INEC, stakeholders to block loopholes ahead of Kogi, Bayelsa gov’ship

Stakeholders yesterday met in Abuja and shared ideas on how to make the Nov. 16 governorship election in Kogi and Bayelsa State violence free and credible.

At a Round Table organized by the Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA) on INEC’s preparedness towards the elections in the two states, speakers deliberated on issues relating to security and how to block loopholes that give room for election malpractices.

The National Commissioner in charge of Bayelsa, Edo, and Rivers states, Mrs. May Agbamuche-Mbu, who represented the INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said the electoral empire will blacklist some university lecturers and NYSC members who did not perform according to the rules during the last general election.

“We intend to blacklist those who have not done very well in the last election. That’s what we intend to do,” she said, adding that challenges associated with card readers would also come under perspective as the commission fine-tuned its preparation.

Maj. Gen. John Ochai, who represented the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai admitted that Bayelsa might pose some challenges.

“For the Nigerian Army, Bayelsa presents some logistic challenge because of the terrain. The creeks are an area where conventional means of transport can’t reach. For Kogi, we have our contingency plan in place. We shall continue to do our assessment in conjunction with INEC in our regular security meetings,” he said.

On her part, the Executive Director of CTA, Faith Nwadishi appealed to political parties to organise credible, transparent primaries to avoid the acrimony that always trailed such exercises.

“We understand that preparations are in top gear in the two states as political parties are inching towards their party primaries and as many interested candidates have collected nomination forms from their various political parties,” said.