THE Electoral Hub has called on stakeholders in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to take collective action so as to promote the integrity and credibility of the electoral process as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is set to conduct Area Council polls tomorrow, Saturday, January 12, 2022.
In a pre-election statement on Friday, the Electoral Hub also called on INEC to monitor and supervise the elections by taking into context the need to provide quick response to any identified issue.
The statement, signed Princess Hamman-Obels, Founder and Director of the Electoral Hub, which is an organ of the Initiative for Research, Innovation and Advocacy in Development (IRIAD), asked INEC to give the updates on the election through the use of a virtual situation room.
Ms Hamman-Obels noted her organisation’s confidence that the combined action of the “various stakeholders will yield effective results, and we look forward to a peaceful, transparent, and credible election come February 12.”
The statement further reads: “Ad hoc staff and other election workers should perform their roles efficiently, ensuring that key principles such as equality of vote, secrecy of vote, and transparency of the electoral process are upheld.
“Political parties and their candidates should uphold peace on election-day and refrain from participating in electoral malpractices such as vote buying.
“Security agencies should safeguard election workers, voters, election material, and the general election environment. They should also arrest and prosecute electoral offenders.
“Civil society organisations and election observers should be vigilant, keep the electorate informed, and highlight irregularities, if any, on election day.
“The media should keep the public informed about the events on election day.
“The electorate should come out to vote in their numbers, and refrain from selling their vote.”
