Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmoud Yakubu, has warned the staff of the electoral commission that dereliction of duty will not be tolerated in the upcoming Ondo State gubernatorial election.
Yakubu gave the warning on Thursday at a stakeholder meeting on the Ondo State governorship election held at the International Cultural Center in Akure.
He called on political parties to continue to restrain any destructive behavior by their supporters.
The chairman said INEC was scheduled to further address its staff, including electoral officers of the 18 local government areas, on Friday.
He said, “As you know, elections are multi-stakeholder activities. INEC has a role to play and we have always played that role in consultation with stakeholders. However, Our role must be complemented by all stakeholders.
“We created a certification tag with every agent’s name, photo and location.
“We have also added a QR code to the tag that can be read using a mobile phone app.
“The practice of issuing party tags to party agents that do not include their name, photo or posting location must end.
“Thus, at some polling stations and collation stations, impersonation practices are taking place where two or more people claim to be agents of one political party, and in some cases among themselves. or create unnecessary disagreements among agents of other political parties, leading to disruption of the process.
“I urge political parties to follow the example of other accredited observers and media and use the tags issued by the commission and display the same tags at all voting and collation locations.”
Mr. Yaqub also announced that candidates for the election will sign the peace agreement at this venue on Friday, November 8, 2024 at 10:00 am.
“I ask you to be here tomorrow to pay your respects to the peace committee and, most importantly, to abide by the terms of the agreement for peaceful elections,” he added.
