POLITICAL parties and their supporters have been urged to shun violence and instead, see election as a contest, not war.
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission – INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu gave the appeal on Tuesday during the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security.
Yakubu pleaded with politicians and their supporters to refrain from acts of violence that may mar the elections or compromise the security of our personnel, observers, the media and service providers.
“There will also be more candidates involved and more collation centres to protect. There are also local elections involving keen contests. It is therefore important for parties and candidates to speak to their agents and supporters to see the elections as a contest and not war,” he added.
Yakubu said that INEC state offices have provided the police with the details for the governorship and state assembly elections, including locations of polling units and collation centres.
Unlike the February 25 Presidential and National Polls that were held nationwide, the Governorship elections will only be held in 28 States.
Those exempted are eight states – Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Ondo and Osun – because polls are held off-cycle.
To ensure a hitch-free election, INEC in collaboration with security agencies will ensure that the exercise of the State elections will involve 1,021 constituencies.