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Tag: INEC Chairman

  • INEC set to conclude Adamawa, Kebbi Gov polls April 15

    INEC set to conclude Adamawa, Kebbi Gov polls April 15

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced Saturday, April 15 for conclusion of the Governorship elections in Adamawa and Kebbi States hitherto declared inconclusive.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that the Commission also said all National and Assembly elections declared inconclusive will also be concluded on the same day.

    Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekunmi said this followed a decision taken at the commission’s meeting on Monday.

    He said: “Arising from its meeting held today, the Independent National Electoral Commission has decided that all outstanding Governorship, National and State Assembly supplementary elections will take place on Saturday 15th April 2023”.

    Recall that scores of angry demonstrators had stormed the National Collation Centre at the International Conference Centre in Abuja to demand that the Independent National Electoral Commission keep to its promise to deploy electronic transmission of results.

    The development is coming barely 24 hours after a similar group gathered near the National Defence College, a few metres away from the centre, chanting “INEC, keep your promises”, “No IREV, no collation,” among others.

    Tuesday’s demonstration saw the angry youths expressing dissatisfaction over the electoral umpire’s refusal to deploy live feed to transmit election results electronically.

    Addressing journalists to cover the protest at Emeka Anyaoku street (about kilometre to the collation centre), one of the protest coordinators, Ilemona Onoja, explained that their major demand was for the INEC chairman, Prof Mamood Yakubu, to fulfill his pledge of a free, transparent and open process.

  • 2023 Elections: 87 million PVCs collected so far – INEC

    2023 Elections: 87 million PVCs collected so far – INEC

    Just two days to the presidential election in the country, the Independent National Electoral Commission has said that a total of 87,209,007 Permanent Voter Cards have been collected across the country.

    INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, announced the development on Thursday during a media briefing at the national collation centre in Abuja.

    Although the number increased after the Commission extended the deadline from January 29 to February 5.

    The population of Nigeria is estimated to be around 200,000 million but over 87 million have secured their PVC and ready for the election which will hold on February 25th and March 11 across all polling booths in the country.

  • We can’t conduct 2023 polls with N100bn, INEC chairman tells NASS committee

    We can’t conduct 2023 polls with N100bn, INEC chairman tells NASS committee

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Friday, insisted that the N100billion provision in its 2022 budget is not enough to conduct the 2023 general elections.

    This is even as the commission said the forthcoming Ekiti and Osun states Governorship elections will cost N7billion. The National Chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu made this known when he defended the agency’s 2022 budget estimates before the Joint National Assembly Committee on INEC and Electoral Matters in Abuja.

    He said that the N100billion represents the first tranche of funds for the general elections and that the agency expects additional funding in the 2023 budget. Yakubu said: “The N100billion is the first tranche of funds for the 2023 general elections while N40billion is our normal budget for 2022. N189billion was appropriated for the 2019 general elections. So, it cannot be N100billion only for 2023. We are already in touch with the Federal Ministry of Finance on the additional requirements for the 2023 general elections.

    “Either we come to the National Assembly to defend the budget before the committee or we would do what we did in 2019 when the executive just submitted the proposal to the National Assembly and we came to defend it. We would need more money because we’ve expanded our polling units and we are introducing new technology for elections among many other new innovations. The number of registered voters will increase beyond the 84 million for the 2019 general elections.

    “Some of the things we needed would require four months, some five months while some would require seven months. We will start early preparations now that we have the money early enough and we will just procure sensitive materials for the election. We hired 34, 000 vehicles for the 2019 elections so we have plans to also outsource the material distribution in 2023 because we cannot afford the cost of buying such huge number of vehicles and engage the drivers that would drive them.

    On the breakdown of INEC’s N40billion budget proposal for 2022, Yakubu said: “Electoral operational and administrative cost is N23.3bn, Election technology cost is N61.1bn, Electoral capital cost is N15.4bn. Electoral operational and recurrent cost (conduct of polls) is N7.3bn for the procurement of non-sensitive materials and logistics. We also budgeted N7bn for the conduct of Ekiti and Osun governorship election including the possibility of runoffs. We made a provision of N2.6bn for Ekiti State with a population of over one million registered voters and N4.4bn for Osun with 30 local government areas. We are earmarking N4.2bn for the continuous registration exercise in 2,700 centres.”

