The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned that political parties’ branded face masks/coverings would not be allowed at polling units on election days.
INEC chairman,
Mahmood Yakubu, said this on Wednesday during a town hall meeting in Nasarawa
state with political parties and other election stakeholders.
The meeting was
organised by INEC ahead of a Nasarawa Central constituency state House of
Assembly bye-election.
It had in attendance
the opposition PDP’s representative, Abdullahi Zubairu, and the governing APC’s
representative, Muhammed Abdulmumin.
Others in attendance
were INEC commissioner for voter education, Festus Okoye, and a representative
of the Presidential Covid-19 Task Force, Assad Hassan.
The electoral umpire
had announced August 8 for the bye-election.
The election,
however, comes amidst a continuing spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Nasarawa
state has 341 cases of the infection, according to data from the Nigeria Centre
for Disease Control NCDC, on Tuesday.
The Nasarawa poll is
one of 16 other upcoming bye-elections across the country – and two
governorship elections in Edo and Ondo scheduled for September 19 and October
10 respectively.
Mr Yakubu said the
Nasarawa election would be used to test run the two governorship elections.
“We are on course
for the Saturday elections, every material that ought to be delivered has been
delivered, including the sensitive materials
“We have had a good
interaction with the political parties and security agencies, my overall
assessment is that we are good to go.
“This coming
election is very important for us because this is the first election in Nigeria
to be conducted in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.
“And we deliberately
decided to start with Nasarawa Central bye-elections so we can learn the vital
lesson that we need ahead of Edo and Ondo governorship elections, as well as 15
outstanding bye-elections and two-state governorship elections.
“So with everything
I am satisfied and sure, we look forward to the elections on Saturday.”
The INEC chairman
also called on political parties and voters to adhere to the COVID-19
presidential task force protocols, as well as coming along with their own face
masks on election day.
“No face masks, no
voting, but there is a need for clarification on this. The commission is not
insisting on a surgical face mask. But any face covering would do on Election
Day.
“Face mask and face
covering that are branded with a political party logo would not be allowed
because it would look like campaigning.”
INEC had released
election guidelines for COVID-19, part of which is the compulsory use of face
masks at polling units.
Mr Yakubu also
warned that “Anybody who thinks that he can influence people’s choice through
violence is wasting his time.
“We would apply the
provisions of the law on whoever disrupts the electoral activities.”
Edo/Ondo Elections
“We are carefully
monitoring what is happening in Edo and Ondo elections, the commission is
meeting tomorrow,(Thursday),
“But given the
urgency particularly the situation in Edo State, we would have to call a
meeting immediately. But whatever we need to do to curtail the ugly reports of
violence we would speak to the actors.”
There were reported
violence, shootings, and disruption of public peace that trailed the flag-off
of the incumbent Governor Godwin Obaseki’s electioneering campaigns, on Sunday,
ahead of the September 19 governorship elections.
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