2019: INEC guarantees Benue IDPs of voting

The Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) has it has inclusive measures in place to ensure that all Internally Displaced Persons(IDPs) participate in the 2019 general elections in Benue state.

The INEC National Commissioner in charge of Anambra, Enugu and Benue, Barr. Festus Okoye stated this during a meeting with Civil Society Groups, NGOs and other stakeholders in Makurdi.

Barr. Okoye who was in Benue on a supervisory visit to the IDP camps lamented the pathetic situation of the victims.

He expressed shock at the deplorable condition of the IDPs which he described as tragic, saying their plight was even under reported.

“As a people and a nation, we must insist that our people should not be displaced under any circumstance. The conditions in the IDP camps have been under reported because what I saw there is a tragedy.

“The IDPs are also Nigerians. They have the right to make their choice of who to represent them and their votes must count come 2019. So INEC has put every measure in place to ensure that none of them is disenfranchised,” Okoye said.

He disclosed that INEC will be very creative and innovative in conducting the 2019 elections saying the commission has enhanced the smart card reader to perform better and faster for e-voting and e-collation of results.

Barr. Okoye also said the commission will track all vehicles transporting sensitive election materials to various destinations to check diversion. “We want to ensure that at the end of the day, only the vote of Nigerians will count”, he added.

While frowning at the poor collection of PVCs in the country, Barr. Okoye informed that a total of 14, 513, 82 new people were registered at the end of the extension of voters registration. “So, we want to ensure that all these people partake in the election process”.

He called on Benue people to go out and collect their PVCs to enable them choose their leaders come 2019.

Okoye also decried the level of multiple court orders after the primaries in some states of the federation, which directed INEC to take different decisions describing the numerous court orders as an abuse of court process. He called on the judiciary to put an end to the trend saying INEC will not honour any list of candidates that was not signed by the national secretariat of a political party.

Meanwhile, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Benue, Dr. Nentewe Yilwatda said the commission has procured five more telephone lines to enable voters, electoral officers with issues to call or send text messages to the REC at no cost.

“We want to be able to respond to cases of insecurity, rigging, staff misbehaviour as prompt as they arise.

Yilwatda who also said the commission will ensure all PVC’s are distributed however disclosed that INEC will soon begin massive campaign to communities to give them voter education.