Nov. 11: Accredited observers must adhere to code of conduct— INEC
ABUJA— The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has urged all accredited observers to strictly adhere to the code of conduct for election observation for the Nov. 11 off-cycle governorship elections in Kogi Imo and Bayelsa.
Prof. Mahmood Yakubu INEC Chairman gave the advice at the INEC Quarterly Meeting with the Civil Society Organisations in Abuja ahead of the forthcoming gubernatorial elections in the three states.
According to him, in previous elections, civil society organisations have expressed concern about the safety of persons involved in elections as well as the protection of the process, including polling units and collation centres.
Yakubu added that CSOs had also on several occasions urged the Commission to intercede with the security agencies to grant you unimpeded access to voting and collation locations.
“I want to reassure you that we will continue to do so as we engage with the security agencies both at the national level and in the three States.
“At the same time, I wish to remind all accredited observers to strictly adhere to the code of conduct for election observation.
“Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi Governorship elections are critical to the Commission. At this meeting, we will fully brief you about our level of preparations. In return, we will appreciate your comments and observations,” INEC boss said.
He recalled that the last meeting with CSOs which held three months ago focused on the review of the 2023 General Election.
The INEC Chairman said that the review report is being finalised.
“So too is our 2023 General Election report. As soon as they are ready, the Commission will, as usual, share the reports with you. We believe the two reports will contribute to the ongoing conversations towards improving the future conduct of elections in Nigeria.
“The focus of this meeting is on the three off-cycle Governorship elections to be held in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi States on Saturday 11th November 2023. I am glad to note that many of you here today are deploying teams of observers for the three elections.
“Overall, the Commission has accredited 145 organisations deploying 7,896 observers. In the next few days, accredited organisations will be invited to collect the identity cards for their observers.
“As you are aware, the Commission conducted a mock accreditation involving actual voters in designated polling units in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi States two weeks ago.
” By doing so, we tested the efficacy of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for both biometric authentication of voters and the upload of results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV),” he said.
According to him, some observers also monitored the mock accreditation exercise and viewed the results on the IReV portal.
“We have received no adverse report so far. By this, we are encouraged that the test was successful, and we look forward to improved performance of the BVAS in voter accreditation and result upload in the forthcoming Governorship elections and beyond.
“Election is a multi-stakeholder activity. In discharging our responsibilities, we will continue to engage with all stakeholders. One of such engagements is with the security agencies.
“It is therefore my pleasure to welcome you once again to this meeting and I look forward to incisive discussions as usual,” Yakubu said.