    He said the Commission will expend the sum of N169million for monitoring of party congresses and campaign activities. “I am not sure it would be adequate. We are monitoring party congresses and primaries right from the ward levels by direct means. We have 8,809 wards and 18 political parties. We have types of elections. Presidential, senatorial, House of Representatives, and States constituency primaries. If they would be done by direct means, we have to make preparations for it. We have 993 state constituencies, so, if parties are going to nominate their candidates we are going to monitor in all the locations – 109 senatorial districts, 360 House of Representatives and 28 governorship elections because eight are being conducted off season. We will monitor party primaries for the nomination of candidates in over 1,400 constituencies so the cost would be enormous.”

    The Commission, according to him has earmarked the sum of N2billion for litigation and prosecution. “This has become a real burden on the commission. In the last 27 elections we have conducted, none has been successfully litigated in court including Edo and Ondo. There are more litigations arising from the conduct of party primaries,” he said. He added that voter education and enlightenment around new polling units recently created and its new innovations would cost N1billion.

  • Buhari meets INEC Chairman, Commissioners in Abuja

    Buhari meets INEC Chairman, Commissioners in Abuja

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday met with the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu.

    Professor Yakubu was joined by five INEC commissioners at the meeting, which held at the First Lady’s conference room at the State House in Abuja.

    The meeting may be connected to the recent attacks on INEC facilities across the country.

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that on May 27, Professor Yakubu said its offices and facilities have been attacked 41 times within the last two years.

    However, in the last four weeks, 11 offices of the commission have been either set ablaze or vandalized, according to the INEC chief.

    On Monday, the election agency vowed to conduct the Anambra governorship election, which is scheduled to hold on November 6, despite increasing levels of insecurity across the country.

  • 2023: INEC chairman meets electoral commissioners in Abuja

    2023: INEC chairman meets electoral commissioners in Abuja

    The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, has met with all the Resident Electoral Commissioners in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

    Speaking at the commission’s headquarters on Monday, he directed all RECs to submit an inventory of all electoral materials in their care ahead of the next general election.

    Professor Yakubu said the move is necessary to enable the commission to overcome the logistics challenges it faces during elections promising that the next general election will be better than all previous polls.

    “As you are also aware, the commission is committed to deepening the culture of planning for elections. The current five-year plan covering the period 2017-2021 expires this year,” he said.

    “For this reason, a committee involving the participation of some Resident Electoral Commissioners was inaugurated a few weeks ago to review the strategic plan and the strategic programme of action to cover the next cycle of five years, 2022-2026.

    “As we continue to plan for the next general elections, the RECs have been directed to compile and submit an inventory of all election materials in order to determine shortfalls and early steps to ensure there are adequacy and availability.”

    This is the first meeting the commission is holding with the recs after series of consultative meetings with political parties and other stakeholders on the need to create more polling units.

  • Reappointment: Yakubu’s first tenure as INEC chair characterised by failures, dissappointments, miscarriages – PDP

    Reappointment: Yakubu’s first tenure as INEC chair characterised by failures, dissappointments, miscarriages – PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has expressed the optimism that the reappointment of Prof Mahmood Yabuku as chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will serve as impetus to credible elections in the country.

    In a statement on Wednesday by the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party said the reappointment has entrusted Prof Yakubu with the fate, hope and future of over 200 million Nigerians, as well as those of generations yet unborn.

    The PDP said, “We consider this reappointment by President Buhari as an impetus to demonstrate a readiness for a free fair and credible election, which Mr. President had always promised to bequeath at the end of his second and final term in office in 2023.

    “In the light of this five-year extension, our party hopes that the failures, disappointments and miscarriages that characterised the first five years tenure of Yakubu will have no place in the new order.

    “It is therefore instructive to state that with his re-appointment, Prof Yakubu has been given an ample time and opportunity to redeem himself, the image of the commission and preparation for credible, free and fair elections in our country.

    “At least, with this reappointment, whatever happens in our future elections cannot be ascribed to inexperience and lack of adequate preparedness on the side of INEC”.

    The main opposition party changed the INEC chairman to spend the nearly three years ahead of the next general election to rejig the commission.

    It also charged him to work out appropriate electoral policies and guidelines and to push for amendment of the Electoral Act, in conjunction with the National Assembly, with a view to giving the nation a credible electoral process.

