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Tag: Elections

  • 29,635 lawyers to vote as NBA begins 2020 elections

    29,635 lawyers to vote as NBA begins 2020 elections

    The 2020 elections into national offices of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) have opened online with a total of 29, 635 lawyers accredited to cast their votes.

    The Electoral Committee of the NBA (ECNBA) had at 6.30 p.m. on Wednesday (July 29), circulated the final list of accredited voters while elections began at 11.00 p.m. on the same day.

    The elections will end on Thursday (July 30).

    he ECNBA had told NBA members that their unique identifiers to be able to cast vote would be their Supreme Court enrollment numbers.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that at about 10.45p.m. on Wednesday, the ECNBA began distribution of personalised SMS and e-mails to accredited lawyers containing the voting link.

    The link is personal to every lawyer, who is expected to input his Supreme Court enrollment number and click on ‘authenticate’ to proceed to the voting arena.

    The ECNBA further directed that at the voting arena, every lawyer should click on his or her candidates of choice, adding that once done with the selection, the lawyer should review and crosscheck before submission.

    Among candidates for the various offices are three presidential candidates: Messrs Babatunde Ajibade (SAN), Dele Adesina (SAN) and Olumide Akpata.

    There are six candidates for the Office of First Vice President of the NBA, two candidates for NBA’s second vice president position and four candidates for the position of NBA general secretary.

    Others are three candidates for the post of the assistant secretary, a candidate for the post of the treasurer, a candidate for the position of the financial secretary, and two candidates for the post of the publicity secretary.

    Four candidates are contesting for the Office of the NBA Assistant Publicity Secretary, and two candidates for the post of the welfare secretary.

    In a statement made available to newsmen, the ECNBA said it received complaints of some NBA members being placed in branches other than theirs.

    It said that the situation was regretted. He said it happened because some members, during verification, did not fully update information on their current branches and gender, and were consequently assigned the default positions.

    The committee, however, advised accredited NBA members to proceed to vote and disregard any branches and gender assigned to them, as they would not have any bearing on eligibility, convenience, or result of the elections.

    ElectionBuddy, which is a US-based website hosted by GODADDY, is the service (Website) provider conducting the NBA 2020 Elections.

  • WASSCE: If You Can Hold Elections, Students Can Take Exams – OpenFees Tells FG

    WASSCE: If You Can Hold Elections, Students Can Take Exams – OpenFees Tells FG

    OpenFees, an Abuja-based non-governmental organisation that caters for the basic education of indigent students has said if politicians can hold elections following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, it should also be possible for final year students to take their exams.

     

    The group asked the Federal Government and other stakeholders to “stop the politics and take a stand” on the 2020 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for the sake of students whose future is at stake.

     

    In a statement on Sunday, OpenFees said, “Science, technology and rigorous enforcement of hygiene and social distancing rules are already making it possible for schools elsewhere to reopen gradually and there is no reason why we can’t use that here.”

     

     

    In addition, the statement said, “We are particularly concerned that JSS 3 and SS 3 students in public schools most of who have not had significant learning, because of poor access to online resources would have to wait for another year before taking their final exams.

     

    “If government can invest half the time and resources itwants to use to conduct elections, in spite of COVID-19, to provide safe environment for students, it should be possible for these final year students to take their exams without too much difficulty.”

     

    The statement said even though the Ministry of Education issued a statement on Thursday that Nigeria would consult with the four other West African countries in WAEC and possibly hold the examination in September, “there remains a heavy cloud of uncertainty and doubt over the government’s commitment.”

     

    “We note for example,” the statement continued, “that governors of the 19 northern states in Nigeria have yet to officially change their position that WAEC will not hold this year, while governors of the six South-west states have said they will go ahead and all of this is happening at a time when Federal Ministry of Education is supposed to have issued a COVID-19 compliance testing notice to schools.”

