Progress Godfrey, Abuja
Few hours to Saturday’s General Election, a coalition of over 70 Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, in Nigeria released its preliminary report on Security, Election Violence, Movement of Sensitive Materials Nationwide among others.
The convener of the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room and County Director of ActionAid, Ene Obi, who briefed Journalists ahead of 2023 General Election, in Abuja on Friday, gave details on the total number of Permanent Voters Card (PVC) collected and top four states with the highest number of PVCs collected.
Read Statement Below:
With less than 24 hours before Nigeria’s presidential and National Assembly elections, the Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room (Situation Room), presents the findings of a preliminary assessment of Nigeria’s pre-election environment ahead of the 2023 General Election.
In the final hours before the elections there are several reports of security challenges, acts of violence and political tension across the country, especially in the South East, North West and Lagos. In terms of readiness of the voting process, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released critical information regarding the number of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) collected, and countdown updates with movement of sensitive materials across the country
Situation Room therefore notes the following:
Election Violence
On Thursday, 23rd February 2023, Nigerians received the shocking news of the assasination of the Senatorial candidate of the Labour Party for Enugu East Senatorial? District, Mr Oyibo Chukwu, and five supporters, by unknown persons. Situation Room is worried that this attack could affect the political atmosphere in the State and increase tension in the South East region of the country.
By afternoon of the same day, the convoy of the Presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party, (NNPP), Sen. Rabi’u Kwankwaso, and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Abba Yusuf, were attacked in Kofa town, Bebeji Local Government Area, Kano State. In Lagos State, the atmosphere remains tense, following violent incidents that broke out in parts of the State earlier this month.
With barely a few hours to the elections, fuel scarcity and bank queues remain, adding to the already tense atmosphere. The Situation Room recognizes that certain areas in Lagos State could potentially be hot spots as the elections progress.
In light of these. Situation Room finds it incumbent for security services especially the Nigeria Police within the State to prioritise creating a secure environment for citizens to exercise their franchise. Situation Room, strongly condems the killings and any acts of election violence and urges authorites to stem further violence to creating an enabling environment for peaceful, free and fair elections.
INEC Press Briefing
On Thursday, 23 February 2023, during a press briefing INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu revealed at the National Collation Centre in Abuja that 87,209,007 PVCs have been collected across the 36 States of Nigeria A breakdown of the figure showed that Lagos leads in the number of collected PVCs with 6 214,970 This is closely followed by Kano State with 5.594 193, Kaduna State with 4, 164 473 and Katsina State 3,459,945 The Commission has promised to provide daily briefing to update stakeholders as events unfold during this election period
Movement of Sensitive Materials to LGA Nationwide
Situation Room has received reports from its field observers and other election observer networks indicating that INEC has begun the movement of sensitive matenals from the state branches of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the Local Govemment Areas across the country Reports indicate that 15 States: Lagos, Nasarawa, Osun, Bauchi, Cross River, Adamawa Plateau, Taraba, Gombe, Imo, Ebony Jigawa, Borno, Edo. Kebbi, have received all sensitive materials while others are in progress. We commend the progress made on the movement of sensitive matenals and look forward to successful deployment across the country
Conclusion
The Situation Room urges INEC to remain neutral during the election process. It is important that the Commission monitors the activities of its officials and ensure that they conduct the electoral process in a fair and credible manner.
It is critical that the Nigerian Police and other security agencies safeguard citizens, main vigilant towards election violence, tackle vote buying and work together with stakeholders to ensure a safe and peaceful election
Finally, the Situation Room reminds all citizens and political parties to conduct themselves in a peaceful manner and to discourage violence by their supporters. It is crucial that candidates and parties have a moral and legal obligation to abide by the Peace Agreement, as there will be consequences for reneging in the agreement in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022
The Situation Room remains committed to continue to provide assessment of the environment ahead of the 2023 General Election. Situation Room is closely watching and will keep receiving reports of incidence on our contact details:
E-mail: situationroom@placng.org
Social Media
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Website: www.situationroom.org
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