INEC Chairman and IG of Police say voters who are interested in witnessing the collation of votes at polling centres during the general elections are free to do so as long as you do it peacefully. Anyone caught behaving unruly at any polling centre will be arrested and prosecuted. And please go with your camera phones!
Voters interested in witnessing the collation of votes at polling centres during the April general elections are free to do so.
But such freedom is with a proviso: their conduct must be peaceful.
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega and the Inspector-General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, announced this after briefing the National Council of States on the preparations for the elections in Abuja on Tuesday.
INEC and the Police warned that anyone caught behaving unruly at any polling unit would be arrested and prosecuted.
Jega, who was the first to speak with the journalists, said that the impression that voters could stay behind and defend their votes was based on a misunderstanding of INEC’s guidelines on elections.
He made it clear that INEC would prefer a situation where voters went to their homes immediately after casting their votes.
But he said that voters who wished to stay behind and monitor the collation process were free to do so.
He, however, warned that security agencies had been directed to deal with anyone found to be formenting trouble at polling centres.
The INEC chairman said, “There are concerns over crowd control. These concerns are such that anywhere where about 200 or more people are gathered, there is the possibility of a breach of the peace. When it concerns elections, there is the likelihood that it might get out of hand and lead to violence.
“These were the concerns the members of the council of state raised , and I think at this point, I need to make a clarification about the participation of voters and monitoring of election results.
“What we issued as guidelines is that every voter will come, will be accredited and will be allowed to vote. When he or she finishes voting and chooses to wait and observe the collation, then it must be done peacefully.
“I want to state categorically that we in INEC are not urging people to stay and defend their votes the way people are suggesting it. If anybody chooses to stay, he or she must make sure it is done in non-violent manner. The rules must be obeyed. Anybody who cannot do that should not stay.”
Ringim, who also briefed journalists on the matter, said, “People would be allowed to stay as long as they conduct themselves peacefully and not otherwise.
“Anybody that is found to be in a position to threaten the conduct of the election shall be arrested and prosecuted.”
The IG had last Friday said that voters would be allowed to witness vote counting at “a reasonable distance from polling centres.”
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