March 18: Voters must be protected in Saturday polls, Situation Room charge security agencies

The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room has advised the Nigerian police and other security agencies to ensure that adequate measures are in place to forestall possible threats to life and properties in saturday’s gubernatorial and state houses of assembly polls.

The Convener of the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, Ene Obi, gave the advice while reading the preliminary statement on the pre-election environment ahead of the governorship and state house of assemblies elections on Thursday, in Abuja.

The governorship elections will be holding in 28 States while the State Assembly elections will hold in all 36 States in March 18, 2023.

Recall that in the just concluded presidential elections, there were records of violence and intimidation by political thugs in some parts of the country.

However, raising concern over report of violence, kidnap and assassination in states like Lagos, Rivers, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu and Kano, the coalition urged security agencies to respond quickly and ensure the safety of election officials as well as other election stakeholders, including voters, polling agents, election observers, the media and service providers.

“Situation Room reminds the Nigeria Police and other security agencies that they have a primary responsibility to guarantee the safety and security of election officials as well as other election stakeholders, including voters, polling agents, election observers, the media and service providers.

“Security agencies should take adequate measures to forestall the recurrence of acts of voter suppression, disruption of voting, and outright violence experienced in some places during the Presidential and National Assembly elections” the convener added.

Obi also noted that Situation Room will deploy 2,340 election observers, with at least three election observers per Local Government Area in every State of the Federation excluding the Federal Capital Territory.

“This number includes 131 Persons with Disabilities. Situation Room will also rely on information from its partners and networks deploying election observers. On the election day, the Election Situation Room will be the main hub for receiving data and reports from the field, which will be analyzed and disseminated through press statements and reports.

“The Situation Room’s observation and analysis of the conduct of Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections will be guided by the Credibility Threshold for the 2023 General Election, which was produced and shared with election stakeholders, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), ahead of the elections.

“The Credibility Threshold document identified issues and factors that could cause the 2023 general election to fall below, remain within, or go beyond the standard established by previous elections. It also outlined expectations from stakeholders to mitigate issues that constitute key risks to the credibility of the general election. The Situation Room will further take into cognizance the contemporary electoral and security environment in assessing the polls” she said.

The Situation Room while expressing optimism that the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC must have learnt from its error in the conduct of the presidential elections charged them to ensure adequate improvement in saturday’s election.

“Situation Room expects that INEC has taken lessons from the challenges experienced during the Presidential and National Assembly elections of 25th February 2023, and that the Commission has made adequate arrangements to forestall the recurrence of the gaps observed during the elections.

They said, “Situation Room also expects that the glitches that led to the malfunctioning of the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) have been resolved, and that the issues that occasioned the inability of the Commission to conduct elections in some polling units and late opening of polls in others have been addressed.

“In particular, the Situation Room calls on INEC to address the shortages in the number of ad hoc staff available for the elections, make adequate transportation arrangements, conduct additional training for the ad hoc staff, and promptly reconfigure and deploy the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and other materials required for the elections. Most importantly, ensure that it communicates in a timely manner to the public on any challenges or changes made to the electoral process”