Bayelsa Election: INEC Charges Electoral Officers to “Do the Right Things”
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday charged its Electoral Officers to shun all forms of pressure and do the right things according to the law governing the electoral...
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday charged its Electoral Officers to shun all forms of pressure and do the right things according to the law governing the electoral process in the November 16, governorship election in Bayelsa state.
Speaking at a review workshop to assess all the fundamentals and INEC readiness for a successful governorship election, Professor Bolade Eyinla Chief Technical Adviser to INEC Chairman and Chairman Planning, Monitoring and Support Center (PMSC)in a keynote address said that the success of the election rests on the shoulders of the Electoral Officers stressing that it is important that processes and procedures are implemented according to the law governing elections.
The workshop tagged INEC Bayelsa State Election Monitoring and Support Center (EMSC) Implementers Workshop was attended by the National Commissioner for the South South zone of INEC and at least three other Resident Commissioners of Anambra, Adamawa and Bayelsa states.
Undertaking a review of the readiness of INEC with just ten days to the election, the Special Adviser to INEC Chairman, Professor Kuna noted that the Commission was satisfied based on the16 activities monitored through data collation that INEC would deliver a successful election on November 16.
He urged the Electoral Officers to remain focused as the election preparations move from the amber zone to the red zone which is nine days before the election, the election day and two days after the election during which INEC staff must stay alert and put their ears to the ground and ensure that all the preparations are not in any way sabotaged.
As part of the review, INEC Electoral Officers and the ICT department reported that all the Officers and Ad-hoc staff that would participate in the election have been trained on their activities as well as on the use of the Smart card readers.
Other logistics like the movement of staff and deployment of materials were also reviewed with a stern warning that INEC Electoral Officers should not patronize partisan vendors and transporters or boat owners in order to ensure the sanctity and credibility of the election. “There must be smooth deployment from the Registration Areas to the Polling Units”, they were charged.
Flash point areas in the eight Local Government Areas were extensively reviewed and the attention of security agencies has been drawn to these areas in order to take proactive measures.
