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Tag: INEC

  • Labour Party stakeholders officially write INEC over 29-man care-taker committee

    Labour Party stakeholders officially write INEC over 29-man care-taker committee

    Following the crisis rocking the party, the Labour Party, (LP) stakeholders have officially written to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, over the 29-man care-taker committee to lead the party in the interim.

    Some leaders of the party, including its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, Abia Governor Alex Otti, some elected Senators and House of Representatives members of the party met in Umuahia, Abia State last week to appoint a 29-man care-taker committee to lead the party in the interim.

    The committee, which is to be chaired by former Minister of Finance, Nenadi Usman, will midwife an election of new leadership in 90 days.

    The stakeholders in a letter jointly signed by Peter Obi and Governor Otti told the Commission that the care-taker committee followed the de-recognition of the Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC) by INEC effective June 2024.

    The letter which contained the list of 29-man care-taker committee named Senator Esther Nenadi Usman as the Chairman, and Senator Darlington Nwokocha as the Secretary.

    LP said the Caretaker Committee has the mandate to organise congresses and the national convention within a period not exceeding 180 days to fill the vacuum created by the expiration of the tenure of the erstwhile leadership of the party at all levels.

    “You will recall that Labour Party had had a leadership crisis in recent times culminating in the de-recognition of the Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC) by INEC effective June 2024.

    “Given the above scenario, the statutory executives of the party made up of the Governor, Deputy Governor, and legislators in addition to all surviving members of NEC, the leadership of organised labour, representatives of Governorship Candidates in the 2023 election and subsequent ones, Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates in the 2023 election and other party leaders met in Umuahia, Abia State on Wednesday, September 4, 2024 and set up a Caretaker Committee to organise congresses and the national convention within a period not exceeding 180 days to fill the vacuum created by the expiration of the tenure of the erstwhile leadership of the party at all levels.”

     

     

     

     

     

  • Petrol price hike will not affect Edo election – INEC

    Petrol price hike will not affect Edo election – INEC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed that the recent hike in price of petrol will not affect the conduct of Edo governorship election.

    The Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, said this while fielding questions from newsmen during the pre-election news conference in Abuja.

    Oyekanmi said the commission was already meeting with officials of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) on the new development.

    “Well, first of all, I am aware that the commission, in the last couple of days, met with the officials of the NURTW to discuss this matter, and I’m sure the resolution was reached.

    “Of course, when you are planning for election, you have what is called contingency, because you don’t know what can happen. There could be changes and all of that.

    “So, we don’t expect transporters to operate at a loss. If oil has gone up, for instance, and they now want some increment, this could be discussed.

    “Like I said, I wasn’t part of the meeting, but the meeting was held, and I’m sure some agreement was reached. We have to conduct that election. So, I don’t think that will cause some problems,” he said.

    On the commission’s preparations for Persons Living with Disabilities (PWDs) participation in the exercise, Oyekanmi said INEC would continue to do it best for the PWDs to exercise their franchise.

    He said that though the facilities, mostly public ones such as schools, used for polling units may not be purposely-built for PWDs, the electoral officers had been trained to offer the needed assistance to them to cast their votes.

    “Normally, our Presiding Officers are trained that when they see anybody on the wheelchair or anyone regarded as PWD, the person comes straight to the front of the queue, and Nigerians cooperate with us on that.

    “For instance, the elderly people, people on wheelchairs, people with special needs, and physically pregnant people, not people who put something in their tummy, we give them that respect,” he said.

    The CPS also said that INEC had put measures in place to prevent cases of prefilled result sheets witnessed in Kogi do not reoccur in Edo or future elections anywhere in the country.

    “I can assure you that the Commission took active steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again. In fact, our result sheets cannot be forged because they are custom-made. They have security features and nobody knows what those security features will be.

    “So, INEC has been able to perfect that aspect, that if you go ahead and print result sheets, you have just wasted your time, because you will not have access to what we have and you will not be able to make use of it. Again, our resource management process takes care of errant behaviour like that,” Oyekanmi said.

