LESS than one week to the end of campaigns for the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission has revealed that it is compiling the names of candidates and political parties engaged in verbal attacks during the campaigns.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Committee on Information and Voter Education, Mr Festus Okoye, in an interview with one of our correspondents on Thursday, described the situation as worrisome, noting that the National Peace Committee headed by former Head of State, Abdusalami Abubakar, and some civil society organisations were also monitoring the violations.
Okoye stressed that the use of abusive language by some political parties, candidates, officials and supporters during the campaigns was in contravention of Section 92 of the Electoral Act. He noted that the commission would not hesitate to prosecute those found guilty after investigation and arrest by the appropriate security agencies.
At the commencement of campaigns, INEC had referred political parties and candidates to the provisions of Section 92 of the Act.
Specifically, subsections 1 and 2 read, “A political campaign or slogan shall not be tainted with abusive language directly or indirectly likely to injure religious, ethnic, tribal or sectional feelings; (2) abusive, intemperate, slanderous or base language or insinuations or innuendoes designed or likely to provoke violent reaction or emotions shall not be employed or used in political campaigns.”
Hobnob News reports , however, observed that some candidates, party officials, campaign spokespersons and supporters had been attacking individuals in the opposing parties unrestrained during the campaigns.
Okoye stated, “The commission is concerned and worried at the language being employed by some of the political parties, their candidates, officials and supporters in their campaigns.
“Section 92 (of the Electoral Act) provides that abusive, intemperate, slanderous or base language or insinuation or innuendoes designed or likely to provoke violent reaction or emotions shall not be employed or used in political campaigns. The law prescribes penalties for violation, including fines and terms of imprisonment.
“The commission is tracking the violations; the National Peace Committee is tracking the violations; civil society groups and organizations are tracking the violations. The commission will continue to evaluate the situation and will take appropriate action in terms of prosecution upon investigation and arrest by the appropriate agencies and organs of government.”
Okoye said the commission and the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, had met several times with political parties and their leaders over the issue.
“We must on no account, either wittingly or unwittingly, allow personal attacks to degenerate and lead to a breakdown of law and order,” he added.
In December 2022, INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed that the commission had recorded 52 violations of the Electoral Act.
Speaking at an interactive meeting with media executives on December 3, 2022, Yakubu stated, “As of November 9, 2022, barely two months out of the five months’ campaign period, we had tracked 52 incidents involving the use of abusive, inciting languages, denial of access to public facilities, destruction of campaign materials and even physical attacks, resulting in some cases to fatalities.
“For us, this is not a good omen. And I say this on several occasions, including at the last emergency meeting we had with security agencies, that a peaceful campaign heralds a peaceful election.”
206 observers accredited
Meanwhile, INEC has accredited 206 domestic and foreign observer groups to monitor the elections.
The breakdown on the commission’s website indicated that 180 domestic and 22 foreign observer groups were accredited, while the commission invited four international organisations to observe the polls.
The four international organisations are the African Union, The Commonwealth, Economic Community of West African States and the European Union.
Among the 180 domestic observer groups are Action Aid, Guild of Public Affairs Analysts of Nigeria, African Civil Society Forum, Police Service Commission, African Women for Unity, Social and Cultural Organisation, African Youth International Development Foundation, AUDA-NEPAD/APRM (African Union Development Agency/African Peer Review Mechanism), Centre of Citizens with Disabilities, Christian Association of Nigeria, Jama’atu Nasril Islam, Nigerian Bar Association, Yiaga Africa Initiative, Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room and Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre.
The foreign observer groups include the African Bar Association, All Nigerian Nationals in Diaspora, Australia High Commission, British High Commission, Canadian Embassy, Embassy of Japan, Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, the United States Embassy and International Foundation for Electoral System.
Okoye said the commission received hundreds of applications from domestic and international election observer groups, including embassies, multilateral institutions, regulatory institutions and organisations, and sister electoral management bodies, while it also invited some.
Uncollected PVCs
Following the expiration of the deadline for the collection of permanent voter cards by registered voters, the commission says it has directed its officers in the 774 local government areas to collate the number of PVCs that have been collected and those that have yet to be collected.
Okoye added, “The commission intends to publish the number of collected PVCs to enable Nigerians to have full knowledge of this. All uncollected PVCs will be deposited with the Central Bank of Nigeria pending the conclusion of the two levels of elections on February 25 and March 11, 2023 and the resumption of the Continuous Voter Registration Exercise thereafter.”
He said the commission would remain transparent in its implementation of the law and adherence to its regulations and guidelines for the conduct of the elections.
While commending the staff members of the commission for their dedication, he said every Nigerian with PVC should vote, noting that there were 93,469,008 registered voters.
He said the commission could not extend the collection of PVCs because the staff members engaged in their issuance were now involved in the training of ad hoc employees, collection and batching of non-sensitive materials, and preparation of registration area centres.
He said the chairman of the commission remained resolute to, after the election, propose early voting in the law to enable election duty officials to vote.
“This will also enable security officers, the media and domestic observers engaged in election duty to vote and this will no doubt increase voter turnout in our elections,” he noted.
2,381 seized PVCs
Speaking on what would happen to the 2,381 PVCs confiscated from migrants by the Nigeria Immigration Service, Okoye stated that the NIS “will turn over the PVCs of those arrested to the commission and the commission will cancel and deactivate them.
