INEC intervenes in alleged APC hiring thugs, after PDP campaign violence
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Mahmood Yakubu, the chief umpire in the highly competitive three-horse race to the Villa, the most dicey since 1999, has expressed concern over the violence that broke out at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) campaign in Kaduna on Monday.
The PDP has accused the All Progressives Party (APC) of having used its “fake news laboratory” to spread a lie the campaign had been suspended and of hiring and paying thugs to attack attendees when it held.
There had been violence in previous political rallies North and South, but the latest in Kaduna escalated a notch higher than most.
Yakubu, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, on Tuesday expressed concern over such violence and announced he would summon a meeting of political party leaders next week to prevent a recurrence.
He bared his mind at the training of master trainers on technologies for the 2023 general election in Abuja.
“Even as the Commission is working hard to ensure a credible process in the forthcoming elections, reports of clashes among parties and their supporters in some States of the country during the ongoing electioneering campaign is worrisome,” he said.
“So too is the reported denial of access to public facilities for parties and candidates in some states of the federation.
“Let me caution parties and their supporters to focus on issues and steer clear of attacks on each other.
“These are not only violations of the Electoral Act 2022 but also negate the voluntary commitment by all political parties and candidates to the letter and spirit of the Peace Accord signed about three weeks ago under the auspices of the National Peace Committee (NPC).
Peaceful electioneering critical
“Parties, candidates and their supporters should not by acts of commission or omission further complicate the prevailing security situation in the country. A peaceful electioneering campaign is critical to the conduct of peaceful and credible elections.
“The Commission will continue to monitor the situation closely and will convene a meeting with leaders of political parties next week to discuss, among the other issues, the imperative of peaceful campaigns and equal access to public facilities.
“In the same vein, the Commission will also meet with the security agencies under the auspices of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) next week.”
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INEC capacity building
Yakubu stressed the need to build the capacity of INEC staff on use of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and other technologies for the 2023 ballot, per The Guardian.
“Today, we begin the process with the training of master trainers to serve as Registration Area Technical Support (RATECH).
“A total of 82 officials drawn from our offices nationwide will form the nucleus of the training. Over the next three days, they will receive intensive hands-on training on the new technology.
“Thereafter, they will train more officials at zonal level to cover all the 8,809 Registration Areas (or Wards). In turn, these officials will be involved in the training of ad hoc staff for the 176,846 Polling Units nationwide.
“I urge the 82 staff involved to pay special attention to the training that you will receive at this Workshop. Your role as master trainers is critical to the success of training at subsequent levels and ultimately the successful deployment of the devices during elections.
“For this reason, the Commission will not accept laxity on your part.
“Much as we have confidence in your ability to understand and discharge your responsibilities to the officials you will subsequently train, there will be consequences for unethical behaviour or any act of misconduct.
“I wish you a successful training.”
