elections have been successfully implemented, including the conduct of party primaries and the nomination of candidates.
“As at today, there are only four activities outstanding. These are the publication of the Notice of Polls and the last day for submission of names and addresses of polling agents by political parties which is 2nd November 2019. This would be followed by the last day of campaign on 14th of November 2019 and, finally, the Election Day which is Saturday 16th November 2019”, he said.
James Kwen, Abuja
