Anambra: IPOB Sit-At-Home Order Threaten INEC Preparations – REC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday (Thursday) raised the alarm that the repeated Sit-At-Home order by members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the May 23rd attack on its facility pose a serious threat to its preparations ahead of the November 6th Governorship election in Anambra state.

According to thisnigeria.com, Resident Electoral Commission (REC) of the INEC, Dr Nkwachukwu Orji stated this in an interview with newsmen on a sideline shortly after the opening ceremony of the Election Monitoring and Support Center (EMSC) AMBER Zone Implementers Workshop held in Awka the state capital.

“Our preparations are on course, even with all the challenges we are facing, such as the attack on our state office on May 23rd and the sit-at-home which are eating into our preparation time. But we are doing our best. Adhoc staff are already being recruited online and we are interacting with the stakeholders and we are happy with where we are now and we are confident that coming November 6, we will have a successful election. Our 25,000 will be used. We are 5720 polling units and we hope to deploy 4 staff for every polling unit.”

“We are happy the way we are now and we are confident that come November 6th we will deliver a good election for the people of Anambra State,” he assured.

He explained that the commission so far had recruited and mobilized about 25, 000 Ad hoc staff for the poll across 5, 720 polling units and four staff each would be deployed to each polling unit during the exercise.

The REC in the state also faulted claims by some stakeholders that the commission’s earlier decision to supply non-sensitive materials for the election from its Southeastern zonal store in Owerri, Imo state capital, would jeopardize the smooth conduct of the poll.

He noted as shocking the reaction of people, saying that there was no need for such thought about non-sensitive material being a problem towards the peaceful conduct of the exercise.

Nkwachukwu reiterated the determination of the commission to bring all the needed materials for the poll down to Awka, pointing out that the damaged structures at the INEC headquarters in the state are being restored and the commission is working smoothly according to plans to put all things in place by the end of this month

“There was no need for the alarm, am shocked. The commission had already made a statement that we note the concerns of stakeholders, of course, we always do; we are sensitive to the concerns of stakeholders. We will make everything possible to bring our materials to Awka. The damaged facilities are being restored; if that goes according to plan we should be done by the end of this month but of course, you can’t determine what will go with contraction, these are contractors. Bit this is the last option for us of the worse comes to the worst bit we are hoping that it won’t get to that. We are hoping we will assembly our materials and we will distribute them from Awka.”

Dr Nkwachukwu stayed that “Election process is something that doesn’t have room for mistakes. We make sure that in the process of preparing for the election all that needed to be on the ground, have to be on the ground. We have therefore developed a system for monitoring closely to make sure that all the activities, programme, plans that have been identified are captured.”

“The INEC officials reviewed what they call the Amber zone which is three months before the election which in this case is August, September, October. This will take us to the red zone which is 11 days before the election day and two days after the election, which is the most critical period in any election.”

He explained that “The meeting was constituted from the headquarters in Abuja, officials at the state office, as well as electoral officers at the local government level and assistant electoral officers in charge of operations.”

“You know that Anambra State INEC office was attacked on May 23rd and that led to the destruction of our store. Since that incident, we had to fall back on INEC zonal stress INEC has zonal offices and for the South East, the zonal office is in Owerri and that is where we have been trying to remobilize for the election. Real that before the attack, we had mobilized 60% of the non-sensitive materials. These materials are face masks, hand sanitisers, twine, biro, papers, vests and that kind of thing. I don’t know how keeping those materials in Owerri will compromise our election.”

“The sensitive materials will go to the branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria. But we are not talking about sensitive materials here. So there is no need for the alarm to be raised. I am shocked by the protest concerning this issue. The commission had already issued a statement acknowledging the concerns of stakeholders and we are sensitive to their concerns.”

“We will make everything possible to bring our materials to Awka especially as the damaged structures are being restored. If things go according to plan, the store will be ready by the end of this month, although one cannot be sure about what happens in construction and contractors. So this Owerri is the last option for us but we hope that we will assemble our materials and distribute them from Awka.”

In his speech Mr Hamza Fassi, Project Coordinator of the European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES) stated that ECES’ first activity within the current EU-SDGN programme was implemented in Anambra state, in 2017 and was coincidentally an Amber zone workshop ahead of the November 2017 Governorship elections.

He pointed out that ECES’ work has been implemented in over 40 countries, engaging various electoral stakeholders, primarily Election Management bodies but also extended to political Parties, Civil Society, Security agencies among others, adding that monitoring of processes is integral to the success of any system and a commitment towards ensuring accountability and transparency.

He commended the Commission’s effort at ensuring effective electoral management and as well promotion of electoral integrity through this innovative tool.

According to him, “Since 2017, ECES’ partnership with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has materialised in various levels of support to the EMSC, within the EU Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN) programme.”

“The training supported have led to the equipping of about 4,500 of the Commission’s staff with technical skills and capacity in monitoring the operational guidelines, data collection, reporting tools, and communication strategy of the EMSC.”

He stated that “examples of such activities include a Master Class trainers’ workshop in the 6 Geo-political zones, a training in data administration across the country for more than 1100 Electoral Officers, amber and red zones workshop ahead of all off-cycle governorship elections, support to the equipping of the EMSC National Secretariat, a post-2019 review of the EMSC 2019 to take stock of what went well and what can be improved upon among others.”

“These, we hope demonstrates ECES’ unflinching commitment to this innovative electoral management tool. Indeed, the EMSC has been ECES’ flagship support to the INEC within its current programme with a considerable amount of effort dedicated to supporting it.”

He examined further that “ECES also recently supported the Commission in organising a retreat, which aimed to explore strategies towards its optimisation as well as effective integration of 3 key management tools, the EMS, ERM & EOSC.”

He said that with the level of commitment demonstrated by the Chairman and other members of the Commission as well as the demonstrated expertise of INEC staff managing the system, it is clear that the EMSC has come to stay as an indispensable and integral part of Nigeria’s electoral system and a process to be exported across EMBs in the African region and beyond.”

“ECES is committed to strengthening and deepening the democratic process in Nigeria through the implementation of the EU-SDGN programme– Component 1.”

The body thanked the European Union for its trust, support and consistent funding to ECES, allowing the organisation to implement programmes that deliver electoral assistance and contribute to democracy and good governance globally.I thank you for your kind attention and wish you all every success in this retreat.”