Yiaga Africa has on its Pre Election Observation (PREO) ahead of the 2024 governorship election in Edo State, has charged security agencies working on the elections to “ensure that all deployed personnel are adequately trained and operate with a sense of responsibility, professionalism, and neutrality.”
Yiaga Africa’s Director of Programmes, Cynthia Mbamalu at a press conference flanked by other stakeholders, made the charge on the occasion of its watching the vote programme held on Friday afternoon in Benin City.
Yiaga urged security agencies to “ensure transparency and timeliness in the payment of, and provision of welfare packages for security personnel deployed before the election.”
Going further, it urged the security agencies to “ensure the arrest and prosecution of all involved in any form of violence and voter inducement in the days leading to the election.”
The organisation also urged political parties “to engage in issue based campaigns and shun luring voters with unsustainable gifts that would not lead to the economic development of the state. “Political parties should adhere to their commitment to the peace accord and promote peaceful participation of their supporters in the election.”
The organisation urged all the registered voters in the state “who still need to collect their Permanent Voters Card. (PVCs) to do so,” also calling on “citizens to shun all forms of voter inducement, as they undermine the democratic process.”
On INEC, Yiaga charged the Commission to “improve communication on its processes and procedures before the elections to avoid misinformation, especially regarding deploying technologies and applying the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in the election.”