    He also assured Nigerians that it would not be possible to collate results in any polling unit where election is not held in Edo.

    “That’s not possible, because if an election is not held in a place, it has to be reported,” he said.

    Oyekanmi said there was no polling unit with zero voters in Edo hence election was expected to hold in all the polling units across the state.

    “All the polling units, over 4,500 of them will be used. So, there is no polling unit that will not have voters..

    “However, if election does not take place because of one reason or the other, of course, the presiding officer has the duty to report that,” Oyekanmi told newsmen.

  • Edo PDP guber candidate, Ighodalo queries why INEC wants to use officers from Kogi, Imo for September 21 election

    Edo PDP guber candidate, Ighodalo queries why INEC wants to use officers from Kogi, Imo for September 21 election

    Peoples Democratic Party, PDP candidate in the Edo State governorship election, Asue Ighodalo has rejected the deployment of electoral officers from Imo and Kogi States to supervise the poll.

    Ighodalo made this disclosure in an interview saying that he does not have confidence in the capacity of electoral officers the states to conduct a free and fair election.

    “We are hearing rumours that INEC wants to come to our election with officials from Imo and officials from Kogi.

    “We will please implore INEC that we in Edo State want fresh officials from places that have run electoral processes that are free and fair and not places where polls have been questioned.

    “I will please appreciate if INEC doesn’t bring Kogi officials or Imo officials into Edo State.”

    On why he doesn’t want officials from the two states, he said:

    “Question marks have been placed on the processes in those two states. Edo State people are peace loving, they know light from darkness, so they don’t want any process that is going to be subverted or subversive.

    “We want a level-playing field so that the wishes of the people of Edo State is realized on September 21.”

  • Credibility of election not dependent on uploading results – INEC

    Credibility of election not dependent on uploading results – INEC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reiterated its position that the electoral laws in Nigeria do not say that the credibility of an election depends on the upload of results sheet to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.

    The Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, maintained this position in Abuja on Friday while presenting a paper titled: “Role of Media and INEC Social Media Platforms in Democratic Elections”.

    Oyekanmi in his presentation advised Nigerians to understand INEC and the election result management process, especially how the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal work.

    He recalled how some INEC members of staff were detained and beaten during the 2023 general elections because BVAS could not transmit election results to IREV due to network challenges.

    “The truth of the matter is that our laws do not say that the credibility of an election depends on the upload of results sheet to that portal.

    “The fact is that network issues can happen because the entire country is not covered 100 per cent. So, if you don’t have network in a particular area, INEC has made provision for offline upload of results.

    “So, even if the presiding officer sends and it doesn’t go, it goes offline. When he moves from that polling unit, before it gets to the collation centre, anywhere the network hits that device, it will send it.

    “But many Nigerians do not know. Today, the inability of the BVAS to upload is akin to breaking the election,” he said.

    Oyekanmi said journalists covering elections should be responsible for the promotion of credible elections and fostering the nation’s peace and unity by adhering to the code of conduct guiding elections reportage.

    He advised journalists to be sensitive to the implications of their reports on elections. According to him, when journalists fail to be sensitive to the implications of their reports, it could cause a breach of peace.

    “This will put the lives of their colleagues, electoral officers, and other citizens in danger. We need peace and stability for the election to take place at the time that we want it to take place. We also need peace and stability for us to collate the results and announce the overall results.

    “The media also has the responsibility to counter misinformation and fake news. This is very important. There are so many organisations now, thankfully, into fact-checking. I think, as journalists, we also have the responsibility of devising our means of fact-checking what people say to us,” Oyekanmi said.

    He urged journalists to equip themselves with the Electoral Act 2022, the INEC Regulations and Guidelines, as well as the aspects of the 1999 Constitution relating to INEC and elections. Oyekanmi advised Nigerians and the media to follow the commission on its various social media platforms to access quality service.

    “INEC will continue to take advantage of social media platforms to proactively disseminate information about electoral activities, plans, and policies. The commission will use the platforms to engage more with stakeholders and citizens moving forward. The fight against fake news, misinformation, and disinformation will be intensified,” he said.

