CSOs Decries Stepping Down of Political Parties, Candidates, 48 Hours to Election

CSOs Decries Stepping Down of Political Parties, Candidates, 48 Hours to Election

JOEL OLADELE, Abuja

The Co-conveners of Nigeria Civil Society Organization under the umbrella of “The Situation Room” has said that the recent stepdown of some Political Parties and endorsing another major candidate in just 48 hours to Ondo State election, calls for an electoral reform and amendment.

In a press briefing held at the Sunview Hotel, Akure Ondo state by the co- conveners, Yunusa Z. Ya’u Franklin Oloniju and Mimidoo Achakpa said, it is improper for a party (ies) and even their candidate to step down and endorse a candidate a few hours to an election.

The Situation Room conveners have therefore called for an urgent electoral reform or amendment to forestall such an occurrence as it seems that is the politics in our days.

It said, the Situation Room and its partner organisations have deployed 1000 trained and accredited observers and will crowdsource voters’ observation of the election using technology.

This is aimed at ensuring that the election is conducted in conformity with the 2022 Electoral Act and INEC guidelines and that the process guarantees a fair, inclusive and credible outcome.

In the past, Situation Room had dialogue with the electoral management body, political parties, security agencies and civic groups from Ondo State as well as a governorship debate that provided an opportunity for candidates to answer questions regarding their manifesto, enabling voters to assess the candidates based on communal issues.

However, this positive state of affairs does not obviate the existence of pockets of incidents and breakout of low-key political disagreements in the State.

According to them, “In particular, Situation Room notes the intolerance shown by supporters of some of the contending parties with regard to the forceful removal and destruction of rivals’ advertising boards and posters. We, therefore, caution against such behaviours of intolerance.

“While we commend the assurances provided by the Resident Electoral Commissioner regarding INEC’s preparedness, it is vital to note the generally acknowledged lapses in the last Governorship election held in Edo State. It is gratifying to note INEC’s promise to learn from the lessons gathered from the Edo election. We hope that INEC will show the willingness and capacity to live up to that promise.

“INEC should also ensure that materials already deployed to the RACs and Super RACs are moved to the polling units on time.

“INEC must ensure that the collation process is transparent and venues are made accessible to observers and fully lit to avoid the incidents that happened in the Edo election where collation of results in some wards was done in darkness or relocated to the local government centres. INEC must safeguard the sanctity of the election results at all levels of the collation process”, he advised.

On security he said, “while a high level of security deployment is essential to deter breach of electoral peace, the presence of security forces must not be seen as intimidating to voters. Excessive displays of force can contribute to an atmosphere of fear and suppress voter turnout.

“The police and other security agencies should maintain impartiality throughout the electoral process.

“Security lapses in previous elections, despite promises of improved professionalism, have undermined public trust. We urge the police to ensure their officers uphold the law without bias, and that electoral activities proceed without any interference from the security agencies”, the conveners said.

The Situation Room is made up of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) working in support of credible elections and governance in Nigeria numbering more than seventy. The Steering Committee is made up of: Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), CLEEN Foundation, Action Aid Nigeria, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Emma Ezeazu Centre for Good Governance and Accountability (formerly Alliance for Credible Elections, Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), Kimpact Development Initiative, Democratic Action Group (DAG), Women’s Rights to Education Programme, Joint National Association of Persons with Disability (JONAPWD), DIG Ebonyi, New Initiative for Social Development (NISD), Life And Peace Development Organization (LAPDO), Rural Youth Initiative, Challenged Parenthood Initiative (CPI), Centre for Health and Development in Africa (CHEDA) and Josem.