The Inter Advisory Council (IPAC) has appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a transparent governorship election in Ekiti State, on June 18.
In a statement, yesterday, IPAC’s National Chairman, Yabaji Sani, noted that the poll would be a litmus test for INEC on the veracity of administrative reforms and technological innovations introduced recently geared towards delivering free and fair elections.
He said: “Very pertinently, officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must give hope to the people of Ekiti, the rest of the nation and the world at large, that, the era of daylight robbery of the people’s right to choose their representatives is over in Nigeria.
“To us in IPAC, Ekiti 2022 is a litmus test to INEC on the veracity and integrity of the otherwise, commendable administrative reforms and technological innovations introduced recently by the commission with the lofty goals of delivering credible and transparently free and fair elections.
“There is no gainsaying the fact that, INEC cannot afford and must not, fail in the attainment of the noble goals.”
Sani, who is also the presidential candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), cautioned politicians against deploying thugs and engaging in vote buying.
“The political party leaders and candidates in the election must resist the temptation, out of desperation, to resort to the deployment of thugs or material and financial inducement of security agents and INEC officials to compromise any stage in the voting process,” he said.
He extended his appeal to security personnel, advising them to remain neutral and to man sensitive areas to avoid ballot box snatching.
“We are also very stridently appealing to the security agencies and their operatives engaged to provide security during the election to embark on their assignment with maximum professional and ethical standards,” he said.
To the electorate, he said: “The message from IPAC is that, they must resist all attempts to deceive, intimidate or induce them into compromising their fundamental, inalienable right to freely elect the political leaders of their choice.”
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), yesterday, commenced distribution of sensitive materials for Saturday’s Governorship Election in Ekiti.
The materials were distributed at the INEC State Office in Ado Ekiti in the presence of journalists, political parties and security agents to the electoral officers across the 16 local government areas of the state.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Adeniran Tella, who distributed the materials, said the electoral officers would take the items to their councils where they would be sent to the polling units on Saturday morning.
He gave assurance that there would be no late arrival of materials to polling units on Election Day.
Tella said that the ballot papers were coded in different colours for each local government in order to prevent electoral fraud.
He added that the result sheets were also customised according to each polling unit.
Some of the party agents at the centre lauded INEC for the transparent manner in which the materials were distributed.
Some of the materials distributed were: Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BIVAS) machines, Ballot papers, Result sheets, Booklets, Forms EC 8A, B, C, D,E, forms EC 4zero G, 4 zero G1 and 2.