Focus on Issues And Stay Clear of Attacks on Each Other: INEC Warns Political Parties and Party Supporters

Maryam Aminu

Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),  Professor Mahmud Yakubu has cautioned political parties to focus on issues and stay clear of attacks on each other: INEC warns Political Parties and Party Supporters.

Professor Yakubu made this call on Tuesday during the Independent National Electoral Commission flagged off training of its 82 officials nationwide as Registration Area Technical Support.

The three days train the trainer’s workshop was to train 82 officials on the new technology ahead of the 2023 general election.

He said, “Let me caution parties and their supporters to focus on issues and stay clear of attacks on each other. These are not only violations of the Electoral Act 2022 but also negate the voluntary commitment by all political parties and candidates to the letter and spirit of the Peace Accord signed about three weeks ago under the auspices of the National Peace Committee (NPC)

“Parties, candidates and their supporters should not by acts of commission or omission further complicate the prevailing security situation in the country. A peaceful electioneering campaign is critical to the conduct of peaceful and credible elections,” Mahmud urged

Speaking on the training of the 82 officials, the chairman
said, “today, we begin the process with the training of master trainers to serve as Registration Area Technical Support. A total of 82 officials drawn from our offices nationwide will form the nucleus of the training. Over the next three days, they will receive intensive hands-on training on the new technology. Thereafter, they will train more officials at zonal level to cover all the 8,809 Registration Areas. In turn, these officials will be involved in the training ad hoc staff for the 176,846 Polling Units nationwide.”

“Over the last two years, the commission has increased the deployment of technology in the elections in Nigeria. Systems and portals have been designed and developed to cater for different electoral activities ranging from voter registration and accreditation, result transmission from the polling units, the nomination of candidates by political parties to the accreditation of polling agents, observers and journalists for elections.

He urged the 82 staff involved to pay special attention to the training that you will receive at this Workshop, adding that their role as master trainers is critical to the success of training at subsequent levels and ultimately the successful deployment of the devices during elections.

“Our plan for the 2023 general election is to commence the training of election officials early and for a longer period of time for optimal understanding of the processes and procedures in order to serve Nigerians better. A key component of this effort is election technology,” he said.

“For this reason, the Commission will not accept laxity on your part. Much as we have confidence in your ability to understand and discharge your responsibilities to the officials you will subsequently train, there will be consequences for unethical behaviour or any act of misconduct,” he warned.