Ahead of the 2023 general election, the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Festus Okoye Esq, has tasked Heads of the Voter Education and Publicity (VEP) department to brace up for the task of projecting and promoting the commission’s policies, decisions and actions.
Okoye noted that the commission had entered a critical phase of the 2023 general election, which required all HOD’s VEP from the 36 states and the FCT to be at their very best to defend the commission.
The IVEC Chairman gave the charge during the Voter Education Implementation Workshop for 2023 General Election organised with support from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), held in Keffi, Nasarawa state, last week.
Addressing the participants, Okoye observed that unfortunately for HODs who were newly deployed to the department, there would be no time to settle down.
“You will have to get into the thick of the activity immediately. This is because this commission has entered the critical phase of the electoral process. This is the phase we call ground zero, and when you reach ground zero, it’s a no holds barred situation”, he: said.
Harping on some critical timelines and events that would require explaining by the image makers at their various states, the IVEC Chairman said “on the 20th September, 2022, the commission will release the final list of nominated candidates (national elections).
“It will also publish the final list of duly nominated candidates on the 4th October, 2022, while on the 28th September, 2022 presidential and National Assembly candidates will begin campaigns in public”.
Speaking further, he said: “on 12 October, 2022, governorship and state assembly candidates will start campaigns in public, while 30th December, 2022 is the last day for the submission of the names of polling agents for presidential and national assembly elections”.
The IVEC chairman urged participants to be knowledgeable on the Legal Frame Work to be used for conducting the 2023 general election, i.e., Electoral Act 2022, and be in-tune with the changing dynamics and demography of Nigeria’s youthful population.”
In a goodwill message, the Deputy Country Director for IFES, Mr. Obajeh Ukeh, noted that without effective Voter Education, people will not be able to participate effectively in electoral process. He said it is therefore important that as a Commission, Voter Education is taken seriously.
Obaje commended the Commission for its dedication and/commitment towards steadily improving the electoral process, but maintained that more can be done with effective Voter Education and Publicity at all levels. “We hope that in 2023 we will see an improvement in the turn out witnessed in Osun”.