    Meanwhile, Mr Sam Olumekun, INEC National Commission and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), urged the media and the public to verify information related to the Edo governorship election directly with the commission before publishing the same.

    According to Olumekun, represented by the Director of Voter Education, Mrs Mary Nkem, the doors of the commission are open for enquiries amidst other multiple channels to secure accurate information.

    Olumekun says fake and misleading news, made easy by the advent of the digital age, poses so many dangers, especially during an election period.

    “Such information has the potential to disrupt the electoral process, undermine public confidence, and incite unnecessary tensions. The commission has taken proactive steps to combat this menace, part of which is to be open and transparent in all its dealings.

    “We have made it a culture to constantly update the public through you after every commission’s meeting when decisions are taken. We will intensify the information flow as we move closer to the Edo governorship election.

    “Measures have been put in place to minimise the circulation of false information. However, we cannot do this alone. We believe that you will remain a bulwark against fake and misleading information about the commission and the electoral process,” he said.

    Concerning media accreditation for the election, Olumekun said 122 organisations had applied for a total of 892 personnel.

  • Why we declared 2023 presidential election results at 2am — INEC

    Why we declared 2023 presidential election results at 2am — INEC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has  clarified on the timing of the result declaration made in the early hours of March 1, 2023.

    President Bola Tinubu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was declared the winner with 8,794,726 votes, defeating Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party (LP) candidate Peter Obi, and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) candidate Rabiu Kwankwaso.

    The announcement, made by INEC Chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu at about 2 a.m. on Wednesday, March 1, sparked concerns from some Nigerians who questioned why it was done during the early hours rather than in the daytime.

    Rotimi Oyekanmi, Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the INEC Chairman, responded to these concerns, explaining that the country is treated as a single constituency during presidential elections.

    As a result, collating results from across the nation is a time-consuming process.

    He emphasised that the electoral process required waiting for results from polling units, wards, local governments, and states, all of which had to be presented at the national level in Abuja.

    “The Chairman had to wait for 36 returning officers, including those from far locations such as Sokoto and Maiduguri, to present their results as mandated by law,” Oyekanmi stated.

    He further clarified that neither the Constitution nor the Electoral Act stipulates a specific time for announcing election results.

    “In a presidential election, the country is treated as one constituency. Results are declared at polling units and then collated at the ward, local government, and state levels before being presented in Abuja to the Chief Electoral Commissioner. People didn’t understand this and criticised the 2 a.m. announcement,” he said.

    Oyekanmi also highlighted that the INEC Chairman must personally interview the returning officers, questioning them and potentially sending them back if their reports are unsatisfactory.

    He added: “Only after accepting all figures from the returning officers and the FCT can results be collated and announced. The delay led to claims that we declared results in the middle of the night.”

    Referencing a similar occurrence in 2015, he noted: “Prof. Attahiru Jega declared the 2015 results around 4 a.m. The constitution does not prescribe a specific time for declaring election results.”

  • Rivers LG election: Court reserves judgment in APC suit against INEC

    Rivers LG election: Court reserves judgment in APC suit against INEC

    A Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday, reserved judgment in the suit filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the conduct of the local government election in Rivers.

    Justice Peter Lifu said that a date for the judgment would be communicated to parties after lawyers in the suit adopted their processes and argued their case for and against the suit.

    APC in the suit prayed the court to pronounce that INEC can only release the register to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) “in strict conformity and compliance with the mandatory provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Electoral Act, 2022.”

    The party argued that the electoral umpire, in line with the provision, can stop continuous voter registration at least 90 days before the poll date.

    It argued that the condition precedent for the conduct of local government election in Rivers had not been met by RSIEC.

    Upon resumed hearing, the court listened to all pending preliminary applications, including those seeking joinder brought by the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and Boot Party as well as the substantive suit.

    Goddy Uche, SAN, also presented his motion for change of counsel and discontinuance of the suit on behalf of the Rivers chapter of the APC.

