Political Parties participating in the November 16 Governorship Election in Ondo state are to sign a Peace Accord on Friday, November 8, as part of efforts by the National Peace Committee and the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC to ensure a violence-free exercise.
Already, INEC said it has identified some flashpoints in the state and accordingly notified security agencies with a view to doing efficient conflict mapping and nipping in the bud any threat to peace.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this, yesterday, in Abuja during the fourth quarterly consultative meeting with Civil Society Organizations, CSOs.
He said as early as next week, the commission will undertake a final readiness assessment of its preparations for the Ondo election, meet with her officials, engage with stakeholders and interact with security agencies and transport providers.
“I am also glad to announce that the National Peace Committee under the leadership of our respected former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, is holding the signing of the Peace Accord for parties and candidates in Ondo State on Friday 8th November 2024.
“As the Ondo State Governorship Election approaches, I wish to remind CSOs that are yet to submit reports for the Edo Governorship election to do so in earnest. I also urge you to intensify your advocacy for peaceful elections, especially now that campaigns by political parties and candidates are in full swing in the state. Happily, there has been no major incident of election-related violence known to the Commission in Ondo State so far.
“However, we are aware of flashpoints in some Local Government Areas to which we have already drawn the attention of the security agencies”, he stated.
Yakubu also added that the collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards PVCs, mainly from the recent voter registration, ended two days ago.
According to him, a total of 64,273 PVCs were collected by voters out of the 89,777 cards delivered to the State.
“This represents an impressive collection rate of 71.6%. I want to thank the CSOs who helped to mobilize registered voters to collect their cards. In the next few days, the Commission will upload to our website the cumulative figure of all PVCs collected in each of the 3,933 Polling Units across the State for result management as provided by law and for public information”, he said.
Yakubu assured that the commission has learnt useful lessons from previous elections, and has improved on the voter accreditation process and the upload of results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.
“There have been similar improvements in observer and media accreditation. Our voter education efforts are ongoing. The capacity of election duty staff has improved with hands-on training for especially Polling Unit officials.
As we approach the Ondo State governorship election, there will be further improvements, especially in the areas of logistics for the movement of personnel and materials to both land and riverine locations to enable the prompt commencement of polls as well as the management of the processes on Election Day from voting to declaration of result,” he stated.
By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 