Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has raised the alarm that prevailing security challenges, which have led to increase in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), may mar the 2023 general elections.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman (Information and Voter Education Committee), Festus Okoye, disclosed this at a town hall meeting organised by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) in Abuja, yesterday.
Okoye, however, said the commission is determined to surmount the hurdles and conduct free, fair, credible and inclusive election.
He explained: “So many of the internally displaced persons are in the houses of friends and relatives and have lost their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs), and it is next to impossibility to recreate their constituencies and polling units.
“This is because Section 47(1) of the Electoral Act clearly provides that ‘a person intending to vote in an election shall present himself with his voter’s card to a Presiding Officer for accreditation at the polling unit in the constituency in which his name is registered.
“Some of these persons are no longer in their constituencies and can no longer access their polling units, and so many of them have lost their PVCs.
“While it is easy to recreate constituencies and polling units in clustered camps of IDPs, it is next to impossibility to do so for persons staying in scattered locations.”
President of the NGE, Mustapha Issa, in his opening remarks, said the freedom of the media cannot be “traded off in whatever political guise”.
He said the media should truly and jealously protect “our democracy, which is still the best form of government”. He said agenda setting remains the media’s major focus, stressing that the media “is now ready to set agenda for politicians”.
He also called on the media to close ranks and refuse politicians’ antics to divide the society through religious gimmicks and social vices.
