By Chimezie Godfrey
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has declared its readiness to conduct the forthcoming governorship election in Ekiti.
The National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, (IVEC), Festus Okoye made this known at a forum for media executives held at Ado-Ekiti on Friday.
Okoye noted that the Ekiti governorship election will take place on the 18th day of June, 2022 and this will happen in 16 Local Governments Areas and in the 177 Electoral Wards of Ekiti State.
According to him, as at present and after running ABIS on the new registrants and after adjudication, INEC have a total of 988,923 registered voters, adding that these are the ones that are qualified to vote during the election.
He also disclosed that as at 27th day of May, 2022, a total of 734,746 person have collected their PVCs, as he encouraged those that are yet to collect their PVCs to do so.
Okoye further said that the commission will deploy ad-hoc staff to the 104 registration centres made up of 43 RACs and 61 SRACs.
He added that the ad-hoc staff will deploy to the 2,445 polling units at the first light on the 18th day of June 2022. We project to deploy over 10,000 ad hoc staff during the election.
He said,”The Commission is ready for the Ekiti Governorship election. All the non-sensitive materials required for the election have been deployed to the LGAs. We have inspected our LGA officers in Ado-Ekiti, Ise/Orun and Ikere. We carried out mock accreditation on Monday, 30th May, 2022 in three Senatorial Districts in four Local Governments and 12 polling units
“In terms of training, the Commission has concluded the training of Supervisory Presiding Officers and the training of Presiding Officers and other categories of staff is ongoing.
“The remaining activities relating to the Governorship election in Ekiti State will be governed by the Constitution, the Electoral Act 2022 and the Regulations and Guidelines of the Commission. will be used for the conduct of the election.
“The Constitution requires that a winner can only be declared if the candidate scores the highest number of votes and scores a quarter of the votes in two thirds of the 16 Local Governments of Ekiti State.”
Okoye noted that the Commission expects media executives to be thoroughly professional and ethical and avoid the “breaking news syndrome”.
According to him, the Ekiti and Osun elections are like a dress rehearsal for the election and one false or inaccurate report can lead to break down of law and order or lead to unimaginable consequences.
“The media must process information before publication and must not be unnecessarily be influenced by social media accounts without verification. Technology has made it possible for information to travel wide and fast and whatever we put out travels fast.
“The Commission will continue to be upfront with information on the electoral process. The Commission has been creative, innovative and courageous in the use and application of technology in the electoral process.
“We have designed Candidates’ nomination portal, Observer and Media Accreditation portal, Poll Party Agents Nomination Portal, Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and the INEC Result Viewing Portal,” he said.
The INEC Commissioner assured the people of Ekiti State that the Commission will conduct free, fair, credible and inclusive election in Ekiti State.
He reminded young people of the state of the need to organize and collect their PVCs.
He noted that the law does not permit the Commission to set up polling units on the platform of the social media.
According to him, Section 47 of the Electoral Act 2022 stipulates that to vote, a person shall present himself with his voter’s card to the Presiding Officer at the polling unit in the constituency in which his name appears.
He therefore urged Young people to activate the power and potency of the PVC by voting.
Okoye implored media executives to continue to spread the virtues of professionalism and ethical conduct in the coverage of elections and the conduct of elections.
He said election is a multi-stakeholders venture and that all stakeholders must continue to work collaboratively to advance the electoral process.
He thanked media executives for attending this program and urge that them to continue to discharge their corporate social responsibility by encouraging voter turnout.
