By Abdulfatah Babatunde
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has charged electoral staff to always demonstrate highest level of patriotism and professionalism.
Yakubu gave the charge in a message, issued on Thursday, to staff who will conduct the governorship election in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states on Saturday.
“Electoral staff in Saturday’s governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi states must demonstrate the highest level of patriotism and professionalism,” he said.
INEC chairman notes that the commission’s responsibility “is to safeguard the electoral process”. And to ensure a level playing field for all political parties.
“As we approach Election Day, I wish to call on our officials (both regular and ad-hoc) to demonstrate the highest level of patriotism and professionalism.
“INEC is not a political party and we have no candidate in the election.”
“I said repeatedly, said this during my recent readiness assessment visits to the three states,”Yakubu said in the message.
The choice of who becomes governor of Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi States is entirely in voters’ hands, he said.
“In less than 48 hours, no fewer than 5,169,692 Nigerians, who collected their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) are expected to vote in off-cycle Governorship elections.
“This is the first time in our history that these elections will hold on the same day and across three geo-political zones of the country.”
That is North-Central (Kogi), South-East (Imo) and South-South (Bayelsa).
He said the commission had delivered all sensitive and non-sensitive materials for the elections.
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According to him, INEC has configured the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for deployment to polling units.
“The only means of voter verification and fingerprint/facial biometric authentication of voters is the BVAS.
“Designated staff will upload polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal. All election duty officials have been trained.
“We have made arrangements for land and maritime transportation to enable us to commence voting on schedule.
“In spite of difficult terrain in some locations, we will ensure that our officials are there waiting for voters.
“For these off-cycle elections, the commission is deploying two (2) National Commissioners, nine (9) Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) and Administrative Secretaries (ASs) as well as additional staff from different states to each of the three states to support the process.
“They will be deployed across the senatorial zones in the states,” the message read.
Yakubu further stated that election was a multi-stakeholder responsibility.
“As with every election, we have learnt lessons from recent elections. We will continue to ensure free, fair, credible and inclusive elections. But INEC cannot do it alone.”
He said INEC had received assurances from the security agencies to secure electoral activities and all participants including accredited observers and the media.
“Let us maintain the peace and play our roles conscientiously. By doing so, we shall continue to consolidate our democracy,” the chairman pleaded.
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