The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has expressed its concern over the spate of insecurity and violence, including clashes among supporters of political parties and candidates in the forthcoming Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi states governorship elections.
National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee of INEC, Mr Sam Olumekun said this on Sunday in Abuja in a statement.
According to him, in INEC’s engagement with political parties, the commission has constantly urged parties to rein in their supporters from actions capable of jeopardizing the peaceful conduct of elections in Nigeria.
“INEC earnestly appeal to all political parties and candidates to avoid utterances and acts that may heat up the polity. The commission will continue to closely monitor the situation and sustain its engagement with security agencies and stakeholders to ensure peaceful conduct of elections in the three states,” Olumekun said.
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On the submission of polling units and collation centre agents, the INEC official said it notified all political parties of the opening of its online portal for the upload of the list of the agents, which commenced on Thursday 24th August 2023.
He said, “However, despite this notice and subsequent reminders, political parties are yet to substantially comply by submitting the list of their agents.
“For Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states, only 55 per cent of the expected total of 189,180 polling unit agents have been uploaded to the designated INEC Portal. Specifically, 29,278 out of the expected 40,372 (72.5 per cent) for Bayelsa State; 51,681 out of 85,644 (60.3 per cent) for Imo, and 23,720 out of 63,144 (37.6 per cent) for Kogi State have been uploaded.”
He said that similarly, only 25.1 per cent of the expected 15,804 Collation Agents in the three States have been uploaded: 1,246 (26.0%) out of 4,806 for Bayelsa; 1,638 (27.3%) out of 5,994 for Imo, and 1,095 (21.9%) out of 5,004 for Kogi State.
He warned that the portal would automatically shut down at 12:00 midnight on Tuesday 10th October 2023 and that there shall be no extension.
“Consequently, all parties sponsoring candidates for the elections that are yet to upload the list of their agents should do so before the deadline for the exercise,” he added.
On the online accreditation of journalists, Olumekun said that the exercise commenced on 24th August 2023 and will close on 22nd October 2023, with only 45 media organisations having so far applied for accreditation.
“The commission also wishes to use this medium to encourage all interested Media organisations to take advantage of the remaining window to apply on imap.inecnigeria.org before the deadline on 22nd October 2023. For emphasis, late applications will not be entertained and there is no provision for manual accreditation anymore,” Olumekun said.
