••*Be Neutral, IPAC Challenges Electoral Umpire
By Tom Zaneni, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has expressed dissatisfaction with the inadequate compliance of some political parties with the commission’s digital requirements for the conduct of the September 21 Edo State governorship election.
INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made the observation at a meeting with leaders of political parties in Abuja on Thursday.
According to him, the parties’ compliance with the commission’s digital platform requirements for the nomination of polling unit and collation centre agents had left much to be desired.
Yakubu expressed concerns over the poor quality of submissions from some parties.
He stressed the inadequacy of the uploaded images of the polling unit and collation centre agents for the Edo governorship contest.
He warned that the integrity of the electoral process “is paramount and political parties must adhere to the standards set by INEC to ensure transparency.”
Yakubu said, “The Commission is determined that your agents at polling units and collation centres must be identified by name and their photographs clearly printed on their accreditation tags duly authorized by the Commission.
“We cannot afford to compromise on these standards, especially at this critical stage of our preparations.”
The INEC boss emphasised that there would be no return to the manual process in the electoral process.
He also chided the political parties for their inability to furnish the commission with details of the dates and locations of their major rallies and campaigns, as stipulated by INEC guidelines.
“It is troubling that some of you are quick to complain about incidents during campaigns, yet you have not fulfilled this basic obligation,” Yakubu said.
While urging the parties to coordinate themselves better and abide by the electoral regulations, he said that the commission was committed to conducting a transparent and credible election in Edo State.
Yakubu who outlined the progress made so far, noted that the commission had successfully completed 10 out of the 13 scheduled activities for the election.
According to him, these include the presentation of the final voter register, which lists 2,629,025 registered voters.
“We are now left with three outstanding activities, namely, the publication of the Notice of Poll scheduled for Saturday, September 7, 2024; the Last Day of Campaign by political parties on Thursday, September 19, 2024; and finally, the Election Day itself,” he said.
Yakubu also stated that the commission would engage stakeholders to intensify voter education, and finalize the training of security personnel.
He assured stakeholders that all necessary logistics, including the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines were on track.
The INEC chairman called all political parties to maintain decorum and civility during their campaigns, reiterating the commission’s readiness to work closely with all stakeholders to conduct a credible election in Edo State.
Speaking at the meeting, the national chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Yusuf Mamman Dantalle, said the forthcoming Edo governorship poll would be a litmus test for the subsequent governorship election in Ondo State.
He urged political parties to see the Edo and Ondo poll as a critical opportunity to restore confidence in Nigeria’s electoral process and deepen democratic governance.
Dantalle also challenged INEC “to maintain neutrality in the conduct of the poll”, and ensure that all electoral materials, particularly the BVAS and IReV portals, are fully prepared and reliable.
