By Chibuike Nwabuko
Abuja (Sundiata Post) – The Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu has assured that the standard of professional conduct, displayed by INEC officials and the security agencies in the Edo, Ondo and Anambra State Governorship elections will be maintained in all forthcoming polls, including the 2023 general election.
The INEC boss gave the assurance on Thursday in his remarks at the first quarterly meeting of the inter-agency consultative committee on election security held in Abuja.
The full Speech reads:
It is my pleasure to warmly welcome you all to this meeting which is our first regular quarterly consultative meeting for this year. It is therefore appropriate to start by wishing you all a happy New Year.
Undoubtedly, the year 2021 was our busiest since the 2019 General Election. As against our four regular meetings for the year, the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) met seven times, including one special and three emergency sessions to plan for election security or to strategise on how best to protect INEC facilities from malicious attacks across the country.
During the year, the Commission conducted nine bye-elections in six States of the Federation involving four Federal constituencies, four State constituencies and one Councillorship constituency in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Most importantly, the end of tenure Governorship election in Anambra State passed off peacefully despite the tension and actual violence preceding it. The conduct of the Anambra Governorship election will go down in history as a remarkable accomplishment.
On behalf of INEC, let me seize this opportunity to commend the professionalism of the security agencies without which the peaceful conduct of the election would not have been possible. I am confident that the standard of professional conduct displayed by INEC officials and the security agencies in the Edo, Ondo and Anambra State Governorship elections will be maintained in all forthcoming polls, including the 2023 General Election. Our responsibility is to protect the process to guarantee its integrity while leaving the outcome of the election for voters to determine.
Although 2021 was a very busy year for us, our work is not over yet. The year 2022 is going to be busier. There are nine pending bye-elections in seven States of the Federation. Just last week, the Commission released the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for six of these bye-elections to fill vacancies for the Jos North/Bassa Federal Constituency and Pankshin South State Constituency in Plateau State; the Ogoja/Yala Federal Constituency and the Akpabuyo State Constituency in Cross River State; the Akure North/Akure South Federal Constituency in Ondo State; and the Ngor-Okpala State Constituency in Imo State.
These elections are scheduled to hold on Saturday 26th February 2022. The detailed Timetable is already uploaded on our website and social media platforms. Hard copies are also included in your folders for this meeting.
Meanwhile, the Commission has decided that the suspended Ekiti East I State Constituency bye-election will be combined with the State Governorship election holding on 18th June 2022. The date for the Shinkafi State Constituency bye-election in Zamfara State will be decided after consultation with the security agencies regarding the security situation in the area, while the Commission awaits the declaration of vacancy by the Kaduna State House of Assembly in respect of Giwa West State Constituency to be followed by a review of the security situation in the area as well.
With regard to the end-of-tenure elections, three major elections are holding this year. The Ekiti State Governorship election is scheduled to hold on 18th June 2022 while the Osun State Governorship election will hold on 16th July 2022. More immediately, the Area Council elections in the FCT is holding on 12th February 2022, which is just 23 days away. As early as next week, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner and the Commissioner of Police will brief us on the state of preparation with emphasis on the identified flashpoints and the security situation generally in the FCT.
At that meeting, the Commission will provide an overview of our readiness for the election involving 68 constituencies (6 Area Council Chairmen and 62 Councillors).
In addition to these off-cycle and bye-elections, we must also continue to prepare for the 2023 General Election holding in 394 days. Securing the nation under current circumstances is challenging enough. It is more so in an election year. Beginning from this meeting, we shall focus mainly on the best way to secure the electoral process in the most professional manner.
You may recall that at our meeting in June last year, we discuss the commencement of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise. After extensive deliberations, you advised that we should commence the physical registration exercise in our State and Local Government offices nationwide. Thereafter, we shall review the security situation before devolving further in the effort to reach as many citizens in their communities as is practicable.
The CVR exercise has now entered its Third Quarter. I want to assure Nigerians that we are aware of the constraints experienced by many citizens in reaching the 811 designated centres nationwide to register. Some of them are separated by considerable distance from the places where citizens reside.
We are looking forward to activating the additional 1,862 centres nationwide to make it easier for citizens to exercise their right to register as voters. At the same time, we are mindful of the imperative of securing the process, especially the lives of registrants and our personnel. We will not put the lives of Nigerians and our registration officials at risk.
For this reason, this meeting will review the security situation with a view to achieving our ultimate goal of activating 2,673 registration centres nationwide.
Clearly, we have a lot to discuss at this meeting. Let me therefore welcome you all and once again wish you a happy new year.