By Chimezie Godfrey
The Electoral Hub has urged all electoral stakeholders and citizens to work together to safeguard the integrity of the forthcoming Governorship and State Assembly elections.
The Executive Director, Electoral Hub, Princess Hamman-Obels also advocates the sanctity of the election process, as she urged the electoral umpire to address the shortcomings of the recent Presidential and National Assembly election.
She recalled that following the conduct of the Presidential/Senatorial/House of Representative election on February 25, 2023, the governorship/state assembly elections are next, adding that due to the issues arising from the aftermath of the presidential election, the governorship/state assembly elections which were originally slated for March 11, 2023, were shifted to March 18, 2023.
Hamman-Obels said according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the postponement was to allow the Commission ample time to reconfigure the BVAs for the successful conduct of the Governorship/House of Assembly Election.
She pointed out that the Presidential/Senatorial/House of Representative election was characterized by late arrival of election materials and personnel, voting and counting of results into the night, late/delayed results upload to IReV, mal-administration at the PUs/poor ad-hoc staff performance, weak political party agents management, poor knowledge of legal framework by stakeholders, electoral violence, election related-violence against women, intimidation, voter suppression, poor institutional strategic communication, misinformation/disinformation and fake news.
She added that a very important issue arising from the election was the lack of adequate knowledge and understanding of the electoral process which led to a negative reaction in some parts of the country.
She expressed concern over attacks on women in the election in various forms such as physical harm, intimidation, vote suppression, lack of adherence to priority voting, bullying, and violent attacks.
She noted that these actions further deepen the exclusion of women in the electoral process and as such, as she called on the government and security agencies to ensure that women have a conducive environment to cast their vote as the right to vote is also human rights.
She said,”The Electoral Hub remains committed to promoting electoral knowledge, accountability, and integrity and hence, we call on the relevant stakeholders responsible for issues arising from the presidential election to double their efforts to ensure that such issues do not repeat themselves in the forthcoming governorship and state assemblies elections.
“Our Election Observation Centre will be actively documenting and analyzing conduct and misconduct of the election from our observers deployed across the country, media and citizen observers.
“We stated in our presidential post-election statement the need for INEC to be more proactive and improve on their activities for the upcoming elections; that the ad-hoc staff should be better sensitized and trained; and security agencies should be professional in carrying out their role. Therefore, we expect the following:
“Early Arrival of Electoral Personnel and Material: Electoral personnel and materials to be at the polling units on time across the country. According to INEC, voting should commence at 8:30 am and end at 2:30 pm.
“Adequate Security Presence Adequate: Adequate security presence in all polling units. The presence of security will help curb voter suppression and intimidation, violence and protect the electoral personnel and materias from hoodlums.
“Excellent Performance of Ad-hoc Staff: Ad-hoc staff should be better sensitized and trained to have improved performance of their role. Particularly as they are critical to the success and integrity of election. We expect good knowledge of BVAS use and effective carrying out of duties.
“Priority Voting for Vulnerable Groups: The elderly, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and Persons with Disabilities (PWD) should be given priority at the Polling Units to vote.
“Excellent functionality of the BVAS and Easy/Early Upload to IReV: In the Presidential election, the BVAS functioned excellently but upload to IReV was delayed in most places, which questioned the credibility of the election and the electoral body. Therefore, we expect that this irregularity should be addressed to improve the credibility of the upcoming elections.
“High Voter Turn Out, especially of Urban/Middle Class and Women/Girls: Presidential election turnout was low at less than 27%. We expect high turnout for the governorship and state assembly elections given their importance to citizens as lower and closer levels of governance.
“In conclusion, as we go into the last lap of the 2023 general election, we urge Nigerians to come out enmasse to exercise their civic right and responsibility. It is important to note that voter participation is one of the criteria for determining the credibility of elections and as such we encourage Nigerians to come out and cast their votes.”
Hamman-Obels also urged the political parties to desist from causing chaos and violence.
She urged the youth not to allow themselves to be used by politicians to cause violence and disrupt the elections.
“To achieve successful election, all stakeholders including citizens must work together to ensure integrity and sanctity of the electoral process.
“We urge citizens play our parts by coming out to vote and protect our votes. We look forward to a free, fair, and credible election,” she said.