     

    The statement said the overriding interest should be the safety and wellbeing of students and that while delay is inevitable, it is possible to learn from and use the experiences of countries where schools are already reopening.

  • PDP Govs urges INEC, security agencies to deliver credible election in Edo

    Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have charged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that the September 19 governorship election in Edo state is free, fair and credible.

    The governors under the aegis of the PDP Governors Forum, also called on the security agencies and other stake holders to maintain neutrality and safeguard the sanctity of the ballot.

    In a statement on Friday by its Director General, Cyril Maduabum, the PDP Governors Forum also urged Nigerians and civil society organisations to be vigilant by ensuring that all votes are counted and are made to count.

    The governors commended what they described as the leadership skills of Governor Godwin Obaseki, saying that his emergence as the PDP flag bearer in the election was a testament to his leadership qualities.

    The Forum enjoined the governor to continue to deploy his management skill to unite the Edo chapter of the PDP and to face the task of enthroning good governance and accountability for the good of the people.

    The governors further advised him to be magnanimous enough to embrace the three other aspirants that stepped down for him during the primary election and to see them as partners in progress.

    The Forum also thanked the leadership of the PDP for being able to amicably resolve the conflict that ensued among the aspirants in the struggle for the party’s ticket.

    The statement further said, “The PDP Governors’ Forum under the leadership of His Excellency, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, congratulates Governor Godwin Obaseki on his emergence as the flag bearer of the PDP in the Edo State governorship election, scheduled for September 2020.

    “His victory in the primaries is an affirmation of the confidence the people of Edo State has in his
    ability to steer the ship of the state positively for another four years and on the record of his sterling
    performance in office in his current term.

    “This victory should be a humbling one as it has been achieved in the backdrop of a grave injustice done to him by his former political party, the APC, and a demonstration of the role of God in the affairs of men. It is indeed a call to continue faithfully serving the good people of Edo State.

    “This victory is even more remarkable as His Excellency joined the PDP just a few weeks ago, and it is a testament to his leadership skills that he successfully got all other aspirants who started the race before him in PDP to step down for him and join him in salvaging the state without rancour or bitterness.

    “We hope that he will continue to deploy this management skill in uniting the PDP and Edo people in the great task of enthroning good governance and accountability in Edo State.

    “He should ensure that there are truly no victors or vanquished in this struggle for the soul of Edo state.
    This sets the stage for a resounding victory for PDP in September.

    “Indeed, the PDP has demonstrated with this outing in Edo State, that it has learnt the lessons of the past and is poised to elevate the PDP platform as one that can offer stable and focused leadership for Nigeria.

    “The huge task of winning the Edo State election has just begun, and we counsel our flag bearer to run an issue based campaign, anchored on his highly acclaimed record of superlative performance in office so far”.

  • Edo Election: INEC unveils primary election dates for 15 political parties

    Edo Election: INEC unveils primary election dates for 15 political parties

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released dates for primaries of 15 registered political parties for the Edo Governorship election.

     

    Mr Festus Okoye, the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, in a statement after a virtual meeting on Tuesday in Abuja, declared that party primaries for the Edo Governorship election will hold between June 2 and June 27.

     

    “The All Progressives Congress (APC) direct primary will take place on June 22, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would hold indirect primary between June 19 and June 20,” Okoye said.

     

    He added that other parties: the African Action Congress (AAC), African Democratic Party (ADP), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) will conduct their indirect primaries on June 25.

     

    While the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Labour Party (LP) and Young Progressives Party (YPP) has informed the commission that their indirect primaries will hold on June 27.

     

    Other parties to conduct indirect primaries were Action Peoples Party (APP) on June 26, National Rescue Movement (NRM) June 20 and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) June 14.

     

    Okoye further urged the various political parties to conduct their primaries in full compliance with the provisions of the laws and guidelines.

     

    These, according to him, include the 1999 Constitution and Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Political Party Primaries (2018) and the INEC Policy for Conducting Elections in the context of COVID-19 Pandemic.

