The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has affirmed its readiness to conduct hitch free elections that are expected to produce six Area Council Chairmen and sixty two Councilors in the nation’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The elections are scheduled for Saturday, April 9, for which electoral body has appealed to Political Parties and their supporters to maintain peace throughout the process.
Chairman of the Commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, who spoke today at a stakeholders’Forum in Abuja called on the politicians to play by the rules and ensure that their supporters conduct themselves in a peaceful manner before, during and after the elections.
according to him, the Commission had so far taken every step necessary for the conduct of elections in the FCT , adding: “all non-sensitive materials have been procured and delivered to our Area Council Offices. Sensitive materials shall be delivered to our FCT Headquarters and shared in the presence of all Political Parties and stakeholders as scheduled. Our registration centre areas will be activated on Friday. Election duty staff will be at the polling unit on Saturday morning to commence simultaneous accreditation and voting at exactly 8 in the morning.”
The INEC Chairman condemned pockets of political violence experienced recently leading to the death of one person and an averted plot to attack the INEC office in Abaji. He however expressed confidence that the understanding and commitment to free and fair elections that prevailed at the forum would be extended to the elections proper.
The National Commissioner in Charge of North Central Zone, Professor Anthonia Simbine, urged all stakeholders in the elections, especially the political parties, to moderate their political behavior before, during and after the elections.
On staff recruitment and logistics for the elections, the Professor Simbine disclosed that: “we have recruited close to 10,000 ad-hoc staff from our reliable collaborators, the NYSC and surrounding institutions of learning, and we have to the best of our ability provided the needed logistic support both human and material including the support of the security agencies”.
She pointed out that both local and international Observers are on the lookout for the quality of both the process, and the outcome of the elections.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in charge of the FCT, Professor Jacob Jatau, disclosed that a total of 1,020,799 registered voters were expected to vote in the election. He stressed that only those who had collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) would be allowed to vote as Smart Card Readers would be deployed at the 562 Polling Units, 2,207 Voting Points and 246 Voting Points Settlements.
Professor Jatau decried the low level of PVC collection in the FCT despite the publicity and voter education outreaches. He solicited the support of all stakeholders in the process to ensure as many as possible eligible voters collected their PVCs at the INEC offices in the 6 Area Councils in the remaining two days before the elections between 8am and 4pm.
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase, represented by FCT Commissioner of Police, Wilson Inalegwu, assured that the Police force had taken firm steps to ensure that “this election will be free, will be conducted under a secure and safe atmosphere and that security will be provided for electoral materials, election duty officials and every nook and cranny of the FCT will be covered sufficiently by security”.
He encouraged the electorate to go about their lawful business without fear or apprehension, before, during and after the election. “I just want to advise our people therefore to just go about their normal lawful business to cast their votes. On election day there will be restriction from 7am to 4pm so that we have people only moving to cast their votes at Polling Units close to them.” [myad]
