Ekiti Gov. Election: INEC Flashes 469 Hotspots, As Insecurity Threatens Election

By Ayodele Oni

Anxiety and apprehension reigns in Ekiti State over next Saturday’s governorship election as threat of possible boycott heightens over insecurity.

These come as the National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Amupitan revealed that the Commission had conducted extensive security mapping and identified about 469, out of the total 2,445 polling units in the state as potential flashpoints.

Communities where bandits abducted their relations have threatened to boycott the poll, unless victims are released before the election.

One of the communities, Eda Oniyo was invaded in April during which a church was attacked and bandits abducted 16 Worshippers at a Christ Apostolic Church, (CAC) mainly women and children who are still being held, even after paying N10.5 million ransom.

Mr Ojo Ogunleye, whose over 80 years old mother is among the victims maintained that unless all the victims are released before then, election may not hold.

The INEC chairman explained that the findings had been shared with security agencies under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), leading to plans for enhanced deployment of security personnel in vulnerable areas.

Amupitan added that INEC had established communication channels, including a dedicated incident reporting platform, to ensure that security concerns arising from any polling unit could be escalated rapidly to relevant authorities.

Amupitan stated this on Friday in Ado-Ekiti during an interactive session with media executives, held eight days ahead of the governorship poll.

He also declared the readiness of the Commission for the poll, assuring voters, political parties and other stakeholders that all necessary arrangements have been concluded to ensure a peaceful, transparent and credible exercise.

The INEC Chairman, who had earlier led a high-powered delegation comprising National Commissioners, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), the Administrative Secretary, directors, technical aides and senior officials of the Commission on an inspection of the ongoing mock accreditation exercise across selected polling units in the state, said the exercise confirmed the Commission’s preparedness for the election.

According to him, the mock accreditation was designed as a quality assurance mechanism to test the Commission’s technological infrastructure and operational capacity under real field conditions before the election day.

Prof. Amupitan disclosed that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) performed efficiently during the exercise, with fingerprint and facial authentication taking an average of between five and seven seconds per voter.

He added that INEC had deployed additional backup BVAS devices and technical support personnel across all Registration Areas to ensure that any equipment malfunction is promptly addressed.

His words, “We have worked closely with the police, DSS, Civil Defence and other security agencies. Our priority is to ensure that voters, election officials, journalists and observers are safe throughout the electoral process.

“We did not want to speak from an air-conditioned boardroom in Abuja or rely solely on paperwork. We went to the theatre of operations to see for ourselves how our systems are performing.

“The mock accreditation is essentially to test our facilities, especially our technology, and ensure that everything required for the election is functioning optimally.

“What we observed today confirms that our technological defence against identity theft and result manipulation is robust and fully operational.

“We have provided upgraded backup BVAS devices and deployed technical engineers across the state. Any malfunctioning device can be replaced within minutes.

“Our goal remains the simultaneous opening of polls in all 2,445 polling units at exactly 8:30 a.m. on election day. We have directed electoral officers to ensure that polling units are activated on time and that logistics are fully in place before election day.

“The greatest threat we face is not technical failure but misinformation and disinformation. Fake news, manufactured election-day panic and unauthorized declaration of results are direct assaults on public peace and democratic stability.”