By Patrick Titus, Uyo
As the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has deepened voter education exercise in the state ahead of 2027 general elections, it has also declared the intention to conduct free, fair and acceptable polls in the state devoid of partisanship.
Reacting to alleged fear making the rounds in the state that the umpire would be bought over by government in power, Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Mr. Obo Effanga declared that he is not in the state to do any government bidding.
Effanga, who spoke during a meeting with the Akwa Ibom Human Rights Community (AKHRC) and the Association of Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA) over the weekend in Uyo, stressed that he would not bias against any political party that will participate in the elections.
“I can assure you that I took an oath of office based on the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. My Oath of Office is to Nigerians as a corporate entity, not any government.
”I am appointed to do what is right for the Nigerian people based on what the constitution, electoral act, and guidelines say. My work is to ensure that everybody is given a franchise in the election.
”I expect everyone who comes to the elections to conduct themselves in an absolute good conduct. A lot of the problems we have during elections occur when political parties manipulate even their internal elections. INEC doesn’t own an election; anyone involved at any stage should do the right thing,” the REC posited.
Examining critically at Nigeria’s electoral processes from the 1979 general elections to the 2023 polls, he said, one would agree that elections have significantly improved in the country with the deployment of technology.
”The technology we have in Nigeria is far ahead of what you can find in many other places. How many places in the world have technology like BVAS, IREVP?”
On the issue of e-voting he said, “First of all, how many countries in the world use electronic voting?. There is no democracy in the world that votes electronically.
“In the US, there are people who voted with paper ballots. So there’s a mixture of paper ballots and other methods. If somebody says it is electronic voting, it suggests that you can sit in the comfort of your home to vote.
Efanga announced that the Presidential and National Assembly elections will hold in the country on February 20, 2027 while Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections will take place on March 6 same year.
On his part, the Convener of AKHRC, Clifford Thomas Esq. commended the REC for enlightening the TBA group about the electoral processes.
He expressed hope that such information would help all the women making up the group to make well-informed decisions during election time.
Thomas stressed the need for continued voter education and citizen participation ahead of the next electoral cycle, noting that early engagement remains critical to building public trust in the process.
