Politicians, Security Agencies Weak Link in Bayelsa Poll, Says Observer Group

 

An election monitoring group, YIAGA Africa, on Monday said there were serious shortcomings in the pre-election period, the election day environment and the conduct of the just-concluded governorship election in Bayelsa State.

In a statement issued in Yenagoa, the non-governmental organisation (NGO) stated that beyond the role of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the election management body, it was important to note that the attitudes, actions and dispositions of stakeholders like the security agencies and political parties could make or mar the credibility of any election.

The statement was signed by Dr. Aisha Abdullahi, Chairperson of YIAGA AFRICA; Watching the Vote, Bayelsa Observation Mission; Ezenwa Nwagwu, Co-chairperson, and Cynthia Mbamalu, Project Director.

According to the group, the Bayelsa State governorship election also experienced political parties building their campaign strategy around deploying sufficient money to buy votes, acquiring arms and paying thugs who were willing to disrupt the process.

 “This practice remains inimical to democratic development in Nigeria, and regardless of what party benefits from the outcome of the election, the question on the development of our electoral democracy and the quality of participation remain a major challenge.

“The political class has perfected its act of undermining the process, and is consistently making it difficult for INEC to conduct the elections across board.

“Beyond the parties, the security agencies are also failing in their critical role of supporting the work of INEC for the safe, effective and successful deployment of materials and safeguarding the process.

“This failure remains a factor enabling the late commencement of polls, breach of the electoral laws and the willful commission of electoral offences,” the election observers said.

 

YIAGA said the election revealed the need for INEC to put in place sufficient protections and operational practices to ensure that polls could be conducted in such a way that the right to vote is facilitated.

According to the group, “For instance, having polling units where votes were not conducted becomes a major issue and a question of the breach of fundamental right to vote, especially in this instance where voting was not conducted or processed, and this implied that potentially up to 300 polling units with nearly 200,000 registered voters may have not been given the opportunity to exercise their franchise.

“YIAGA AFRICA, therefore, urges INEC to provide a detailed account of all polling units for which no election was held and to ensure elections are held for all polling units. Any decision short of this would undermine the inclusiveness of the process and would call into question the credibility of the elections.”

It added that the elections provided an opportunity for all election stakeholders to change Nigeria’s electoral trajectory especially after the experience of the 2019 general election, but said the needed change did not take place.

“In all, there is only little INEC can do because the outcome of elections is determined by a culmination of factors which include the actions of political parties/candidates and their commitment to electoral integrity as well as the commitment of the security agencies to a credible and democratic process,” it said.