Elections: Respect peace accord, WANEP tells APC, PDP, others


The West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) has asked the political parties and their candidates participating in the ongoing elections to respect the peace accord they all signed and eschew violence.

The group of international observers, while condemning the spate of killings, ballot box snatching and other violence during the Saturday elections, also tasked the security agents to be neutral during and after the election.

WANEP had earlier deployed 114 Election Observers to take stock of the voting process in the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)-Abuja using the Arc GIS technology that was developed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Addressing a press conference Saturday evening in Abuja to update the world on what the group had observed so far, WANEP recommended that the security agencies should maintain utmost professionalism in the discharge of their duties and assure the electorate of their commitment to maintaining law and order throughout the process.

In a statement read to the newsmen by the WANEP’s co-chair Aisha Ado Abdullahi, the group appreciated the diverse interventions undertaken by key stakeholders especially INEC to resolve lapses in the voting process as well as deployment of security officials to contain violent incidents and restore normalcy in affected areas.

“However, in view of the delayed arrival of materials in some polling stations as well as increasing reported violence, there is need for concerted and reinforced effort to ensure the prevention and mitigation of violence during the counting and collation processes as well as in the aftermath of the announcement of results. In this regard, WANEP makes the following recommendations to ensure the promotion of peace and stability in the remaining process:

“INEC should regularly provide updates on the collation process to assure the public of the transparency of the process.
WANEP condemns violence reported and calls on security agencies to reinforce security in affected areas but also in other areas to prevent and mitigate potential violence that may arise.

“WANEP calls on the Security agencies to investigate reported incidents of explosions on election day as it is critical for developing contingency plans for future elections.

“Candidates and Political parties should abide by the Peace Accord and refrain from inflammatory statements or publication of results and all acts that are capable of instigating violence as we await the official announcement of results by INEC.”

WANEP observed that the commencement of voting was on time in most polling stations across the country. “However, observers reported late opening of polls in several stations due to late arrival of polling officials and materials.

“In some cases, as at 10:00 am, materials were yet to be distributed to areas such as Gwagwalada Area Council of FCT and Mashi LGA of Katsina State.

“In an isolated case, the absence of security personnel at Shehu Manzo ward of Gombe LGA, Gombe State resulted in delay of the commencement of polls.

“Card readers were not functioning appropriately in some stations visited for example, in Ward 4, PU 002 at St. Jonathan in Ondo State; and also Yardole Kasuwa area of Kebbi State, but the technicians addressed the situation. Concerns abound over the disenfranchisement of eligible voters due to technical issues experienced with the use of card readers.

“Observers noted the inducement of voters in Kumbotso LGA of Kano State and Konshisha LGA of Benue State, where voters were reportedly seen receiving money from party stalwarts to vote their preferred candidates.

“Key violent incidents reported include shooting in Ayingba, Dekina LGA of Kogi State; fighting in Ward 18 Khana, Port Harcourt, Rivers State following alleged snatching of voting materials.

“Despite the late commencement of polls in affected areas, voters reportedly conducted themselves peacefully and orderly, except in a few cases where isolated violent incidents occurred.”

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