The Independent National Electoral Commission has advised political parties and campaigners against the use of maskers, public installations and religious centres for juggernauts.
The commission asked political parties to align rigorously with the vittles of the Electoral Act to avoid warrants as quested by the Act. INEC had fixed September 28 for the inception of juggernauts for the presidential and National Assembly, while the choices would hold on February 25, 2023.
Also read: 2023: North-West, South-West Leads as INEC registers 12m Nigerians
Counting on Section 92 of the Electoral Act, 2022, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Committee on Information and Voter Education, Mr Festus Okoye, in a recent interview with explained that the law anticipated political juggernauts to be civil and devoid of abuse.
In former electioneering, some political parties and their campaigners were used to engage in all kinds of theatrics, including the use of maskers, to entertain the crowd and add colour to their rallies. Some also covertly campaigned in public services and deification centres, especially churches and kirks
, to invite civil retainers and worshippers, independently.
But quoting from the vittles of the section, Okoye said, “ Section 92 of the Electoral Act makes it obligatory that a political crusade or watchword shall not be tainted with vituperative language directly or laterally likely to injure religious, ethnical, ethnical or sectional passions.
“ thus, vituperative, intemperate, libelous or base language or imputations or imputations designed or probably to provoke violent response or feelings shall not be employed or used in political juggernauts.
“ Subsection 3 states that places designated for religious deification, police stations and public services shall not be used for political juggernauts, rallies and processions; or to promote, propagate or attack political parties, campaigners or their programmes or testaments.
“ Maskers shall not be employed or used by any political party, applicant or seeker during political juggernauts or for any other political purpose. ”
As witnessed in some former choices where parties hired goons to repel detractors, Okoye in reference to subsection( 5) of Section 92, advised parties and campaigners against training or enlisting the help or services of individualities or groups for the purpose of displaying physical force or compulsion in a manner that could arouse reasonable apprehension during the juggernauts.
