• INEC: Citizens’ votes will count in Bayelsa, Kogi, Imo
• Diri, Sylva bicker over violence, weapons stockpiling
• Uzodimma, Achonu absent as Imo candidates sign accord
• Identity politics, violence will influence outcome of elections, CDD predicts
• Ignore calls to boycott poll, Ohanaeze president begs Imo electorate
• Opposition candidates insist on redeployment of Imo REC
 
With 48 hours to Saturday’s off-cycle governorship election in Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo states, candidates yesterday signed a peace accord pledging to ensure peaceful conduct on, before and after the poll.
 
The peace accord signing, championed by former head of state, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd.), has since become a permanent feature of election conduct in the country as a legacy of the 2015 presidential election that committed incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan and former President Muhammadu Buhari, among others, to a violence-free election.
 
In Bayelsa State, the signing was conducted by the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese and convener of the National Peace Committee, Rev. Hassan Kukah, who stood in for the chairman, Abubakar.
 
Candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Governor Douye Diri; the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timipre Sylva, among others, including the National Resident Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mrs May Agbamuche-Mbu, were in attendance.
 
Sylva, the immediate past Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, was one of the early birds at the event. Governor Diri, who came after the national anthem was sung, headed straight to where Sylva was and they both exchanged pleasantries. They later had a warm handshake to the admiration of all present.
 
Kukah set the ball rolling by advising candidates of the various political parties to ensure that this Saturday’s governorship poll is free, fair and credible.
 
He said: “The contestants know themselves, know their communities because they grow up among themselves. So, we should look at it as a family event. Bayelsa is not a very big state; Bayelsa is a community eating almost the same food with the same traditional dances, same language and almost same culture.
 
“So, ordinarily this event should be a celebration of who we are and our trust in democracy. So on behalf of the Chairman of the National Peace Committee, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who is unable to be here physically, we have to sign the peace accord to show we are committed to this election.”
 
But candidates of the PDP and APC, while speaking with journalists, accused each other of stocking violence in Nembe and Kolokuma/Opokuma council areas, home base of the two leading candidates.
 
Speaking after signing the peace accord, Sylva said: “The APC has come to demonstrate that we are committed to peace in Bayelsa, but we are not comfortable with the disposition of our opponent. There has been a lot of violence perpetrated by PDP in Kolokuma/Opokuma and this morning I was told that they were causing violence in other places.
 
“I am hopeful that the peace accord will at least make all of us do the needful to avoid violence and reduce tension during the poll and after the election.”
 
Also speaking, Diri appreciated the committee but expressed doubt that as plausible as the initiative is, many politicians see it as an election ritual because they usually fail to keep it.
 
He said: “A lot of politicians do not keep to it; so, it’s just a ritual we come and sign and then the bad politicians among us will continue the violence. I have just been informed that the former governor of this state whom you interviewed has accused me: Douye Diri of stockpiling arms in Kolokuma/Opokuma.
 
“That is indeed the fattest lie of the year and that shows that this peace accord is going to be ineffectual. It’s going to be ineffectual because if a man chooses to be telling lies even in the face of this peace accord, then something is wrong in our polity.
 
“I am one person that all of you will attest that the peace in this state is because the body language of the governor is peaceful, and so the issue or question of my commitment does not arise here. I am committed to peace and security.”
 
In her remarks, INEC Commissioner, Agbamuche-Mbu, reiterated the commitment of the commission to a free, fair, credible and violence-free election.
 
Earlier, Kukah had urged INEC not to complain about the lack of resources ahead of the off-cycle polls. While speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily yesterday, he said the substantial funds have been budgeted for the elections and INEC should not be experiencing resource insufficiency.
 
“We cannot spend the time in the classroom; we must graduate to a new class of consciousness. Nigeria must take full responsibility for how these processes are conducted. There is a size of this country and limited resources but INEC can no longer complain about lack of resources because we hear of the hundreds of billions that are being spent on INEC,” he said.
 
In December 2021, the Commission said it would require N305 billion to conduct the 2023 general elections. The National Assembly approved the required funds. The electoral umpire also got an additional N18 billion for the conduct of the Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi governorship elections in the supplementary budget signed yesterday by President Bola Tinubu.
 
In Kogi State, the peace accord signing was hitch-free. Governor Yahaya Bello, who was represented by the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Didat Ozigi, lauded the committee for their service to humanity. The exercise saw candidates of the 18 political parties featuring in Saturday’s poll signing the accord.
 
In Imo State, the governor and APC candidate, Hope Uzodimma, as well as the candidates of the Labour Party (LP), Athan Achonu; All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Tony Ejiogu; and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Ben Odunze; were all absent as the peace accord ceremony.
 
