The Centre for Democracy and Development has called on political parties, candidates, the media, and all citizens to shun divisive utterances over the off-cycle governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi.

CDD (Election Analysis Centre) chair Adele Jinadu stated this during a news conference in Abuja. He said all stakeholders must behave responsibly and not undermine the electoral process.

Also, Funke Baruwa, a member of CDD-EAC, said election officials, security agencies, political parties, the media and civil society organisations should apply lessons learnt from the general elections.

She said sufficient efforts to mitigate threats of violence, misinformation and inducements during the election should be pursued by all stakeholders.

Ms Baruwa added that the CDD election analysis centre developed evidence-based reports that would inform and interrogate key issues in Nigeria’s electoral process and has deployed observers and fact checkers numbering 150 across the three states.

“This is in addition to a team of trained information disorder analysts, data clerks, reviewers and seasoned election analysts. The outcomes of the elections will significantly impact the political fortunes of the parties involved and lay the foundation for subsequent off-cycle elections and the next general elections,” said the CDD official.

Ms Baruwa added, “As a result, we are mindful that the fallout from the 2023 general elections remains fresh in the memories of voters and politicians as they engage with the process. The fact that three different parties won the presidential vote in these states, Labour winning Imo, PDP winning Bayelsa and APC winning Kogi, it is by no means certain that these results will have a strong bearing on the outcome of these governorship polls.”

She, however, pointed out that the elections would be held amid economic hardship, noting that the current socio-economic and security situations in the states would play a major role in shaping the electoral process.

Ms Baruwa expressed concerns about the abuse of power of incumbency by governors instituting policies to suppress dissent and opposition party voices in their states.

“This trend is harmful to our democracy and associated spikes in cases of pre-election violence in these states raises concerns for voter turnout in affected areas. These issues point to a need to ensure that all actors in the electoral landscape are aware of the important roles they hold in ensuring a peaceful election,” she explained.

The CDD official urged security agencies to be professional and non-partisan in discharging their responsibilities.

“We are also optimistic that the deployment of election materials will be prompt while hoping technological glitches that were observed in the February elections will be addressed,” Ms Baruwa stated.

(NAN)