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President, Nigerian Union of Journalists
The Executive Director, International Press Centre
Media Executives and Heads of Various Media Organisations
Editors and Senior Journalists
National Commissioners of INEC
Other Senior Officials of the Commission
Chairman and Members of the INEC Press Corps
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is my pleasure to welcome you all to our fourth and last quarterly consultative meeting for this year. Media Organisations have always responded to our invitations for consultative meetings, sometimes at short notice. Beyond these regular meetings, we have similarly interacted with media, the most recent being a two-day workshop for Broadcast Media Anchors on INEC’s Responsibilities and Public Expectations Amid Fake News and Disinformation, held in Lagos only last week. We will continue to sustain this partnership and to welcome your comments and suggestions.
At our last meeting, the Commission briefed you on the preparations for the Edo State Governorship election. Today’s meeting comes on the eve of the Ondo State Governorship election scheduled for Saturday 16th November 2024 which is exactly two weeks away. As part of our preparations for the election, the collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs), mainly from the recent voter registration, ended three days ago. I am pleased to announce that a total of 64,273 PVCs were collected by voters out of the 89,777 cards delivered to the State. This represents an impressive collection rate of 71.6%. I would like to appreciate the media for your support in voter mobilisation for the exercise. In the next few days, the Commission will upload to our website the cumulative figure of all PVCs collected in each of the 3,933 Polling Units across the State for the purpose of result management as provided by law and for public information.
As I informed civil society organisations at our meeting yesterday, we have learnt lessons from previous elections. We have improved on the voter accreditation process and the upload of results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal. There have been similar improvements in observer and media accreditation. Our voter education efforts are ongoing. The capacity of election duty staff has improved with hands-on training for especially Polling Unit officials. As we approach the Ondo State governorship election, there will be further improvements, especially in the areas of logistics for the movement of personnel and materials for both land and riverine locations to enable the prompt commencement of polls as well as the management of the processes on Election Day from voting to declaration of result. Already, Mock accreditation of voters and result upload to the IReV has been scheduled for Wednesday 6th November 2024 in 12 Polling Units across six Local Government Areas in the three Senatorial Districts of the State. A document containing the locations of the centres has been uploaded to our website. Hardcopies are included in your folders for this meeting.
As early as next week, the Commission will undertake a final readiness assessment of our preparations for the Ondo election, meet with our officials, engage with stakeholders and interact with the security agencies and transport providers. On this note, I am also glad to inform you that the National Peace Committee under the leadership of our respected former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar GFCR, is holding the signing of the Peace Accord for parties and candidates in Ondo State on Friday 8th November 2024.
As the Ondo State Governorship election approaches, I appeal to the media to intensify your accurate reportage that will ensure peaceful elections, especially now that campaign by political parties and candidates is in full swing in the State. I also appeal to you to continue to serve as a counterforce against fake news, misinformation and disinformation. I am glad to note that there has been no major incident of election-related violence known to the Commission in Ondo State so far. However, we are aware of flash points in some Local Government Area to which we have already drawn the attention of the security agencies.
As you are aware, the portal for media accreditation for the Ondo State Governorship election shut down at midnight yesterday. The Commission is glad to announce the accreditation of 112 national and international media organisations (newspaper, radio, television and online) deploying over 700 journalists, technicians and other personnel to facilitate their coverage of the election. The detailed breakdown of the media organisations and the number of personnel to be deployed will be uploaded to our website and social media platforms for public information.
Even as we prepare for the Ondo State Governorship election, the Commission is not unmindful of its other electoral obligations. As you are aware, the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the Anambra State Governorship election was released recently. As required by law, the Commission is under obligation to publish the timetable not later than 360 days before the date fixed for the election. The idea is to provide ample time to those involved in elections as political parties, candidates, observers, the media and security agencies to prepare. A copy of the Timetable is already available on our website. Again, hardcopies have been included in your folders for this meeting.
On behalf of the Commission, I one again welcome you all to this meeting.
I thank you and God bless.