    Urging Professor Yakubu to be mindful of the aphorism that to whom much is given, much more is expected, the PDP said the reappointment comes with a lot of expectations from Nigerians.

    “He must quickly take painstaking look into issues that aid manipulations, rigging, violence and inconclusive elections which marred most of the exercises conducted in his previous tenure.

    “Prof. Yakubu should note that the future, stability and corporate existence of our nation have been entrusted in his hands as credible election is the bedrock of any democratic society”, it added.

    The party also urged the National Assembly, particularly, the Senate, to focus on these pertinent issues in the course of screening Prof. Yakubu to ensure that the failures of the past are not given accommodation in the new era.

  • Opposition parties react as Buhari reappoints INEC chairman for another term

    Opposition parties react as Buhari reappoints INEC chairman for another term

    The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) has congratulated Prof. Mahmood Yakubu on his reappointment as the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
    The CUPP in a statement issued by its Spokesperson, Ikenga Ugochinyere, on Tuesday in Abuja, described Yakubu’s reappointment as the only chance for him to set Nigeria electoral processes on the right path.
    They also urged him to use this second term appointment, which is novel in the political history of Nigeria, to cleanse our electoral process and consolidate on the gains of Edo and Ondo elections.
    “The shifted elections earlier scheduled for Oct. 31, would be the first test of what this second term would be for.
    “Nigerians will expect nothing less than a very credible, free and fair 2023 general election from him,” the statement said.
    It also called on the Nigerian Senate and opposition lawmakers to confirm the re-appointment of Yakubu.
    According to the statement, Yakubu’s confirmation will allow him the needed neutrality to oversee the upcoming by-elections and adequate time to start the cleansing process for Nigeria’s electoral process.
    It, however, said that the CUPP would be watching the INEC Chairman closely as he led the Commission into reforming Nigeria’s electoral process.
    “We will watch him as he carries through the introduction of electronic voting which the Commission has been test running over the years.
    “As the longest serving Chairman of INEC, we call on Prof. Yakubu to deploy all his now garnered experience in the last five years to hit the ground running knowing that there will be no third chance.”
  • Presidential election tribunal orders INEC chairman to appear before it today

    Presidential election tribunal orders INEC chairman to appear before it today

    The presidential election petition tribunal has ordered the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Zamfara Stata Resident Electoral Commissioner to appear on or before 12 noon or Thursday.
    The court gave the order Wednesday following a complaint by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that the subpoena served on both INEC officials, since July 12 and 15, have not been complied with.
    According to the tribunal, INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu is to appear before 12 noon on Thursday or risk a court action against him.
    The court also ruled that the resident electoral commissioner in Zamfara State should appear with Mr Yakubu at whatever cost.
    “Since the record of the court shows that the Chairman of the first respondent, INEC and REC Zamfara were duly served to produce document named therein.
    “The Chairman and REC Zamfara as well as the legal team representing them in this matter are to comply with the order.
    “They have the duty to comply and obey the subpoena
    “They have been directed to produce documents in the subpoenas by 12pm tomorrow,” the tribunal ruled.
    The tribunal chaired by Garba Mohammed gave the order after PDP lawyers said they served copies of the court’s subpoena on the INEC officials since July 12 and July 15, respectively.
    While the PDP said it submitted the copy of the subpoena to the REC in Zamfara on July 12, that of Mr Yakubu was reportedly served on him on July 15.

    The PDP has accused INEC of conniving with the ruling All Progressives Congress to ensure the success of the President Muhammadu Buhari in the February presidential election.
     

    The PDP named INEC as its first respondent in the petition while Mr Buhari was named second respondent and the APC, the third respondent in the petition.
    The PDP argued that its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, won the elections but was cheated by INEC who declared Mr Buhari winner.
    Mr Buhari was declared the winner of the election with 15,191,847 votes.
    Mr Abubakar, his closest challenger, polled 11,262,978 votes according to the declared results.

  • Postponement: Presidency speaks on alleged plans by Buhari to remove INEC chairman

    The Presidency on Sunday deny reports making the rounds that President Muhammadu Buhari is planning the removal of the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu over the abrupt postponement of the general elections.

    Recall that a leading politician has alleged that President Muhammadu Buhari was planning to give Yakubu the push over last Saturday’s postponement of the elections.

    “It is not true,” a Presidency source said.