     

    Okoye urged the political parties sponsoring candidates and participating in the Edo and Ondo Governorship elections to avoid violence, adding that the commission will not condone acts of electoral impunity.

     

     

     

     

  • ‘In Akwa Ibom, they don’t do election, they write results,’ says INEC REC, Igini

    ‘In Akwa Ibom, they don’t do election, they write results,’ says INEC REC, Igini

    Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) in Akwa Ibom State, Mr Mike Igini has indicted his predecessors in the south-southern state, saying elections do not hold in the entirety of the state.

    He stressed that he has evidence to support his claims, especially as it relates to the 2015 and 2019 general elections.

    “In that same 2015 in Akwa Ibom, they ‘allocated’ five percent (of votes) to the current President,” the REC alleged during his appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday.

    He was, however, asked to be mindful of his choice of words and he insisted, “Yes, allocated! Because in Akwa Ibom they don’t do election, they write results.”

    Igini added, “I have the records, you go there; because when I arrived in Akwa Ibom State, leaders – traditional rulers, religious leaders; all groups came to me but that is not new to me, I was the commissioner in neighbouring Cross River State.”

    He said the days of not conducting elections were gone and promised that the electoral system in Akwa Ibom State would witness a major turnaround.

    The INEC official revealed that he had informed stakeholders in the state after he assumed office that it would no longer be business as usual.

    He also reacted to the allegation of bias preferred against him by some political groups, saying they were only making attempts to secure undue advantages.

    Igini noted that the political actors and the leaders in the state ignored his warning but treated him like the Proverbial Noah in the bible.

    He said, “Noah told the children of God that there will be a great flood, but they didn’t take that seriously.

    “I told them that under my watch in Akwa Ibom State, it is the will of the people that will govern.”

  • Police parade suspected killers of PDP woman leader in Kogi

    The Kogi state police command has announced the arrest of six persons in connection with the killing of Salome Abuh, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) woman leader in the state.

    She was burnt alive in her house during the collation of the November 16 governorship election result.

    While parading the suspects in Lokoja, the state capital, on Tuesday, Akeem Busari, commissioner of police, said his men in collaboration with local vigilantes arrested them on November 22.

    He identified the six suspects as Ocholi Edicha, Adamu Haruna, Onu Egbunu, Musa Alidu, Attai Haruna and Attah Ejeh.

    Busari said Edicha confessed he led the gang to Abuh’s house and also revealed that they had been masterminding a series of robberies in the state.

    The commissioner of police said all those involved in the act will not go unpunished as investigation was ongoing.

    The suspects, however, denied killing Abuh but admitted being thieves operating in the area.

    Abuh was buried during the weekend. At her funeral, Abuh’s widower said she paid the ultimate sacrifice for unity.

  • It’ll be difficult for PDP to participate in future elections – Secondus

    It’ll be difficult for PDP to participate in future elections – Secondus

    The National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, has said that it would be difficult for the party to participate in future elections in the country without electoral reforms.

    The party chairman said it has not been easy for the PDP operating under a ruling party whose understanding of democracy is “impunity, intimidation and coercion”.

    Secondus spoke while receiving a team of Election, Party Monitoring Department of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at the PDP Abuja secretariat on Monday.

    According to him, the 2019 elections demonstrated the height of electoral impunity that set the nation’s electoral development progressively backwards.

    The party chairman said the elections eroded the credibility of the electoral process and the integrity of the electoral umpire, adding that the military hijacked the process in different parts of the country.

    Secondus said: “We stand vindicated in the eyes of many electoral watchers as all our fears and apprehensions ahead of the elections came to fruition in the general election of February and March this year.

    “The preceding governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states earlier and the latest being the November 16, 2019 gubernatorial election in Bayelsa and Kogi states.

    “Despite a standing lawful court ruling that military should be kept at a distance during elections as secondary security, we have all watched how they not only took over the primary security role from the police, but also in some instances, dictated and even connived with some INEC officials.