    The motion was filed by Uche and signed by chairman of the party in the state, Chief Emeka Beke, and Sam Etetegwung, APC Secretary in Rivers, respectively.

    However, Joseph Daudu, SAN,.who appeared for the plaintiff (APC national body), prayed the court to grant their reliefs.

    In their arguments, Taiwo Taiwo, SAN, counsel to for the Attorney General of Rivers, and Femi Falana, SAN, who appeared for INEC, challenged the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the case.

    They equally challenged the competence of the suit on the ground that it was statute-barred.

    The respondents further contended that the proper court with jurisdiction to entertain the case is the Rivers division of the Federal High Court.

    They also argued that being a vacation court, the court lacked the jurisdiction to hear the case without obtaining the consent of both parties.

    Justice Lifu consequently reserved judgment in the matter after listening to the parties.

  • Edo election: INEC announces date for parties to sign peace accord

    Edo election: INEC announces date for parties to sign peace accord

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has fixed Sept. 12 for the signing of Peace Accord for the Edo Governorship election in Benin City.

    INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this at an extraordinary meeting with political parties on the 2024 Edo governorship election on Thursday in Abuja.

    Yakubu said that the date for the exercise would be presided over by the Chairman, National Peace Committee (NPC) and former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar.

    “You may notice that unlike the previous peace accords signed a few days to the election, INEC decided to do this early this time around.

    “This is to enable the Peace Committee to monitor compliance with the code voluntarily signed by parties, candidates and other critical players in the electoral process such as INEC and the security agencies during the remaining days to the election.

    “This will add further weight to the peace accord beyond mere ceremony as demanded by many observers and even some of the political actors themselves,” he said

    Yakubu urged political parties in the state to maintain decorum and civility in their campaigns and  comply with the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for the conduct of rallies and processions.

    He said that, so far, no political party had submitted to INEC the dates and locations of their major campaign rallies and processions to enable a better coordination of their campaign activities.

    On the commission’s preparations for the election, Yakubu said that INEC had concluded the training of security personnel, while finalising the delivery of the few remaining non-sensitive materials for the election.

    “We are concluding arrangements with the land and maritime transport unions for logistics.

    “The printing of triplicate copies of voters’ register for each of the 4,519 Polling Units in Edo State is virtually completed.

    “The installation and configuration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines to be deployed on election day is completed. Observer accreditation tags are being produced,” he said.

    He also said that so far 88 media organisation had applied for the accreditation of 698 personnel, adding that the training of various categories of ad hoc staff would commence soon.

    He, however, said that after harvesting the details of polling and collation agents uploaded to the portal for the Edo election, INEC discovered that there were compliance issues, particularly with quality of PU agents.

    He said that the problem cuts across all political parties in spite assistance offered by INEC and the fact that the digital nomination was not being done for the first time.

    “I want to emphasise that there will be no going back to the manual process. It is gone for good.

    “Already, observer groups and media organisations are in full compliance with the digital procedure. Political parties cannot be an exception.

    “We will only produce tags for uploads that meet the requirements of our regulations and guidelines,” Yakubu said.

    In his remarks, IPAC Chairman, Yusuf Dantalle, urged INEC to remain neutral as an umpire in the Edo election.

    He also urged the commission to ensure its election materials were adequate and ready for the tasks ahead, particularly the BVAS and IReV portals.

    He said that the state gubernatorial poll would be a litmus test for the Ondo governorship and future elections in the country.

    Dantalle added that the election offered leaders of political parties, the chance to restore confidence in the electoral process by ensuring the sanctity of the ballot box, and respect the mandate of the people.

    He urged political parties and their candidates to imbibe issue-based campaigns that would unite the people and foster development and sustainable democracy.

    “There is no place for politics of bitterness and violence that has impeded the nation’s hard earned democracy,” Dantalle said.

  • Edo: We won’t issue voters card to proxies – INEC declares

    Edo: We won’t issue voters card to proxies – INEC declares

    The Independent National Electoral Commission has said it would not release Permanent Voter Cards to third parties.

    INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.

    According to him, the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards to new applicants across Edo State local government areas will commence today.