    The denial came amid claims that Prof. Yakubu has taken charge of logistics for the elections.

    According to reports, the electoral agency is to release details of the state-by-state collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs).

    The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, debunked the reports that Yakubu was to be removed.

    Shehu said: “Those reports are utterly baseless and false. There is nothing like that.

    “Whoever is saying the President is removing INEC chairman is just displaying his illiteracy. Let him go and read the constitution.

    “You need a resolution by two-thirds majority of the Senate for any such action.”

    The clarification by the Presidency came against the backdrop of the agitation by National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, and the alarm raised by the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) that President Muhammadu Buhari was plotting to remove the INEC chairman.”

    Another government source, who spoke in confidence, said: “What PDP National Chairman Secondus wanted was more of electoral anarchy, which this Buhari administration will not oblige him. Resignation or removal of INEC chairman is never contemplated by the President.

    “Buhari’s administration will not change the rule in the middle of the game. Asking INEC chairman to quit will cause rumpus within INEC management , disrupt all preparations for the poll and create unrest nationwide.

    “The opposition has a hidden agenda, which this government will not buy into. We will also not play into their hands.The INEC chairman will remain in charge of the electoral agency.”

    Secondus said the “shoddy” arrangement for the elections by INEC was “a deliberate agenda” of President Buhari to cling on to power even when it’s obvious to him that Nigerians want him out.

    Secondus called on Yakubu to resign immediately.

    The PDP leader warned that the party will not accept anything short of a well organised electoral process devoid of manipulation, harassment and intimidation of voters and the opposition, particularly members of the PDP.

    Having failed in all their nefarious options to enable them cling on to power, the APC and the INEC came up with the idea of shifting elections, an action that is dangerous to our democracy and unacceptable, Secondus said.

    Sections 157 and 158 of the 1999 Constitution prescribe conditions for the removal of the INEC chairman and National Commissioners as well as board members of nine other agencies.

    Section 157 says: “(1) Subject to the provisions of subsection (3) of this section, a person holding any of the offices to which this section applies may only be removed from that office by the President acting on an address supported by two-thirds majority of the Senate praying that he be so removed for inability to discharge the functions of the office (whether arising from infirmity of mind or body or any other cause) or for misconduct.

    “(2) This section applies to the offices of the Chairman and members of the Code of Conduct Bureau, the Federal Civil Service Commission, the Independent National Electoral Commission, the National Judicial Council, the Federal Judicial Service Commission, the Federal Character Commission, the Nigeria Police Council, the National Population Commission, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission and the Police Service Commission.

    “(3) All members of the National Population Commission shall cease to be members if the President declares a National Census Report as unreliable and the report is rejected in accordance with Section 213 of this Constitution.”

    Section 158 (1) says: “In exercising its power to make appointments or to exercise disciplinary control over persons, the Code of Conduct Bureau, the National Judicial Council, the Federal Civil Service Commission, the Federal Judicial Service Commission, the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission, the Federal Character Commission, and the Independent National Electoral Commission shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other authority or person.”

    A close source to INEC, who spoke in confidence, told that “the INEC chairman had told his team of his plan to supervise the logistics for the elections”. He said from Monday, he will shift base to the airport to take stock and monitor the airlift of sensitive materials to all the states,” The source said, adding:

    “He has vowed not to leave any stone unturned. The latest plan is to ensure that all the 36 states and the FCT are ready for the first phase of the elections on or before Thursday. We want everything set in 8,809 Registration Areas, Wards and in 119, 973 Polling Units and 57,023 Voting Points nationwide so that accreditation can take off simultaneously on Saturday.

    “If the Central Bank of Nigeria or the Nigerian Air Force cannot cope with the airlift of materials, INEC has floated a Plan B to engage chartered aircraft. No stone will be left unturned.”

    Meanwhile, the electoral commission may release the statistics on collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards on state by state basis during the week.

    A National Commissioner said: “We will be as transparent as possible. During the week, we will release the statistics of PVCs’ collection per state. Also, each Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) will be mandated to make the breakdown of the PVCs available to the public on local government basis.

    “While it is true that over 84million eligible voters registered, not all of them collected their PVCs. We want to give account of what was collected before the poll.”

  • BREAKING: Why we waited till Saturday to postpone 2019 elections — INEC Chairman

    BREAKING: Why we waited till Saturday to postpone 2019 elections — INEC Chairman

    The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu on Saturday explained why the commission under his leadership waited till the early hours of the election day to postpone the elections.

