The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has stated that “the conduct of elections under COVID-19 is an uncharted territory that is no history of such election in Nigeria and no global best practice that any election management body can rely upon.”
To this end, the commission has expressed delight that “fortunately the presidential task force, working with the health authorities provided a guide for the development of a national policy not only for the conduct of the elections but also electoral activities in general involving voter registration, political party and election observation and securing the electoral process.”
INEC chairman Prof Mahmood Yakubu stated this on Thursday at the ministerial briefing by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.
He said in order to protect voters, officials and other stakeholders, the commission identified eight protective measures drawing from the national policy.
According to Yakubu, these measures ranges “from the mandatory use of face masks, hand sanitizers, use of methylated spirit and cotton wool to clean the smart card readers after the fingerprint of each voter is read, rules of physical distancing, the use of infrared thermometers and procedures for handling voters and election officials showing covid-19 symptoms.”
Yakubu also stated “Drawing from the broad policies, the commission developed a 10-point voters code of conduct targeted specifically at the voter given details of the do’s and don’ts at polling units on Election Day.
“For instance, It is mandatory for every voter to wear the face mask or face covering without which the voter will not be allowed to vote.
“We need to emphasize that we are not asking for the kind of face mask I’m wearing, not surgical face mask, but face covering will be sufficient for the voter to be accredited and to vote.
“Also voters are required to maintain physical distancing. The commission introduced two queues: one outside the polling area and the other inside the polling area. Within the inner queue, voters must maintain the mandatory 2 meter or 6 feet distance from each other.
He explained that “voters must avoid touching surfaces or leaning on walls at polling units to vote,” adding that “we (commission) also have clear protocols for dealing with voters who shows symptoms such as high temperature, cough sneezing, etc. In this case they must obey all directions by officials to stop other voters from getting infected.”
He also explained that “there is also the procedure for evacuation in the event of emergency, in doing so we collaborate with health officials.
“In Edo state for instance, we are working with the state response team and we were Edo a couple of weeks ago, we had a meeting with the permanent secretary Ministry of Health who has made contact details of their officials in Benin City and in all the local government areas that we can immediately contact them on Election Day for emergency response and they have all been put on alert.
“For the purpose of voter education, we have produced a 10-point voters code of conduct. And this has been produced by way of a poster for voter education.
“This has already been mass produced with support from development partners and delivered through the state’s where we have elections, Edo, Ondo and other states because we also have by-elections in 11 states in 15 constituencies on October 31st.
“So in the next one week or so, we’ll have the Edo election, three weeks later we’ll go to Ondo and three weeks later will deploy to 11 states of the federation for elections in 15 constituencies.
“So we have produced the posters for voter education. We have also produced a handbill based on the voter code of conduct not only for voter education but also for training of our officials on Election Duty so it’s the same poster, but it comes in a very handy form.
“For inclusivity, we have produced our policy in braille for visually impaired voters. The pages are blank, but the visually impaired can read the Braille guide. So the international policy for conducting elections in the context of covid as also being produced in Braille for the benefit of Voters who can’t see and therefore can’t read our flyers and our posters
“We have also translated the 10-point voters code of conduct into Braille for visually impaired voters. So this is the same poster developed into a hand-bill and then we have developed it into a braille for the visually impaired voters on Election Day.
“INEC is working with security personnel during elections, working with the security agencies through or under the auspices of the interagency consultative committee on Election security excess, the commission has produced and revised the code of conduct a Rules of Engagement for security Personnel on Election Duty and that also includes covid guidelines.
“However all these steps are in the realm of planning, we have planned well. The true test of the plan is the actual implementation.
To ensure proper implementation of the policy in the forthcoming Edo/Ondo governorship elections, he said “the commission decided to do a test run in a by-election in the Nasarawa entral State constituency in Nasarawa state on the 8th of August 2020.
“All the protocols enumerated in our policy were practically implemented and the overall result is very encouraging. We are going into Edo next week assured that we have tests run our preparations for voting under the COVID-19 pandemic.
He appealed to all parties and candidates and all those involved in the election whether it’s in Edo, Ondo or the by-elections, to shun violence.
He stated that “in the context of covid-19, violence will not only disrupt the elections it will also complicate the nation’s response to the health emergency.
He reassured the people of Edo and Ondo states of the commission’s determination to conduct free fair and transparent elections. Let us all work together to also ensure that the process is peaceful.
