From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has said growing insecurity in several parts of the country and the increasing number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), will pose challenges to the conduct of the 2023 general elections.
Yakubu stated this during a town hall meeting organized by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) with the theme: ‘Agenda Setting for Sustainable Democratic Culture’ in Abuja.
Yakubu who was represented by the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, INEC, Festus Okoye, noted that the country is entering a critical and challenging phase in its electoral process.
Yakubu also noted that on the February 25, 2022, President Muhammadu Buhari, signed the new Electoral Act which constituted the constitutive legal instruments for the conduct of the 2023 general elections.
He added that INEC has released the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the conduct of the 2023 general elections, fixing Presidential and National Assembly elections to hold on the February 25, 2023 and Governorship and State Assembly Elections to hold on March 11, 2023.
He however said the 2023 general elections will come with challenges and the commission is determined to surmount the challenges and conduct free, fair, credible and inclusive election.
“Growing insecurity in several parts of the country and the increasing number of internally displaced persons will pose challenges to the conduct of the 2023 general election. So many of the internally displaced persons are in the houses of friends and relatives and have lost their Permanent Voters Cards 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 Permanent Voters Cards.
“While it is easy to recreate constituencies and polling units in clustered camps of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP camps), it is next to impossibility to do so for persons staying in scattered locations. For the internally displaced, the Commission will print new Permanent Voters Cards for them and recreate their polling units in their camps and they will be eligible to vote in some of the elections depending on their location and their proximity to their State and Federal Constituencies. This is in accord with section 24(1) of the Electoral Act, which provides that “In the event of an emergency affecting an election, the Commission shall, as far as practicable, ensure that persons displaced as a result of the emergency are not disenfranchised.”
“Based on this, the Commission developed regulations and guidelines on IDP voting and will implement the intendment of the law and the Regulations and Guidelines,” Yakubu said.
Yakubu further said so many communities are still inaccessible to INEC’s registration officers, adding that in the next few weeks, the Commission will roll out modalities for the further devolution and rotation of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) to its registration areas, while also saying that the security of INEC’s personnel and the registrants are fundamental to the success of the exercise.
“We are determined to register all eligible registrants but will not expose our staff to unnecessary danger. We will roll out and roll back depending on the security situation in different parts of the country,” Yakubu added.
Yakubu also said it was important for the media to continue to highlight and analyze the causes and possible solutions to the security challenges in the country and continue to hold government accountable.
“The various security agencies must try as much as possible to degrade if not neutralize the security threats and challenges in different parts of the country. Voting and the exercise of democratic mandate may not be the priority of persons enveloped in a climate and atmosphere of fear and anxiety,” Yakubu further said.
On her part, the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, said the media in particular, plays a daily, vital role in reflecting, steering and mobilizing public opinion.
“When you write, publish and broadcast thoughtfully, impartially, and with accuracy, your contribution to democracy is profound. When you uncover evidence that unscrupulous individuals have tried to hide or deny, you empower law enforcement and the judicial system. When you hold politicians to account with well-researched, non-partisan facts, you directly serve the interests of the voting public, and play a vital role in shaping public perceptions about not only those who currently govern, but also about those who wish to govern in the future,” Leonard said.
The United States envoy further said by any measure, global freedom has been in decline for the past fifteen years.
Leonard added that whether that decline is linear and true in all parts of the world was debatable, saying “but certainly when we look at Africa as a whole, we see some disturbing trends: a parallel rise in political authoritarianism and media self-censorship; growing public mistrust of media; and diminishing confidence that democracies can self-correct and reverse such disturbing trends in the long run.”
According to Leonard, “Some of you will undoubtedly recall President Biden initiating this past December, a global Summit for Democracy as a way to focus the world’s attention on authoritarianism and other similar threats to democracy in which the will of the people is trampled on or ignored. This initiative which you are all taking part in, is intended to further that important conversation. Your attendance here underscore the power and promise of free speech and all-inclusive citizen participation and communication in a healthy, resilient democracy.
“One does not have to look as far to see threats against democratically elected governments. In Sudan, Mali and elsewhere, African militaries have overthrown or sought to overthrow civilian governments -four times, in fact, over the past 12 months; that’s the highest number in four decades.
“Thankfully, Nigeria’s commitment to democracy and opposition to authoritarianism remains sound. Your leaders have been consistent in calling for the respect of presidential term limits, for example, and they have been quick to condemn military coups in West Africa and the rest of the continent.
“Beyond public pledges supporting freedom and democracy, however, I hope your group will use this opportunity to delve deeper into underlying factors that erode faith in democracy. Patronage politics, corruption, inequality, and the failure of many democratic governments to deliver for their citizens fuel public and media doubts about the democratic model, causing them to lose hope and cynically accept the status quo as inevitable and normal.
“One way to restore public confidence in democracy is through free and fair elections. The eyes of the world will therefore be on Nigeria this year and early next year as you prepare to choose a new president and transition to a new government. We were pleased that last week President Buhari signed Nigeria’s long-awaited Electoral Act Amendment Bill into law, ensuring adoption of a number of long sought-after reforms to the electoral process, including the electronic transmission of election results from polling places.”
While saying that editors were in fact critical gatekeepers, Leonard said their actions and decisions level the playing field.
“You determine whose voices are heard, and what news topics receive in-depth coverage. In a digital age when the 24/7 news cycle is unrelenting and often bewildering, you help weed out the trivial to focus on the essential. You oblige candidates to respond to uncomfortable or pointed questions. You interview citizens and potential voters whose voices are not always amplified or heard. You may not always realize it, but your giving voice to the governed and the under-represented helps reduce voter apathy,” the United States envoy further said.
She added that the hope for the forum was that the editors will lead and serve as catalysts to build a democracy that is accountable to its people.
“We can and must work together to address challenges to freedom. This has always been democracy’s greatest strength: the ability to improve upon and reinvent itself. When the citizenry’s belief in democracy, good governance, and elections are restored, invariably they will want to be a part of that system and will defend it. Right now, the world is at an inflection point between those who tolerate autocracy and those who know democracy can deliver for the people,” she stated.
Earlier, NGE President, Mustapha Isah, said freedom of the media allowed for the creation of a public space in which a wide range of debates and expression of variety of viewpoints can take place.
“A free and critical press is essential for the growth and development of any democracy.
“The media as a watchdog of society owes it as a duty to monitor governance and hold public office holders accountable to the people who elected them,” Isah said.
In his presentation, the Deputy News Editor, Washington Examiner, David Mark, said journalists are threatened around the world by governments.
He however said it was important for journalists to fight back by aggressively questioning those in public offices whether they are elected officials, appointed or whatever they might be.