Edo Guber: Signing of Peace Accord by Political Parties Holds September 12, Says INEC

•Says parties not completing with polling, Collation agents nomination procedures

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja 

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that after consultation with the National Peace Committee (NPC), the signing of the peace accord for the Edo State governorship election will take place on September 12, 2024 in Benin City.

The commission noted that unlike the previous peace accords signed a few days to the election, it was decided to do so early this time around to enable the Peace Committee monitor compliance with the code voluntarily signed by parties, candidates and other critical players in the electoral process such as INEC and the security agencies during the remaining days to the election. 

It said this would add further weight to the peace accord beyond mere ceremony as demanded by many observers and even some of the political actors themselves. 

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja at an extraordinary meeting with political parties on the 2024 Edo State governorship election.

His words:  “After consultation with the National Peace Committee (NPC) under the leadership of our respected former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, the signing of the peace accord for the Edo State governorship election will take place on Thursday, 12th September, 2024 in Benin City.

“The signing of the peace accord will be preceded by the INEC stakeholders’ meeting to be held on Wednesday, 11th September 2024 in Benin City. As usual, the meeting will be addressed by the INEC Chairman and the Inspector-General of Police.

“It is an open forum for political parties, candidates, observers and the media to interact with the commission and the security agencies ahead of the election.”

The chairman urged leaders of political parties to note the dates for the INEC stakeholders’ meeting and the signing of the peace accord and mobilise state chairmen and candidates to participate.

Yakubu recalled that in consultation with the political parties, the commission replaced the manual process for the submission of the list of agents with a digital platform. 

He emphasised that the commission did the same for accreditation of observers and media organisations in consultation with the stakeholders. 

The chairman said the electoral body also replaced the manual process of recruiting ad hoc staff with a digital platform called the INECPRES, adding that all these activities are now done electronically on a number of dedicated portals. 

Yakubu added: “However, after harvesting the details of polling and collation agents uploaded to the portal for the Edo State election, we discovered that there are compliance issues with regard to the quality of uploads, particularly as they relate to the images of polling unit, ward and local government agents. 

“This problem cuts across all political parties despite the fact that this is not being done for the first time. And in keeping with our practice before major elections, we trained officials nominated by political parties. We also set up a help desk in the event of any political party needing assistance.

“I want to emphasise that there will be no going back to the manual process. It is gone for good. Already, observer groups and media organisations are in full compliance with the digital procedure. Political parties cannot be an exception. You must do the needful instead of constantly complaining of shortfalls in the number of accreditation tags supplied for your agents. 

“We will only produce tags for uploads that meet the requirements of our regulations and guidelines. The commission is determined that your agents at polling units and collation centres must be identified by name and their photographs clearly printed on their accreditation tags duly authorised by the commission. 

“We have also added a QR Code to each tag for easy authentication and verification of your agents at the polling and collation centres. Matters arising from the recent uploads will be discussed at this meeting.”

The chairman pointed out that while the commission was aware that political parties are in the middle of electioneering in Edo State, no political party has submitted to the commission the dates and locations of  major campaign rallies and processions.

“But some of you are quick to complain of incidents when they occur. Doing so will enable a better coordination of your campaign activities,” Yakubu stressed.

The chairman revealed that the commission has concluded the training of security personnel and also finalising the delivery of the few remaining non-sensitive materials for the election. 

Yakubu said that the commission was concluding arrangements with the land and maritime transport unions for logistics. 

He stated that the printing of triplicate copies of voters’ register for each of the 4,519 polling units in Edo State is virtually completed.

According to him, “The installation and configuration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines to be deployed on election day is completed. Observer accreditation tags are being produced. The portal for media accreditation closes next week and so far, 88 media organisations have applied by uploading the details of 698 personnel (journalists, technicians and crew members) to cover the election. We will soon commence the training of various categories of ad hoc staff.

Also, the Chairman, Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Yusuf  Dantalle, said the Edo State gubernatorial election would be a litmus test for the Ondo State governorship election scheduled for Saturday, November 16, 2024, which in turn gives direction to future elections in the country.

He noted that the people of Edo State are willing to come out en masse and vote if the environment is conducive and their votes will count in the overall result. 

Dantalle added: “That is where the challenge is, and where IPAC will collaborate with other stakeholders including INEC — the electoral umpire, security agencies, election observers and the media — to ensure that all votes are counted and reflect the wish of the electorate.

“The success of the election will drastically reduce post-election litigation and reinforce trust and confidence in the electoral process, thus, bolster voter turnout. 

“It will also save the judiciary from undue intervention and interference in the declaration of the winner of an election.”

IPAC, however, expressed concerns over fake certificate presented by aspirants contesting various elective offices.

“Worried by subsequent litigations and nullification of elections as a result of fake certificates thus denying political parties that fielded the candidates their hard earned victory, after due consultations, IPAC and the Chartered Institute of Forensics and Certified Fraud Investigators of Nigeria (CIFCFIN) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the council’s national secretariat, Abuja on Wednesday, 28th August 2024, with a view to verifying and authenticating aspirants’ certificates before they contest primaries of their political parties,” he said 

Dantalle emphasised that IPAC took this bold step to restore sanity in the electoral process and effectively detect these fake documents that embarrass political parties and bring the country’s democracy to disrepute.