Ahead of the Governorship Election in Edo State, the South-South Coordinator of the Youth-led Electoral Reform Project, Whillz Trust Foundation (WTF), has stressed the need for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure it conducts free, fair, transparent and credible elections on Saturday in Edo
The non-governmental, partisan, and non-profit organisation asserted that it believed that the Sept. 21, 2024, off-cycle election provides a unique opportunity for the electoral umpire and security agencies to restore confidence in the electoral process in Nigeria.
Mr Aaron Anyamwu, the WTF Executive Director (ED), stated this while addressing a press conference on Wednesday in Benin City, the Edo State Capital.
He stated that free, fair, and credible elections in Edo State would particularly begin the process of restoring the confidence of people in the state and Nigerian youth in general as per the country’s electoral system.
Anyamwu added that a country youth survey conducted by the YERP-Naija campaign in the first quarter of 2024 indicated that 57 per cent of the respondents were dissatisfied with the process of the 2023 general election, while 94 per cent of the respondents called for electoral reform in Edo.
He said: “In addition to the country-side survey, the YERP-Naija campaign conducted youth forums on electoral reform in Edo State and in the 11 states spread across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
“In the lead-up to the Edo office cycle gubernatorial elections, electoral stakeholders, including youth, have continued to express concerns about the ability of INEC and security agencies to conduct credible and peaceful elections in which the will of the people will prevail.
“These concerns are consistent with the views expressed by Edo and Nigerian youth during the YERP-Naija campaign country-side surveys and electoral reforms,” he disclosed.
According to the Executive Director of the public interest organisation, in the survey held across the country, youth in the country were clear about the need to carry out electoral reforms and restore public confidence in the electoral process beginning with the 2024 Edo gubernatorial elections.
He revealed that the above development was why the YERP-Naija Campaign recently delivered an advocacy letter to the Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC in Edo with recommendations for specific administrative reforms that INEC could carry out to ensure that the Edo election is conclusive and transparent.
“The YERP-Naija campaign hereby reiterates its recommendations to INEC and other electoral stakeholders to ensure that the elections are conducted in a peaceful atmosphere and the votes of the Edo people decide the outcome of the election.
“We recommend that the commission improves coordination with its Electoral Officers and the National Union of Raid Transport Workers (NURTW), who have been at the centre of late deployment of materials in previous elections, to improve the process in Edo.
‘Deliberate steps should also be taken to ensure that the political class do not play any active role in assisting INEC deploy election materials as observed in the previous elections. We recommend that the commission ensure that only trained INEC personnel are deployed on election day to prevent the experience of ad-hoc staff being unable to carry out election duties at the polling unit.
“We recommend that the commission deploy a sufficient number of sensitive materials such as braille ballot guides, election day written instructions, and magnifying glasses, amongst others. We urged the commission to ensure that there is priority voting for people with disabilities, pregnant women and the elderly across the state
“We recommend that election day results be uploaded in real-time from polling units to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IREV) on election day for the benefit of the public,” Anyamwu declared.
While also calling on the police and other security agencies to provide adequate security for the conduct of peaceful and credible elections, as well as maintaining professionalism throughout the conduct of the election, the Executive Director WTF, however, urged youth in the state to participate in a peaceful manner during and after the election.
In their remarks, the Executive Director of Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI), Bukola Idowu, and Chairman of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), Com. Moses Agwinede Joseph, commended WTF for the initiative, saying if the recommendations are adequately applied, such would go along in addressing issues confronting elections in Nigeria.
Other parties of the project are the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), J-Dev Foundation, Catch Them Young Community Initiative, Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI), and National Democratic Initiative (NDI).
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