CSOS open election violence monitoring centre in Abuja
•ADC rejects shift of guber, state assembly polls
address early warning signs in some volatile states, the Joint Action Civil Society Coalition has established the Violent Incidents and Election Atrocity Fusion Centre (VIEAFUC) in Abuja.
The facility is for monitoring, systematisation, documentation and reporting of data, information, and analysis of incidents of violence during the general elections nationwide.
A statement yesterday by Abiodun Baiyewu and eight others said it had set up hotlines for complaints and observations while the entire electoral process lasts.
The civil society organisations (CSOS) called on Nigerians, local and international observers in all of the nation’s 119,973 polling units to report violence and their perpetrators, adding: “This is a shared responsibility.”
According to the statement, civil societies are not merely documenting vio- lence, but would also take steps to ensure accountability.
The concerned stakeholders enjoined government to show by action zero tolerance for impunity and all acts of election-related violence before, during and after the exercise.
They welcomed the issuance of clear operational orders by the security services, urging work in the areas of monitoring and discipline of errant officers. “The ineffectiveness of the Federal Government and its security forces in checkmating this cyclical violence has emboldened perpetrators over the years. The 2019 polls should be different,” the coalition appealed.
However, the national chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Chief Ralphs Nwosu, has rejected the shift of the governorship and state assembly elections from March 2 to 9, 2019 by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
THE Sokoto State Police Command has denied arresting any persons with already thumb printed ballot papers in favour of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or any other political party in the state. Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Mohammed Abubakar Sadiq, said at a media briefing yesterday that what the police found on one Shehu Maidama on Sunday were samples of ballot papers meant for enlightenment of party supporters.
Also responding, INEC’S Public Relations Officer, Mohammed Sokoto, confirmed that the seized specimen ballot papers, insisting they were not INEC ballot papers for the 2019 elections.
He added that the electoral law did not disallow any political party from using such materials for voter education. However, Sodiq explained that the specimen ballot papers were not impounded during distribution but that the police would carry out further investigation into the matter.
He advised political parties to report anybody found with sensitive or non-sensitive INEC materials, adding that the police was working with other security agencies to ensure peace before, during and after the elections.
Meanwhile, the Kwara Advancement Initiative (KAI), has raised the alarm that sensitive election materials meant for Presidential and National Assembly elections kept with the CBN have been compromised.
In a statement issued in Ilorin yesterday, its leader, Kamaldeen Olanrewaju, disclosed that sensitive materials such as ballot papers, result sheets and card readers sent to Kwara for the election, had been tampered with by some INEC officials in connivance with some leaders of one of the political parties.