    “Nigerians have watched how the electoral body, unable to control the military, relinquished their responsibility to them and still curiously went ahead to authenticate such fraud”.

    The party chairman called on INEC to immediately initiate moves for the amendment of the Electoral Act, with the view to legalising electronic voting and removing the influence of the military as primary security during elections.

    Secondus regretted that unlike the PDP, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is not disposed to any electoral law that will prevent manipulation of the system.

    He accused the electoral body of conniving with the APC to compromise the electoral process in the 2019 presidential election and governorship elections in Ekiti, Osun, Kano, Kogi and Bayelsa states.

    The party chairman charged INEC to be at the forefront of the process to have legal frame work for the conduct of free, fair and credible elections.

    “Such legal framework should address the issue of security, electronic voting and collation of results and punishment for electoral offenders.

    “The survival and sustenance of our democracy rest squarely on the integrity of the electoral commission which will derive from the character and the impartiality of its operatives.

    “The effect of bad elections in our polity has been far reaching, stagnating the political and economic development and permanently hoisting on the people unpopular and incompetent leaders.

    “The tension and uncertainty in the country today is clearly fallout of election mishap in February. Free, fair and credible election is exactly what PDP and indeed global democracy demand and expect from INEC”, the party chairman said.

    Responding, the leader of the INEC team, Mr. Musa Husunu, a Deputy Director in the Election and Party Monitoring Department, said the team would take the PDP chairman’s message to the leadership of the electoral body.

  • Guber polls: Bayelsa, Kogi, most difficult states to conduct elections in Nigeria – INEC

    …warns political gladiators against inciting violence

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned the actions and utterances of political actors were likely to militate against peaceful conduct of the November 16 governorship election in Bayelsa.

    The National Chairman of INEC, Prof. Yakubu Mahmood, who spoke on Tuesday when he visited the office of the Bayelsa State Traditional Rulers Council in Yenagoa, said unguarded actions and utterances of politicians could lead to the breach of peace during electioneering, voting and collation of results.

    Mahmood, who was accompanied by senior officials of the commission and security agencies led by the Zone 5 Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Dibal Yakadi, also complained about the use of armed thugs to disrupt the voting and the collation processes.

    Describing Bayelsa and Kogi as the most difficult states to conduct major elections, Mahmood further said the commission was further bothered about the ugly trend of voting buying insisting that democracy should not be on sale in the open market.

    He said the commission was deploying 10,000 ad-hoc employees in different parts of Bayelsa for the exercise, adding that INEC would not allow anybody to attack them.

    Addressing the council led by the Amayanabo of Twon Brass, King Alfred Diette-Spiff, the INEC boss said: “We have a few areas of concern.

    “The first one is action and utterances likely to lead to the breach of the peace during electioneering campaign, during voting on the Election Day and during the collation of results.

    “In 2015, up to the eight local government areas in Bayelsa State, we conducted elections conclusively and made declaration of results only in one local government area, Kolokuma-Opokuma.

    “I have been asking all my friends in Bayelsa what makes Kolokuma-Opokuma thick?

    “Today, I have the opportunity finally to actually visit Kolokuma-Opokuma and I was in Kaiama and the staff assured us that just as it happened in 2015, it will happen again.

    “Next is the recurrent problem where some unscrupulous actors follow voters to polling units with money on Election Day to induce them. It is called vote buying.

    “Our democracy cannot be on sale in the open market. The citizens should be allowed to vote for whoever they choose in the Election Day.

    “We appeal to you to continue to speak to politicians and their supporters on peaceful conduct during the campaign process and beyond”.

    On why all eyes would be on Bayelsa and Kogi, Mahmood said: “First, this will be the first major election since the 2019 general elections in Nigeria.

    “What lessons have we learnt since the conduct of the general election that will help us to improve on the forthcoming governorship election?

    “Secondly, Bayelsa and Kogi are not easy states when it comes to conducting major elections particularly governorship election.

