Yiaga Africa, a Civil Society Organisation, has highlighted three essential assessments for the upcoming Edo State election: an impartiality evaluation for security agencies, a resilience assessment for citizens, and an integrity check for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Dr. Aisha Abdullahi, chair of the 2024 Edo Election Mission for Yiaga Africa, emphasized these points at a pre-election press conference in Benin City. She noted that the main political parties—All Progressives Congress (APC), Labour Party (LP), and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)—dominated the campaign landscape, which unfortunately devolved into personal attacks, character assassinations, hate speech, and blame-shifting among the candidates.
Abdullahi pointed out that the high rate of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) collection suggests a strong willingness among voters to participate, but potential violence, economic challenges, and a profound distrust in the electoral process might discourage them. She referenced past elections, noting a drop in voter turnout from 32 percent in 2016 to 27 percent in 2020.
She expressed concern over the prevalent disillusionment with political elites and ongoing governance failures, which could further dissuade voter engagement. The campaign period has been marred by intimidation and violence, exacerbated by the activities of cults and political thugs amid a rise in small arms.
Abdullahi warned that these armed groups could disrupt INEC’s election materials deployment, potentially skewing election results. She identified eight local governments—Ikpoba Okha, Oredo, Egor, Ovia South West, Ovia North East, Esan South East, Etsako West, and Etsako East—as violence hotspots that require careful and impartial security measures.
As INEC begins to deploy sensitive materials, she stressed the importance of effective coordination with transport companies to ensure timely delivery to polling units and avoid the late starts seen in previous elections. She urged transport unions not to take advantage of rising fuel prices to neglect their contracts with INEC.
Abdullahi called on voters to show resilience by participating in the elections and to resist any attempts at vote-buying, intimidation, or manipulation before, during, and after the election.