    Recall that the commission had earlier fixed Saturday, February 16 for the Presidential and National Assembly elections and March 2nd for the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.

    The commission had also at various times reinstated its readiness for the February 16th and March 2nd polls

    However, Nigerians woke up to a rude shock on Saturday morning just hours before the opening ofthe polls with news that the commission had postponed the both the presidential and governorship elections by one week.

    According to the commission, the elections will now hold on February 23 and March 9 respectively.

    However, Nigerians in their numbers condemned the postponement, especially its timing, and have accused the commission of insensitivity, noting that INEC had must apologise for the inconveniences.

    At a news conference Saturday afternoon, the embattled chairman said the commission had been involved in large scale operations in preparations for the polls that “it is therefore not unexpected that such a tremendous national mobilisation of men and materials would encounter operational challenges.”

    He listed the key challenges to be delays in delivering ballot papers and result sheets, occasioned in part by flight challenges due to bad weather.

    He said apart from the logistical challenges, there were attempts to sabotage the commission’s preparations, listing fire outbreaks at INEC facilities that destroyed smart card readers and voter cars. The fire at Anambra was the most serious of all, he said.

    Mr Yakubu said despite those setbacks, the commission rapidly recovered by mopping up available card readers elsewhere.

    He said if the polls had gone ahead, it would have meant some states starting well ahead of others with the implication of the elections being staggered.

    “Faced with these challenges, we initially thought that we only required a maximum of 24 hours to resolve the logistics issues involved and complete our deployment for the election,” he said. “This would mean shifting the elections to commence on Sunday 17th February, 2019. However, given the restriction of movement during elections, that could affect many voters who worship on Sunday. While the commission considering the following Monday, 19th February, 2019 as an option, our ICT department advised us that it would require 5-6 days to configure about 180,000 smart card readers earlier programmed to work only on election day, Saturday, 16th February 2019.”

    Speaking further Mahmood said: “There have been delays in delivering ballot papers and result sheets for the elections which are not unusual. However, one must emphasise that all the ballot papers and result sheets were ready before the elections despite the very tight legal timeframe for the nomination of candidates and dealing with the spate of legal challenges that accompany it.

    “In this regard, the commission has been sued or joined in over 640 court cases arising from the nomination of candidates. As of today, there are 40 different court orders against the commission on whether to add or drop candidates.

    “The net effect of these is that there is usually roughly a one-month window for the commission to print ballot papers and result sheets and either fly or transport them to several destinations until they finally get to each polling unit.

    “Unfortunately, in the last one week flights within the country have been adversely affected by bad weather. For instance, three days ago, we were unable to deliver materials to some locations due to bad weather.

    “We therefore had to rely on slow-moving long haulage vehicles to locations that can be serviced by air in spite of the fact that we created five zonal airport hubs in Abuja (North Central), Port Harcourt (South South and South East). Kano (North West), Maiduguri and Yale (North-East) and Lagos (South-West) to facilitate the delivery of electoral logistics.

    “Apart from these logistical challenges, we also faced what may well be attempts to sabotage our preparations. In a space of two weeks, we had to deal with serious fire incidents in three of our offices in Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area of Abia State, Qu’an Pan Local Government Area of Plateau State and our Anambra State Office at Awka.

    “In all three cases, serious disruptions were occasioned by the fire, further diverting our attention from regular preparations to recovery from the impact of the incidents. In Isiala Ngwa South, hundreds of PVCs were burnt, necessitating the recompiling of the affected cards and reprinting in time to ensure that the affected voters are not disenfranchised. I am glad that all the cards were quickly reprinted and made available for collection by their owners.”

    “In Qu’an Pan Local Government Area, our entire office was razed, destroying all the materials prepared for the elections printed register of voters, ballot boxes, voting cubicles and several electricity generating sets. ll Registration Areas and over I00 polling units were affected by the tire. We recovered quickly and have since replaced everything destroyed. In addition, we secured a suitable building from which to conduct the elections.

    “Perhaps the most serious was the fire incident in our Anambra State Office at Awka, which destroyed over 4,600 Smart Card Readers being prepared for the elections. These Card Readers take at least six months to procure. Despite this setback, we have practically recovered from this by mopping up every available.