By Gift Olivia Samuel, The Sight News
ABUJA: Following the declaration of the Anambra Governorship election as inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), CLEEN Foundation has stated that there is need for INEC to improve on logistics and operational challenges associated with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to deliver more transparent and credible elections.
CLEEN which said this on Monday in its post-election statement on the 2021 Anambra Governorship election and the conduct of Security Personnel deployed on election duty, noted that the election was visibly marked with logistics and operational challenges with regards to the distribution of election materials and late arrival of INEC officials across most of the polling units.
The Foundation also stated that these challenges led to late opening of the polls in some polling units, the extension of the polls from 2.30pm to 4.30pm and subsequent disenfranchisement of some electorates due to unavailability of election materials and INEC Officials.
In the statement signed by the Acting Executive Director, CLEEN Foundation, Ruth Olofin, CLEEN recommended that INEC should conduct more voter awareness of the BVAS machine, adding that there were instances in some polling units that the device was confused with the defunct Smart Card Reader.
It also recommended that “INEC result portal should be improved for more transparency and accountability through automation of sum of votes received by political parties at the polling units; INEC should prosecute electoral offenders to serve as deterrent to others;
“INEC should provide enough sensitive materials such as Braille for voters with visual impairment; The Commission should train and retrain electoral officers and ad-hoc staff to enable them meet with the changing needs of the electorates in Nigeria”.
For future elections in Anambra state and given the persistent low voter turnout which is fast becoming a historical pattern with the state, CLEEN urged INEC to embark on high-level dialogues with key stakeholders including traditional and religious leaders to encourage the electorate to come out enmasse to cast their votes.
For the Security Agencies, the Foundation called on the security agencies deployed for election duty to arrest and investigate all those involved in vote buying in different parts of the state for prosecution.
They also urged Politicians and Political Parties to maintain peace and be magnanimous in victory and to work with all Anambra citizens including those in the opposition parties to improve the governance of the state.
Furthermore, CLEEN Foundation charged the electorates in Ihiala LGA to turnout en-mass to exercise their franchise in the supplementary election to hold tomorrow the 9th of November, 2021, adding that they should exercise patience whenever INEC has challenges with technology and internet connection, and also remain calm throughout the process and to the formal declaration of the winner of the election.
For the media, CLEEN warned them to desist from the production of sensational headlines and hate speeches that can contribute to increased tension before, during and after elections.
It also charged them to verify and fact-check all information received before releasing to the public, and to also remain professional, neutral and non-partisan in the discharge of duties.
