The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) has warned that the charged political atmosphere in Kogi State, is foreboding of violence in Saturday’s election.
It called on political actors and the security agencies to do more to stem the tide of political violence ravaging the two (Bayelsa and Kogi) states in the final build-up to the polls.
Speaking at a pre-election briefing at the “Election Analysis Centre” (EAC) in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, the CDD Director, Idayat Hassan, warned that the tension already generated in Kogi is capable of undermining voter confidence and turnout and the credibility of the entire process.
She said that the centre’s observation of the pre-election environment points to a very volatile political environment, characterised by fierce rhetoric, threats of violence and actual incidents of violence.
According to her: “A case in point is the recent attack on the state secretariat of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), whose governorship candidate, Natasha Akpoti is one of the only three women contesting for the governorship election.
“CDD further observes that such vicious political attacks in the state are capable of further discouraging marginalised groups, especially women from participating in the political process and particularly from contesting for political office.”
She called on the INEC to leave no stone unturned to deliver credible polls in the two states.
She called on electoral umpire to tie up all loose ends with respect to the deployment of ad-hoc staff to the field.
She said, “The welfare of ad-hoc staff, especially youth corps members, should be treated with utmost serious urgency.
“It is of the utmost necessity to ensure the safety and security of these patriotic men and women who would be making sacrifices and taking risks in a volatile environment, to ensure eligible voters exercise their franchise.”
She noted that the neutrality and the level of professionalism displayed by the police and other security agencies on the ground will go a long way to determine how effective they are, as experience in previous elections, including the 2019 general elections has shown that without effective oversight, the security agencies could forget their responsibilities and begin to act in connivance with partisan interests to subvert the electoral process.