Politics
…fixes Nov. 6, 2024 for mock accreditation
By Anthony Isibor
WITH just two weeks to the Ondo governorship election, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, says that 64,273 PVCs have been collected by voters out of the 89,777 cards delivered to the State.
According to him, this represents an impressive collection rate of 71.6% collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards, PVCs, mainly from the recent voter registration, which ended two days ago.
Speakings at the fourth Regular Quarterly Consultative Meeting with Civil Society Organisations held in Abuja, Prof. Yakubu said that the Commission would upload to its website the cumulative figure of all PVCs collected in each of the 3,933 Polling Units across the State for the purpose of result management as provided by law and for public information.
He noted that there will be improvement in the coming election scheduled for Saturday November 16, 2024 based on lessons learnt from the previous ones.
“As usual, we have learnt lessons from previous elections. We have improved on the voter accreditation process and the upload of results to the INEC Result Viewing, IReV, portal.
“There have been similar improvements in observer and media accreditation. Our voter education efforts are ongoing. The capacity of election duty staff has improved with hands-on training for especially Polling Unit officials.
“As we approach the Ondo State governorship election, there will be further improvements, especially in the areas of logistics for the movement of personnel and materials to both land and riverine locations to enable the prompt commencement of polls as well as the management of the processes on Election Day from voting to declaration of result,” he said.
The INEC boss also revealed that Mock accreditation of voters and result upload to the IReV has been scheduled for Wednesday November, 16, 2024 in 12 Polling Units across six Local Government Areas in the three Senatorial Districts of the State.
According to him, detailed locations of the centres has already been uploaded to the INEC website.
He said that as early as next week, the Commission will undertake a final readiness assessment of our preparations for the Ondo election, meet with it’s officials, engage with stakeholders and interact with the security agencies and transport providers.
“On this note, I am also glad to announce that the National Peace Committee under the leadership of our respected former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, is holding the signing of the Peace Accord for parties and candidates in Ondo State on Friday, November 8, 2024.
“Even as we prepare for the Ondo State Governorship election, the Commission is not unmindful of its other electoral obligations. As you are aware, the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the Anambra State Governorship election was released recently. As required by law, the Commission is under obligation to publish the timetable not later than 360 days before the date fixed for the election. The idea is to provide ample time to those involved in elections as political parties, candidates, observers, the media and security agencies to prepare. A copy of the Timetable is already available on our website. Again, hardcopies have been included in your folders for this meeting, ” he added.
The INEC Chairman also thanked the CSOs, who helped to mobilise registered voters to collect their cards and promised that the commission will continue with the partnership, including capacity-building on various aspects of the electoral process jointly with some of your organisations even as he urged then to continue the good work.
“We will continue to welcome your comments and suggestions, particularly where there are specific and backed by verifiable and actionable evidence.
“As the Ondo State Governorship approaches, I wish to remind CSOs that are yet to submit reports for the Edo Governorship election to do so in earnest. I also urge you to intensify your advocacy for peaceful elections, especially now that campaign by political parties and candidates is in full swing in the state.
“Happily, there has been no major incident of election-related violence known to the Commission in Ondo State so far. However, we are aware of flash points in some Local Government Areas to which we have already drawn the attention of the security agencies.
“At the same time, I wish to remind you of your obligations as observers by complying with the Commission’s rules of engagement for accredited election observers. I wish to reiterate that the Commission reserves the right to withdraw the accreditation of any individual observer or group that violates the Code of Conduct for election observation.
“A concise summary of the Code is contained in the 22-page document entitled “Briefing for Observers” available on our website www.inecnigeria.org,” he added.
A.I
Oct. 31, 2024
Tags: INEC Prof. Mahmood Yakubu
