‘Our allegiance is to Nigeria’ — INEC chairman asks politicians to shun divisive campaign

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has asked political parties and politicians to shun campaigns of “divisiveness, rancour and violence.”

This was contained in a statement titled 100 days to the 2023 general election released on Wednesday by Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of the commission.

The INEC chairman also said the commission will not renege on the deployment of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).

Mahmood also said INEC will start to release bi-weekly media briefings followed by weekly briefings and daily briefings as election approaches.

“As I have said repeatedly, the commission’s allegiance is to Nigeria. Our loyalty is to Nigerians who want free, fair, credible and verifiable elections supported by technology, which guarantees transparent accreditation and upload of polling unit results for citizens to view in real-time on election day,” the INEC chairman said.

“It is for these reasons that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) were introduced. There is no going back on the deployment of BVAS and IReV for the 2023 general election.

“Similarly, we will continue with our regular engagement with political parties, civil society organisations, the media and other critical stakeholders. Above all, Nigerians deserve the right to know about the progress we are making and the challenges (if any) we confront in our preparations for the general election. 

“I seize this opportunity to call on all citizens to participate fully in all electoral activities, particularly the ongoing display of the register of voters for claims and objections, as well as collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs). I also call on political parties and political leaders to conduct their campaigns peacefully, eschewing divisiveness, rancour and violence.

“As Nigerians are aware, elections are a multi-stakeholder activity. We will continue to play our part diligently and conscientiously. We appeal to all stakeholders and, above all, citizens to play their own part so that working together, we can have the elections that Nigerians yearn for, and which the world expects from us.”