Enugu – The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has urged traditional rulers in Enugu State to caution their subjects against violence and violation of the electoral guidelines.
Mr Festus Okoye, INEC’s National Commissioner for Anambra and Enugu States, made the appeal during an interactive session with the traditional rulers in Enugu State in Enugu on Monday.
Okoye said that the commission would punish violators of electoral law, stressing the need for the monarchs to sensitise their subjects on the need to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and vote in 2019 general elections.
“The commission has also embarked upon robust voter enlightenment here in Enugu state, and we urge our royal fathers to help us enlighten the people in your domains the more about the various aspects of the elections.
“These include the voting procedures, the importance of voting, mobilisation of voters especially the women, youths and people living with disabilities,’’ he said.
Okoye, who expressed worry over vote-buying, said that INEC had decided to alter the configuration of our polling units by moving the ballot boxes closer to the voting cubicles to make it difficult for voters to expose their marked ballot papers.
“We also introduced a partial ban on the use of mobile phone and other photographic devices by voters while in the voting cubicles as well as the introduction of rolling and flattening of ballot papers by voters before casting them into the ballot boxes,’’ he said.
According to him, we have received credible information that some partisan actors are now going round buying up Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) or financially inducing them to collect the Voter Identification Number (VIN) in their PVCs.
“In some instances, telephone numbers and details of bank accounts of voters have been collected,” he added.
Okoye restated that the Smart Card Readers would be used for the general elections for accreditation of voters, noting that cloned cards would be rejected by the card readers.
The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Enugu State, Dr Emeka Ononamadu said that collection of Permanent Voter Collection (PVC) had been progressing.
Ononamadu however, said that much was required to be done to ensure that all registrants collected their PVCs one week before the elections in Feb. 16.
“As at Jan. 8, the total uncollected PVCs in Enugu State stand at 383,281 while the total collected PVCs stand at 1,559,495.
“INEC will keep providing you with update on this as we intensify efforts on PVC collection by opening permanent collection centres in all the 260 registration areas between Jan. 16 and Jan. 21,’’ he said.
He, therefore, urged traditional rulers to sensitise the people on the need to visit the centres for the collection of their PVCs.
The Chairman, Council of Traditional Rulers in Enugu State, Igwe Lawrence Agubuzu, assured INEC that the royal fathers would continue to partner with the commission to ensure peaceful and credible election.
“We have vowed to deal with anybody in our domain with a plan to disrupt the peaceful conduct of the election,’’ Agubuzu said.
According to him, with the good work of Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in bringing peaceful co-existence in the state, we will ensure it will continue to be peaceful during and after the elections.
He also called on security agencies to be proactive, gather intelligence report and act appropriately when the need arose to ensure peaceful and credible elections in the state.
Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi represented by the Deputy Governor, Mrs Cecilia Ezeilo, commended INEC for putting measures in place to achieve peaceful and credible election.
The governor enjoined advised the citizens to respect the electoral law and ensure a peaceful, free and fair election.
“Enugu State has been peaceful and we will continue to provide a peaceful environment for our citizens to ensure a successful election,’’ Ugwuanyi said.
(NAN)