From Molly Kilete, Abuja
A coalition of civil society organisations registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), have called on the electoral body to make good use of technology introduced into the electoral process to curb thuggery, ballot box snatching and other electoral violence.
The coalition at a media briefing in Abuja, called on INEC, to find lasting solutions to challenges that affect the seamless process for efficient deployment of the BVAS machines. It also calked for the reform of the judiciary and a review of the powers of the Election Petition Tribunal and courts pre and post elections.
Leader of the group Stafford Bisong, said the only way to make election credible was by ensuring that the vote of the people count.
He listed their major concerns ahead of the November 2023 election in Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo to include the integrity or otherwise of the voter’s register to be used for the election, conduct of security agencies and logistics arrangement put in place by INEC to overcome the challenges of peculiar riverine communities in these states.
The group while expressing worry that INEC did not display or publish for public scrutiny the voters register in the Local Government Areas, political wards and registration centers across the three states of Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo, in in line the provisions of Section 19 (1) of the Electoral Act (2022), said the introduction of Bimodal Voter Accreditation (BVAS) helped to discourage politicians and their agents from engaging in do or die politics by perpetrating violence during elections.
He said “It is against this background that we “Saving Our Votes” a coalition of INEC registered civil society Organisations have taken time to scrutinise the voters register in the aforementioned states to see, observe and discover for ourselves the state of affairs and level of preparation of INEC to deliver credible elections in those three states in November, 2023.”
Bisong, while noting that sanitizing the judiciary would drastically reduce the number of upturned and re-run elections emanating from the influence of politicians, commend INEC on the notable gains in our electioneering process while asking for more deliberate improvements.“We use this opportunity to challenge the government of the President Bola Tinubu to demonstrate his commitment to leaving behind a legacy of credible election in Nigeria in line with the 2022 Electoral Act which is meant to bring sanity to our electioneering process,”.
The group comprises Intercontinental Leadership Initiative, Christian Empowerment and Development Initiative, Centre for Strategy Ethics and Value, Centre for Social Value and Early Child Development, Initiative for Civic Obligation and Sustainable Peace and Grassroot Initiative for Promotion of Peace, Love, Unity and Ethics.
Others are Water Light Initiative, Citizens Right for Peace and Non-violence Initiative, Centre for Strategic and Conflict Resolution and Centre for Positive Change and Civil Responsibility.