    “The challenge is particularly in terms of the terrain and therefore it has an impact on electoral logistics.

    “But another great challenge is the attitude of the political class which has become a source of concern to the commission”.

    The professor also said that the House of Assembly election would hold in Brass Constituency 2 in Brass Local Government Area on the same day scheduled for the governorship election.

    Mahmood said the commission was ready to conduct peaceful, free, fair, credible and conclusive election in Bayelsa and appealed to the traditional rulers to make suggestions and contributions that would change the narrative in Bayelsa.

    Ditte-Spiff commended INEC for seeking the advice of the traditional rulers in the state and appealed to the commission to prevail on security agencies to reduce military presence during the election.

    Addressing Mahmood, he said: “The military presence in the last election was too much.

    “They were brought here by one or two candidates. They also after the election eliminated one or two persons.

    “You will need to appeal to the army in particular to try to contain their men so that they would not go off the handle and scare people away from the polling units. One or two areas are not approachable.”

  • 2019: INEC laments high cost of elections operations, logistics in Nigeria

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has described the cost of operations and logistics in the country as enormous.
    INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Board of The Electoral Institute, Mr Solomon Shoyebi, said that the Commission would continues to review the cost of elections.
    A statement issued by INEC Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, quoted Shoyebi as making the assertion at a one-day round table held on Wednesday in Abuja.
    The theme of the roundtable according to the statement is: “Revisiting the Template for INEC’s Election Operations and Logistics Plan’’.
    It was organised by the Commission through its Training, Research and Documentation outfit, the Electoral Institute (TEI).
    Shoyebi said ‘’the cost of election operation and logistics is enormous and it’s an exercise the Commission continues to review from one election to another.”
    He added that the Commission would continue to partner stakeholders in the delivery of men and election materials to areas with difficult terrain.
    The stakeholders according to Shoyebi include the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Road Transport Employers’ Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Nigeria Air Force (NAF) and the Nigeria Navy (NN).
    ‘’The Commission will continue to engage the services of the NURTW, RTEAN, NARTO, Air Force and the Navy especially in delivering of personnel and materials to difficult terrains to ensure the conduct of free, fair, credible and acceptable elections’’.
    Shoyebi said that the Commission was not unaware of the challenges experienced during the 2019 elections, but it rose up to the occasion and responded to the challenges.
    “That was why we had successful outings in the 2019 general elections,’’ he added.
    It also quoted National Commissioner Amina Zakari as urging all stakeholders to own the process by dispensing positive and productive attitudes that could promote an enduring electoral environment.
    Zakari said that the trust deficit in the system was a critical issue to deal with.
    She said that trust deficit had overtime compelled INEC to spend highly in the acquisition and securing of high-quality election materials.
    This according to her was to prevent manipulations and counterfeits, adding that this was not the case in many countries.
    The Director-General of the TEI, Dr Sa’ad Idris, said that the Round Table was designed to examine ‘’factors that affected the smooth implementation of the operations and logistic plan of the Commission in the conduct of the 2019 elections”.
    The roundtable according to the statement was with a view to identifying challenges and proffering ideas for improved logistical architecture starting from Kogi and Bayelsa elections.
    It noted that the Round Table was attended by senior members of the academic community, Civil Society Organizations, development and elections experts, as well as Consultants who made inputs into the discussion.

  • 2019: Why we declared some state elections inconclusive – INEC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has blamed insecurity for majority of the elections declared inconclusive.
    INEC chairman, Prof. Mamood Yakubu, stated this during the Commission’s meeting with security agencies that participated in the general elections.
    INEC meeting with the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) is in continuation of the 2019 general election review meetings.
    Yakubu, who is the co-chair of ICCES, also called for immediate prosecution for all arrested for electoral offences in the 2019 general polls.
    He pointed out that he will continue to champion the call for creation of different body to deal with electoral offences.
    Details shortly…