By Sule Aliyu, Bauchi
The Bauchi State Independent Electoral Commission (BASIEC) has pledged to conduct a free and fair Local Government election come August 17, 2024.
Chairman of the Commission, Alhaji Ahmad Makama said this when he briefed journalists on the level of development for preparations of the Local Government Poll held at the Commission’s headquarters in Bauchi, where he said the electoral body is committed to the principles of transparency, accountability, and fairness in the election.
Makama explained that the Commission had concluded preparations, including voter registration and verification exercises, distribution of electoral materials, training of ad-hoc staff and security personnel, and establishment of electoral committees.
Assuming that the Commission under his leadership will conduct a free, fair and acceptable elections that will be worthy of emulation by all across the country considering the preparedness of the Commission.
He said that the Commission has met with security agencies and established an Electoral Security Committee which would oversee the smooth conduct of the elections.
Makama said that the Commission has been engaging all political stakeholders to ensure that nobody is left behind in the preparation and eventual conduct of the elections, and corrected what he described as erroneous, the impression that the Commission would not be fair to the political parties other than the PDP which is in power in the state.
“The Commission would remain an unbiased umpire throughout the process, we will be fair and just to all the participants.”
He said that the Commission would rely on the voters register from INEC but said that BVAS card readers will not be used because according to him, state governments are not buoyant enough to procure the machines but hope that with time it will be done and appealed to all the stakeholders to play the roles expected of them to ensure that the elections succeed just as he urged youths to eschew violence by not allowing themselves to be used to disrupt the electoral processes.
The Chairman appealed to eligible voters to exercise their franchise en masse, stressing the significance of their participation in shaping the future of local governance. He emphasized that every vote counts and encouraged citizens to make their voices heard.
He said the electoral body is in the process of recruiting not fewer than 16,000 ad-hoc staff for the conduct of the forthcoming local government elections.
Makama said immediately after the completion of the recruitment exercise, those recruited will be trained after which they will be deployed to all the polling units across the state.
The Chairman solicited the cooperation and support of journalists by reporting the process objectively, timely and adequately to give people the true picture of the process for better understanding of the commissions activities