 has called on the INEC to ensure that Nov. 11 governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi are free, fair and credible.){kind=link}
Group calls for peaceful, credible election in Bayelsa, Imo, Kogi
By Emmanuel Oloniruha
The Abuja School of Social and Political Thought (ASSPT) has called on the INEC to ensure that Nov. 11 governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi are free, fair and credible.
The Director of ASSPT, Dr Sam Amadi, made the call at a policy roundtable on the states election, organised by the school in conjunction with the Centre for Policy and Research in Abuja.
The theme of the roundtable was: “The gubernatorial elections in Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa: A national security hallenge.”
Amadi also called on INEC and National Security Adviser to the President, Nuhu Ribadu, to adopt security measures that would not only guarantee credible elections, but also ensure that the election did not escalate insecurity in those states.
He said that the recent reports of killings, including some soldiers in Imo and alleged threat to life of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship candidate in Kogi called for concerns, making it imperative for the states election to be credible.
“So, the issue for us is what do we need to do to ensure that this off-season elections do not worsen the insecurity crisis in the states?
“We know that if elections are manipulated, it could spike into new levels of insecurity, particularly in Imo State.
“Is it not time for extreme actions to be taken, considering the level of insecurity in that state and to change or ensure that the election is free and fair? That’s really our worry,” Amadi said.
He said that “there is a link between flawed election and insecurity”, adding if the states elections were manipulated it could spike into new levels of insecurity, particularly in Imo.
“So the question is, what are the proactive measures that the NSA, INEC and Mr President should take to guarantee that the lead security officers should be impartial.
“How do we ensure that the security is not used to create a more security crisis and post-election insecurity?”
He also called on INEC to avoid mistakes of the past and be more diligent in managing the off-cycle election results, especially with the report making the round that INEC wanted to do manual collation of results in Bayelsa.
“INEC should let the people know clearly its decision, especially on electronic transmission of results. The electronic transmission of results should be a matter of must and we do not want technical failure,’’ he said.
Amadi also called on INEC to look into the demand by four political parties in Imo to step aside the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) from conducting the Nov. 11 governorship election over allegations of working with the incumbent governor.
The former chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) also called on the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to look into similar demand for the redeployment of the Imo state Police Commissioner before the state election.
Amadi said that the outcome of the summit would be collated and sent to the NSA, INEC and to ensure that the states election did not aggravate high level of insecurity, particularly in Imo.
Prof. Abiodun Adeniyi, Senior Lecturer, Department of Mass Communication, Baze University, Abuja advised INEC and security agencies to use the November off-cycle to boost people’s confidence in Nigeria election.
Adeniyi said there was need to strengthen Nigerian democratic institutions.
He said in spite of the challenges, democracy still remained the best form of government in terms of representatives and inclusivity.
He advised the security agencies to demonstrate their commitment to the deepening of Nigeria’s democracy by ensuring impartiality during the off-cycle elections.
NAN