Eight days to the Edo State governorship election, Yiaga Africa has expressed concern about the possibility of violence during the election as a result of its pre-election observations and therefore called on security agencies to be on guard, the political parties to campaign on issues and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be fair to all parties in the contest.
Addressing a press conference in Benin City on its Pre-Election Observation (PREO), Director of Programmes, Yiaga Africa, Cynthia Mbamalu also named political thuggery and activities of cultists; increasing desperation of political actors; physical violence and verbal attacks during party rallies, meetings, on campaign trails; permanent voters card collection rate’ poor participation in the mock accreditation exercise as some of the things identified in the build-up to the election.
She said “Yiaga Africa’s pre-election reports have revealed the activities of cultists and political thugs in some local government areas (LGA) that, if not contained, could threaten the peaceful and credible conduct of the election.
“The current economic situation has also created an unconducive environment for voter education and voter mobilisation. Economic factors like the high fuel costs and rising costs of goods are growing impediments to voters’ participation.
“In addition, tensions continue to rise, especially between the APC and PDP. The rivalry between these parties has intensified, with both engaging in character assassination and the use of hate speech and ‘blame-game politics.’ On each side, there are accusations of alleged interference with the process and the use of institutions to manipulate the elections and outcome. This tension was extended to the Peace Accord signing convened by the National Peace Committee, as the PDP refused to sign the Peace Accord if certain demands were not attended to by the time of the signing of the Accord. The Peace Accord has become an important part of Nigeria’s electoral process and is significant in committing the political parties to peaceful conduct during the election.”
Yiaga Africa however commended INEC for implementing the preparatory activities and urged the Commission to provide better oversight over the activities ongoing at the local government area levels and that “The commission should improve communication on its processes and procedures before the elections to avoid misinformation, especially regarding deploying technologies and applying the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in the election.”
Yiagra urged security agencies to “ensure transparency and timeliness in the payment of and provision of welfare packages for security personnel deployed before the election.”
Going further, it urged the security agencies to “ensure the arrest and prosecution of all involved in any form of violence and voter inducement in the days leading to the election.”
Yiagra urged political parties “to engage in issue based campaigns and shun luring voters with unsustainable gifts that would not lead to the economic development of the state. Political parties should adhere to their commitment to the peace accord and promote peaceful participation of their supporters in the election.”
