Ondo Gubernatorial: Mahmood Yakubu Sends Stern Warning To INEC Staff

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu has warned staff of the electoral body that dereliction of duty will not be tolerated in the upcoming Ondo State Gubernatorials.

Yakubu gave the warning on Thursday at the stakeholders’ meeting on the Ondo State governorship election held at the International Culture Centre in Akure.

He urged political parties to continue to restrain their supporters from any disruptive behaviour.

The Chairman noted the INEC will further address the staff, including the Electoral Officers from the 18 Local Government Areas on Friday.

He said, “As you are aware, election is a multi-stakeholder activity. INEC has a role to play and we have done so always in consultation with stakeholders. However, our role has to be complemented by all stakeholders.

“We have produced accreditation tags for all your agents bearing their names, photographs and location of deployment.

“We have also added a QR code to the tags that can be read even from mobile phone applications.

“The practice of issuing party tags without name, photograph or location of posting to party agents must stop.

“That is how in some polling and collation locations, we have impersonators where two or more people claim to be agents of one Political Party, sometimes resulting in unnecessary disagreement among themselves or with agents of other parties leading to disruption of processes.

“I urge Political Parties to follow the example of other accredited observers and the media by using the tags issued by the Commission and displaying the same at all voting and collation locations.”

Yakubu also announced that candidates in the election are expected to sign the Peace Accord on Friday, 8th November 2024, at 10.00 am at this venue.

“I invite you to honour the Peace Committee by your presence here tomorrow and, most importantly, abide by the terms of the Accord for a peaceful election,” he added.