By Demola Atobaba
Electorates in Ekiti State would again be going to the poll on June 18, to elect a successor to Governor Kayode Fayemi, and according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), an unprecedented 16 candidates are vying for the governorship position.
The candidates, who emerged from the primaries organised by the various political parties involved in the contest, are already traversing the nooks and crannies of the state, marketing their respective manifestoes to the electorates and, at the same time, soliciting for votes.
The concern, home and abroad, however, is whether INEC and security agencies will be able to improve on the 2018 record with pockets of violence and killings in different parts of the country, signposting the danger ahead.
Ekiti people will not forget in an hurry the ugly incident of shooting on June 3rd 2018, which occured at the All Progressives Congress (APC) Secretariat on Ajilosun area of Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, which initially perceived as an attack on members of the opposition party in the state, but it later turned out to be a mishandling of firearms by a policeman. The rest are history.
Also, the killing of a member of the APC, Willy Ayegoro, at Atikankan area of the state capital by unidentified gunmen on Wednesday, June 13 of same year, speaks volume of a worrisome trend that must be nipped in the bud by the security agencies in order to forstall any future occurrence.
All mayhelm caused in the past by hoodlums before, during and after the election should not just be only condemned in strong terms by all well-meaning Nigerians, but we must insist that Ekiti State should not be allowed to return to dark era of political killings.
Many people have expressed deep concern about these development and urged that urgent measures be introduced to safeguard the electoral process. For a long spell, up till now, it was almost impossible for some political gladiators especially lawmakers in the country to visit their home-state due to threat of violence and breakdown of law and other.
Beyond extracting commitments from political stakeholders and the signing of peace accord by the leadership of various political parties, the police must restrategise to guarantee violence-free, fair and acceptable elections.
Violence towards electorates, journalists covering elections, officials of the INEC, and observers; the use of armed thugs to intimidate voters; disruption of collation of votes as well as killings and arson by aggrieved politicians and their supporters must be averted.
We must all be ready to take the bull by the horn, that everything needed to be done by the relevant security agencies to ensure a hitch-free poll, must be encouraged by all concerned as the June 18 polls in Ekiti State, as well as the July 16 governorship election in Osun State, are signposts to the 2023 general elections which is less than few months from now.
It is against this backdrop that INEC should realise that besides the security agencies, it has a critical role to play to ensure violence-free elections and that it has no option than to get both forthcoming polls right in order to gain the confidence of Nigerians ahead of the general elections.
The police and other security agencies involved in the electoral process must also be fair and non-partisan.
To achieve this, the electoral body must go beyond cautioning the various political actors against hate speech in their campaigns, but by ensuring strict compliance to the provisions of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) as the nation cannot afford to seize the opportunity of the coming polls to consolidate on the appreciable gains it has so far recorded in its electoral process.
They must endeavor to make the election more transparent and ensure that its officials manage the process in a manner that engender electoral integrity and discourages violence.
This election is a significant development to Ekitiland and also to strengthen our nascient democracy. It must be a vote, not violence.
Ekiti o ni baje o!
. Atobaba, a journalist and public affairs analyst, writes from Okemesi-Ekiti