A Non-Govermental Organization (NGO), called Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to reciprocate the confidence of the electorate in Ondo State as voters head to the polls on Oct. 10.
The CDD Director, Idayat Hassan, made this known on Thursday in an interactive session with newsmen in Akure.
Hassan gave the charge against the background that INEC had not been subjected to attacks which it had faced in recent elections in other states.
According to her, one interesting trend observed by CDD in the Ondo State governorship election is the absence of or reduced level of attacks on the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“Compared to governorship elections in other states, INEC has been largely spared of denunciations and attacks, which are clearly aimed at undermining the idea of the Commission’s impartiality.
“Politicians normally resort to the strategy of denouncing INEC so that if they lose the election they can quickly blame INEC’s alleged compromise as the reason for their loss.
“INEC cannot afford to fritter away this level of good will. It has to ensure the confidence reposed in it is properly reciprocated.
“This it can do by ensuring materials arrive at the polling units on time.
“CDD hopes INEC will strategically factor these areas in its deployment plans to ensure there is no late arrival of materials.
“These factors will have to be considered in the aspect of reverse logistics, especially with respect to collation of results.
“INEC should, therefore, consider the nature of the terrain in some parts of the state, especially the riverine and mountainous nature of some Local Government Areas.
“The Centre advise INEC to reciprocate this confidence by ensuring it does not disappoint in the area of logistics and result collation come Oct. 10.”
The group similarly urged the Commission to find ways to mitigate the effect of the largely partisan disposition of transport unions, including the National Union of Road Transport Workers and the Motorcyclists’ Association.
She said the partisan posture of those unions could pose challenges which might create credibility and logistics problems for the entire process.
Incidentally, the NURTW is the body INEC relies on for transportation of electoral materials.
This, she said, might create a problem for INEC in the area of getting materials to all voting areas in the state.
The centre called on INEC to “prepare back up plans just in case there is a system failure in its logistics deployment as a result of the partisan disposition of the transport union.”(NAN)
