By Amos Aar
COMMUNITY Links and Human Empowerment Initiative (CHLEI), a civil society organisation, has commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for its proactiveness in prioritising the participation of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the 2023 electoral process.
CLHEI’s Executive Director, Dr Helen Teghtegh, gave the commendation in Makurdi, the Benue State capital at a press conference on the aftermath of the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections. CHLEI has been working with IDPs on the programme, “Get-Out-the-Vote” using the theatre-for-development strategy.
According to Dr Teghtegh, INEC did not only ensure that IDPs voted in the last elections; the commission recruited two IDPs as ad-hoc staff for the 2023 general elections.
She explained that 59 voting centres were created for the IDPs – 56 in host communities and four in IDP camps across six Local Government Areas of Benue State.
“For this, we commend the proactiveness of Benue INEC in prioritising the participation of IDPs not only in voting in the elections but also in the electoral processes in Benue State; where two IDPs were recruited as INEC ad hoc staff for the 2023 general elections,” Teghtegh noted.
She added: “The political voice of IDPs; women, youth and the younger voters who have reached the voting age is needed for dialogue and to make the government accountable, which can be particularly important in meeting the needs of vulnerable persons.”
She explained that in spite of the observable lapses such as misconception about Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and late arrival of materials, “CLHEI was impressed by the enthusiasm and resilience of IDPs to come out in large numbers to vote, demonstrating confidence in the BVAS machine as a credible medium to ensure their votes count.”
Among other things, CLEHI, which served as domestic observer is recommending to INEC to substantively test operational issues connected with its election technology and transmission of results, conduct sufficient refresher training of ad-hoc staff and technical personnel on the setup and use of the BVAS machine, collaborate with Civil Society Organizations, media outlets and influencers to spread information and educative messages regarding the functioning of the BVAS machine, the voting procedures and the onward transmission of the result sheets and consider setting up more IDPs camps to host voting centres for IDP voting.