The PDP candidate, Samuel Anyanwu, who came in thereafter, left after he noticed that candidates of the major parties were not present. Though Uzodimma, Achonu and Anyanwu sent their running mates, organisers of the ceremony did not allow them to sign the peace accord, insisting that the documents would not be signed by candidates in proxy. However, chairmen of APC and LP signed the documents.
 
Uzodinma’s running mate, Chinyere Ekomaru, who was not allowed to sign the peace accord left after her party chairman, Macdonald Ebere, signed the dotted lines.
 
The running mate of the PDP candidate, Jones Onyereri, was also not allowed to sign the peace accord document. The chairman of the PDP in the state, Charles Ugwu, was absent at the ceremony.
 
It was later announced that the candidates who missed the ceremony could come to the office of the Commissioner of Police to sign the documents today.
 
In another development, both PDP and LP candidates, Anyanwu and Achonu respectively, staged a walkout at a stakeholders’ meeting organised by INEC yesterday.
 
They had expressed their concerns to INEC, demanding the redeployment of the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Prof. Sylva Agu during INEC’s interactions with candidates, security agencies, media, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders.
 
INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, was represented by the National Commissioner representing the Southeast, Kenneth Ukeagu. After Ukeagu ordered journalists to turn off their cameras and gadgets and leave the hall, LP’s deputy governorship candidate, Tony Nwulu, and that of PDP, Jones Onyereri, who represented their flag-bearers, vehemently opposed the directive.

The duo insisted that the press, as critical stakeholders, could not be excluded from the meeting. Nwulu alleged that there were plans by INEC to rig the election in favour of the ruling APC, wondering if the meeting was “a secret cult affair.”
 
Later, opposition candidates have said they would resist any attempt to compromise the exercise in Imo. The candidates included Anyanwu of PDP, Achonu of LP, Dr. Kachi Nwoga of Action Democratic Party (ADP), Prof. Jame Okoroma of African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Johnjude Okere of Accord Party.
 
In a joint press conference held in Owerri, the candidates also unanimously demanded the immediate redeployment of the INEC REC, Agu to enhance transparency and assure neutrality of the process.

MEANWHILE, the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) has outlined some factors, which would shape the process and outcome of the elections. In a detailed 25-page report entitled: ‘Off-cycle elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi: An Early Referendum,’ signed by its director, Idayat Hassan, the organisation stressed that the polls provide a unique opportunity for a “swift evaluation of the new government’s performance so far” and offer a referendum on how citizens in these states respond to the leadership of the recently elected administration.
 
It observed that identity politics, zonal considerations, and violence will continue to influence the electoral landscape, making it crucial for parties to strategize effectively.
 
“The outcomes of these contests will significantly impact the political fortunes of the parties involved and lay the foundation for the upcoming general elections in 2027. The 2023 general elections marked an important milestone in the country’s democratic journey, characterized by technological advancements, increased civil society participation, and identity-based divisions among candidates and parties. These factors influenced the election results and set the stage for the off-cycle governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi.”
 
Providing further insights, CDD noted that given the fact that the elections will be held approximately 120 days into the tenure of the new administration, they present a unique challenge for both the ruling party, led by President Tinubu, and the opposition.
 
CDD, however, lamented that a major concern about the November 11 election is the role that misinformation, disinformation, and fake news are expected to play.
 
In the concluding part of the report, CDD put the spotlight on INEC, noting that many will see these polls as the last chance for the Commission to address the plethora of complaints raised after the elections.
 
President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo World Wide, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, has urged all eligible Imo voters to ignore calls from any quarters and come out en masse to cast their votes for their preferred candidates on Saturday.
 
Iwuanyanwu, made the appeal against the backdrop that some persons are threatening to kill and destroy property of any defaulter to the order. He also noted the threat to his life by the hoodlums, dismissing that he was not afraid of death trying to liberate Igbo.
 
Briefing reporters in Owerri on Wednesday, he noted that he was ready to negotiate with those threatening him and Igbo in order to bring peace and order to the Southeast zone.
 
Iwuanyanwu also dismissed a report making rounds that Uzodimma is blocking the release of the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, stressing that his investigation into that report signified falsehood.
 
Ahead of Saturday, the Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Dauda Biu, has directed the deployment of 1,500 personnel of the Corps and 35 vehicles to Imo, Kogi, and Bayelsa states to help strengthen enforcement of restrictions during the entire process of the election.
 
Biu, in a statement signed by the Spokesperson of FRSC, Bisi Kazeem, on Wednesday, ordered “operatives of the Corps to ensure effective collaboration with the Nigerian Police Force, Independent National Electoral Commission, and other security agencies in the enforcement of restrictions on vehicular movement.