Governorship Election: INEC redeploys five RECs, 3 N’Commissioners to Edo

TRACKING____The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has redeployed five Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) and three National Commissioners (NCs) to Edo State, ahead of the September 19 governorship election in the state. The five RECs, one from each of the geopolitical zones of Nigeria, excluding the South-South zone, are to join the REC in Edo State, Mr. Johnson Alalibo, in conducting the election. Similarly, the two National Commissioners who will be participating in supervising the conduct of the election will not be persons of South-South extraction. A top official of INEC, who spoke to TrackNews Online in confidence, said the redeployments were designed to ensure that the election management body maintained a high level of neutrality and fairness in the electoral process.

The official, who declined to disclose the identities of those on redeployment, said their names were being kept under wraps to safeguard them from undue pressure from desperate politicians. The political atmosphere in Edo State had become charged in recent weeks following the intense statewide campaigns by the incumbent governor, Godwin Obaseki of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and his main rival, Osagie Ize-Iyamu of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Both political parties and their standard bearers in the forthcoming governorship election, had traded accusations and counteraccusations about clandestine plots by their supporters to unleash violence and undermine the electoral process.

The PDP had, on several occasions, alleged that the APC was plotting not just to perpetrate violence to disrupt the polls, but to connive with INEC to manipulate the results of the election. According to our source, the commission was doing everything possible to conduct a free, fair and credible election and had no interest in who wins, but the transparency of the process. “We’re prepared to conduct the elections and we are doing everything possible to ensure that it is free and fair.

But we are worried about the threats of violence and we are not unmindful of the antics of the politicians. Violence will make the election inconclusive because we will be forced to pull out our men and materials from the field if violence becomes the order of the day.

“Section 53 of the Electoral Act prohibits INEC from making a declaration of results in any place where there is violence. This is why we have continued to warn all parties to shun violence and allow the process to go on under a free and fair atmosphere. “We are keeping our eyes on the process. We are not a political party. We have no candidates in the election.

I swear by God that we don’t care who wins the election. Our interest is in the integrity of the process,” he said. Addressing the various allegations of perceived compromise levelled against some officials of INEC, particularly the Edo State REC (Alalibo), the INEC bigwig said that it might be a case of a conspiracy theory. He disclosed that Alalibo was, at one time, a member of the PDP and later defected to the APC, but said these facts about party affiliations were not made known as at the time of his nomination to serve in INEC.

“There was no petition against his nomination and even the poster showing his portrait as contesting a governorship election in Bayelsa State has a lot of question marks. In the poster that went viral on social media, he was purportedly campaigning on the platform of the APC for a governorship election dated 2016 and, to the best of our knowledge, there was no governorship election in Bayelsa State in 2016,” he said. He advised the political parties to eschew violence and abide by the peace brokered recently between the two main contenders by the Oba of Benin, HRM Oba Ewuare (II) at his place in Benin City. Meanwhile, the APC and PDP yesterday traded accusations over plot to manipulate the electoral process.

The opposition APC in Edo State said it has uncovered “a dubious multipronged drive to rig Edo elections” by the PDP in the state. Chairman, Edo State APC Media Campaign Council, Mr. John Mayaki, said: “They (PDP) want to manipulate the election process to their favour by rigging and presenting false voters.” Similarly, the Director General of APC Campaign Council, Dr. Cecil Esekhaig-be, disclosed that he had reports on the governor’s plan to use the state’s liaison office in Abuja as a front for illegal trade in permanent voters’ cards.

Esekhaigbe said: “Under the guise of assisting intending voters with transportation, the governor has released the sum of N250 million to the Edo Liaison Office, Abuja to induce voters living in Abuja and also buy the PVCs of those who will not be able to attend at N200,000 per PVC. In executing this ploy, the Abuja Liaison Office has sent out notices to platforms of Edo indigenes in Abuja, inviting them to come with their PVCs to the office from Friday 4th September to Friday 11th September, 2020.” Also, Mayaki said the APC has been informed that members of the PDP are planning to invade polling units with people with fake PVC working with some compromised staff of the commission to give them fake accreditation. “We must all work together to checkmate this plan in order to avoid smooth rigging.

“We also have reports from people within Edo that they have tried to mobilise to furnish their sinister desires. They are already asking for people’s account details promising to credit them money two days to the elections. They will train you, pay you and make you vote for them.” But, the Publicity Secretary of PDP, Mr. Chris Nehikhare, said “APC has turned into a one fake news per day party.” “They are staring defeat in the face and have resorted to fake news propagation. This allegation is baseless.

APC is obviously exploring this option since we busted their Hope Uzodinma Template. They are flying a kite and we will be vigilant to make sure their fake voters are not allowed into voting centres as they are the ones they want to use to cause trouble at the polling units. “Their plans will fail. They cannot subvert the will of Edo people,” the PDP spokesman said.