FCT poll: We won’t reward fraud -Yakubu

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned politicians against violence, saying that no one will benefit from the disruption of the February 12 FCT area councils’ election.

Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this on Thursday in Abuja, while speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting on the FCT poll organised by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA).

Yakubu said the commission will not reward any form of malpractices.

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Daily Trust reports that the FCT council election is the only third tier election conducted by INEC, while the remaining 774 local governments across the country is conducted by the various states’ electoral commissions.

Stressing the importance of peace to the successful conduct of the elections, Yakubu assured that INEC would protect the integrity of the process.

He said that all eyes are on its officials, be they ad hoc or regular staff, to ensure that they strictly abide by the rules.

“All parties, candidates and their supporters should do the same. No one will benefit from the disruption of the process or other acts of bad bahaviour. Let the voters in the FCT choose their leaders in a free, fair and peaceful contest,” Yakubu said.

He said the commission had listed 473 candidates sponsored by 14 political parties for the poll after the period for substitution and withdrawal of candidates as provided by law.

“110 candidates, are vying for the leadership of the six Area Councils while 363 candidates are competing for 62 councillorship positions,” he said.

Yakubu said that election would not take place at the polling units (PUs) without registered voters, saying no materials have been produced for these units and no personnel would be deployed to them.

He also said that the commission will deploy additional Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to facilitate a speedy accreditation of voters at congested polling units (PUs).

“Similarly, election results will be uploaded to the INEC Result Viewing portal (IReV) in real-time when voting ends and votes are counted at polling units on Election Day.

He urged the political parties and candidates to continue to show maturity and decorum as campaigns come to a close and election Day draws nearer.

On his part, the FCT Minister, Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello, commended INEC for the steady progress the electoral process it has made and the technological innovations introduced to enhance the credibility of election.

Bello assured that his administration and other stakeholders in the FCT will work with the commission to ensure that the area council elections serve as a model for 2023 general elections.

Also, the Senator Representing the FCT at the National Assembly, Philip Aduda, also commended the leadership of the commission and expressed confidence in INEC’s ability to conduct election that meet the expectations of the people.

He said that FCT elections have been relatively peaceful in the past, and encouraged political parties and participants in the election who he said are all brothers and sisters irrespective of party divide to watch their utterances and actions to allow for peaceful conduct of the election.