Joseph Bakare
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, says all is set for the Area Council Elections, in Abuja.
Chairman of the Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, who addressed a stakeholders meeting in Abuja on Thursday February 3, ahead of the poll said that after the period for substitution and withdrawal of candidates as provided by law, the Commission has listed 473 candidates sponsored by 14 political parties for the forthcoming elections. In all, 110 candidates (Chair and Vice Chair) are vying for the leadership of the six Area Councils while 363 candidates are competing for 62 councillorship positions. Detailed analysis of the candidates by Area Councils, political parties, gender, age and educational qualifications has already been uploaded to our website for public information.
Yakubu, said, “With only nine days to the election, major activities have been concluded. Right now, the Commission is only putting the finishing touches to our preparations. Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) was conducted over a period of six months. Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) have been printed and made available for collection.”
According to him, There are enough ad hoc staff engaged and trained for the election. Non-sensitive materials have been deployed to the various Area Councils. Non-pharmaceutical materials have been procured to protect voters and personnel from COVID-19 in line with the Commission’s policy based on the protocols prescribed by health authorities. Voter education and publicity are ongoing.
He further confirmed that Transport arrangements have been made, including motorcycles for remote locations and boats for riverine areas, adding, “We have had several meetings with the security agencies in the area councils, the FCT and the national level on how to address potential threats to the election and secure the process. They have also been trained on the code of conduct for security personnel on election duty to ensure their neutrality and professionalism.”
The chairman added, “With regard to election technology for voter accreditation, the Commission has reviewed the performance of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in the recent Anambra State Governorship election. Lessons learnt from that election have been considered in planning for the Area Council elections. The BVAS have been configured and ready to deploy for the election. We have also made adequate arrangements for technical support and transportation to speedily respond in the unlikely event of glitches on Election Day.
Similarly, election results will be uploaded to the INEC Result Viewing portal (IReV) in real-time when voting ends and votes are counted at polling units on Election Day.”
He expressed the Commission’s happiness with the behaviour of parties and candidates in the FCT, stressing, “So far, there are no adverse reports of clashes between supporters of different parties and not many incidents of hate or inciting speeches as they canvass for votes. I commend the stakeholders for their advocacy for peaceful elections. I appeal to political parties and candidates to continue to show maturity and decorum as campaigns come to a close and Election Day draws nearer.”
However, he observed that the 2022 FCT Area Council Election is not without its fair share of litigations as there are eight cases in court challenging the nomination or educational qualification of candidates.
Some of the cases are already before the Supreme Court, he said noting that “However, contrary to the Commission’s experience in previous elections around the country, there are no conflicting judgments or orders by courts of coordinate jurisdiction anywhere on the forthcoming FCT elections.”
He appreciated the judiciary, particularly the FCT High Court, for standing firm to the shenanigans of forum shoppers and litigation-happy individuals who often waste the precious time of the Courts and INEC by litigating even the most improbable cases.
Speaking further he said, “At this juncture, I wish to draw your attention to a few areas where the Commission needs the support of all stakeholders in the FCT. You may recall that early last year, INEC succeeded in expanding voter access to polling units for the first time in 25 years in spite of the apparent expansion of the voter population and emergence of new settlements. From just 562 polling units, the Commission established additional 2,260 units and relocated some of them from congested locations to proximate but underserved areas.
“We gave voters the opportunity to transfer to some of the new polling units. Unfortunately, voters did not take advantage of this opportunity as we had expected in all cases. Consequently, there are 593 polling units in the FCT without registered voters, 1,328 polling units with between 0-50 voters and 546 polling units with over 1,000 registered voters. We have already informed political parties, civil society organisations, the media and security agencies at the national level about this development.”
He therefore declared that the Commission has decided that no election will take place at the polling units without registered voters as no materials have been produced for these units and no personnel will be deployed to them.
“However, voting will take place in all the other polling units. For congested polling units, the Commission will deploy more than one BVAS to facilitate a speedy accreditation of voters. We will also deploy additional staff to these locations. We also agreed with the security agencies to deploy more personnel to ensure peace and order.” he assured.