• How Covid-19 protocols stretch voting hours
By Armsfree Ajanaku
ALL eyes will be on Edo State tomorrow as voters head to the poll to elect a governor. The contest is a two-horse race between incumbent, Godwin Obaseki of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and challenger Osagie Ize-Iyamu of the All Progressives Congress (APC). A close scrutiny will however show that beyond the effort to convince voters, and canvass voters, the last-minute moves by the politicians suggest the election will be won and lost to factors beyond voting.
The first of such battle grounds in the view of observers is who wins supremacy battle in the arena of violent confrontation. Feelers on the ground are that the major actors are only using the highly publicised peace events for photo-ops, as they increasingly frame the election as one to be won by the political camp with the most capacity to mobilise the most number of armed thugs. Few hours to Election Day, close watchers of the process are observing with bated breath due to fears that the process will witness a free for all between thugs rooting for rival camps.
Naija Times gathered that there has been a constant influx of thugs from other states in the Niger Delta, as well as from Kogi, which shares boundary with Edo State. The thugs being mobilised from the Niger Delta have been alleged to owe their loyalty to one of the parties, which views a win in Edo part of its long-desire for a clean sweep of all the states in the South South geo-political zones. On the other hand, there are feelers on the ground that the thugs being mobilised from Kogi have been detailed to enforce a counter response to the threats posed by the other party. Close observers of developments in Edo, which votes in a matter of hours, have warned that these same antics, which undermined the credibility of recent polls in Kogi and Bayelsa states could undermine the process tomorrow.
Apart from the use of terror to intimidate voters and dampen their enthusiasm to participate in the electoral process, the political camps have been adopting other less violent tactics. Election observer groups told Naija Times that one of the strategies to confuse voters and create the impression that there is a fait accompli is the approach wherein politicians make unfounded claims and announcement about how their preferred candidate or party has already won the election.
Election analysts who spoke to Naija Times noted that while this may seem like normal mischief by politicians, what they are actually doing is to prepare the ground to unleash violence should their claims of electoral victory turn out to one not supported by the announcement eventually made by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). At a pre-election briefing yesterday, one of the leading observer groups alerted the public to what it described as the very dangerous trend in the final build-up to the election where politicians and their surrogates make baseless and outlandish claims to victory.
“Our observers report that there has been an upsurge in claims and counter claims of victories by major rival party camps. While some politicians have sponsored online polls to give the impression to their supporters that they are coasting home to victory already, others have been busy claiming the election is already won,” the group warned.
Such claims, warned the group, that were meant to delegitimise the outcome of the election in case of a loss and create the impression that the politician on the losing end was cheated of victory. “If these claims are not countered to disabuse the minds of the electorate, especially at the grassroots, it could become the basis to incite supporters to engage in conduct inimical to public peace. The hotspots of possible violence identified by the observers include: Etsako West, Etsako East, Etsako Central, Owan West and Akoko-Edo in Edo North Senatorial district. In Edo South, Oredo, Orhionmwon, Egor, Ovia North East, and Ikpoba-Okha LGAs have shown such early warning signs. In Edo Central Senatorial district, it is Esan Central, Esan North East and Esan West.”
Another battle ground in the election is social media, where a serious supremacy contest is going on. Naija Times gathered that just like the use of thugs in real life, many young people have been recruited into the online squads of the various political camps. It was reliably gathered that these vociferous online mobs in cyberspace are ready to go to any length to promote the candidacy of their principals. The result of such unquestioning loyalty is the spread of fake news and misinformation on Election Day. The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), one of the groups, which has been accredited to observe the election revealed that fake news, disinformation and misinformation would play a prominent role in undermining the election, if not checked.
The group said: “Both the APC and PDP in Edo State have dedicated media teams with clearly defined structures designed to maximise their online presence. While the PDP is using targeted and sponsored messages on both Instagram and Twitter, the APC is supporting a structured team of up to 300 canvassers spread across Facebook, Twitter, Nairaland and WhatsApp groups. In addition to attempts at discrediting their political opponents, disinformation narratives have also turned against the electoral management body – INEC.
“Fake news peddlers have been targeting INEC with a view to delegitimise what it does, and create suspicion in the mind of the public. The two major parties have engaged in disinformation campaigns with allegations of bias against INEC. The disinformation campaign is having an effect on the ground. CDD observers report that one of the possible effects of fake news and disinformation is that it could dampen voter enthusiasm and participation in the process.” The think alerted the public that in tomorrow’s election, the misinformation and fake news will take the form of circulation of old videos online to endorse or discredit particular candidates. It said: “Considering the role old videos and pictures played in the pre-election environment, we expect the same to take centre stage on election day alongside the circulation of false results. We call on Edo citizens to beware of fake news.”
NONETHELESS, as voters troop out to cast their ballots tomorrow, they have been charged to strictly follow the INEC guidelines for conducting elections during the pandemic. This includes adhering to rules on physical distancing and wearing of face masks during the polls to avoid an explosion of cases post elections. Naija Times checks showed that as at September 15, Edo State had 2,610 confirmed cases of Covid-19. This constitutes 4.6% of the total number of cases in Nigeria. Of the 2,610 cases, 2,420 have been discharged while there are 90 active cases and 100 deaths respectively. Consequently, with the Covid -19 looming large in the context of the election, stakeholders have also called for extension of the voting hours. The rationale for this is that the extra health precautions and social distancing policy to be observed before voting would likely take time and drag the process beyond the envisaged time.
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