The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has asked security agencies to arrest politicians who have already commenced campaigns for the 2015 elections, describing their activities as violating the Electoral Act, “threatening to democracy and capable of posing a threat to public order.”
“This trend is unhealthy and portends ill for the political process. Indeed, it is a threat to Nigeria’s democracy,” the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, said in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.
According to him, INEC has observed that some politicians and registered political parties have begun unbridled campaign towards the forthcoming general election, thereby heating up the polity.
He said, “It is observed that campaign posters are being indiscriminately displayed, while electioneering broadcasts are being aired outside the statutory provision for campaigning towards elections into various elective offices.
“The commission hereby reminds all players of the provision of Section 99(1) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), which states as follows, ‘For the purpose of this Act, the period of campaigning in public by every political party shall commence 90 days before polling day and end 24 hours prior to that day’.”
Idowu advised them to observe decorum and to note that campaigning outside this provision is a violation of the law,” warning that the commission would not hesitate to apply appropriate sanctions against culprits, as provided by relevant sections of the law.
He called on security agents to apprehend violators, whose activities in this regard posed a threat to public order.
The INEC spokesman also enjoined all political parties to play strictly by the rules, as part of a collective effort to ensure the success of the 2015 elections.
Presidential campaign posters featuring Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, and his Rivers State counterpart, Rotimi Amaechi, recently surfaced in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, thus signaling an interesting to the 2015 elections.
Meanwhile, the two governors had at various times denied nursing such ambition.
A number of these posters have been sighted along major highways especially in satellite towns and on flyovers in parts of the FCT.