    He said the distribution at the ward level had been concluded with 125,928 PVCs collected within five days.

    He said the figure represented 68.3 per cent of the 184,438 new cards issued during the recent Continuous Voter Registration exercise, marking the highest collection rate recorded by INEC since the introduction of CVR ahead of off-cycle governorship elections in 2015.

    Olumekun said that the collection, which took place across all 192 wards in Edo State between August 22 and 26, was achieved through a carefully coordinated effort by INEC.

    The commission credited the success to its strategic packaging of PVCs by polling units, wards, and LGAs, along with direct communication to voters about the availability of their cards.

    “As earlier announced by the commission, Permanent Voter Cards from the recent Continuous Voter Registration in Edo State would be available for collection at two levels. First, across all the 192 wards from Thursday, 22, to Monday, 26, August 2024. Secondly, in our 18 LGA offices.

    “The commission is pleased to announce the conclusion of the collection at ward level. Learning from the lessons of the previous collection of PVCs, the commission has carefully packaged all the PVCs by Poling Units, Wards and LGAs. We also produced the collection register, providing details of the voters whose cards were ready for collection, and uploaded them to our website.

    In addition, we contacted them using the addresses provided at the time of registration. As a result, out of the 184,438 new PVCs available, 125,928 cards were collected by voters, representing 68.3 per cent of the total. This is the highest percentage of PVCs collected in five days since the commission introduced the CVR ahead of off-cycle governorship elections in 2015.

    “A detailed breakdown of the collection by LGAs has been uploaded to our website and social media platforms for public information,” the statement read in part.

    INEC announced that the collection process will now move to its 18 Local Government Area offices in Edo State, where voters can pick up their PVCs from 28 August to 8 September 2024.

    INEC has made detailed information about the locations of its LGA offices available on its website, encouraging voters who have not yet collected their PVCs to do so as soon as possible.

    Olumekun stated, “Meanwhile, the collection will resume in our 18 LGA offices in Edo State from tomorrow, Wednesday, 28th August 2024 and end on Sunday 8th September 2024.

    “We appeal to the remaining voters to pick up their PVCs in person from our LGA offices. The commission reiterates its policy that no cards will be collected by proxy. Detailed information on the locations of our LGA offices is already available on our website.

  • Edo 2024: INEC accredited observer organisations condemn police indiscriminate arrest of PDP members

    Edo 2024: INEC accredited observer organisations condemn police indiscriminate arrest of PDP members

    The Centre for Credible Leadership and Citizens Awareness (CCLCA), a coalition of INEC Accredited Observer Organizations have condemned the recent arrest of members of the PDP in Edo State. This is coming barely one month to the Edo guber elections slated for September 21. The coalition in a statement issued and signed by the Director General, Dr Gabriel Nwambu stated that:

    “Our coalition is deeply concerned about recent reports by our election observers of unlawful arrests and detention of members belonging to the ruling political partys in Edo State. These actions are perceived as an unethical tactic aimed at weakening the ruling party and stifling their ability to participate in the forthcoming Governorship Election scheduled for the 21st of September, 2024.

    “As INEC Accredited Observer Organizations, it is our duty to advocate for credible, transparent, and free elections, where all citizens can exercise their democratic rights without fear or coercion. It is in this regard that we are urgently notifying the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, as well as the heads of the Department of State Security Services, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, and the Military to intervene promptly and ensure that their personnel in Edo State comply with ethical standards and respect the fundamental human rights of all individuals.

    “It is essential that the IGP Kayode Egbetokun, as the highest-ranking police officer in Nigeria, takes decisive action to release all persons unlawfully arrested and detained in Edo State. These actions are not only contrary to the principles of democracy but also a violation of citizens’ fundamental rights. We strongly urge the IGP to immediately direct the release of these individuals and ensure that such actions cease forthwith.

    “Furthermore, it is imperative that all security agencies, including the police, Department of State Security Services, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, and the Military, embrace the rule of engagement in line with global best practices and the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    “This is crucial for upholding the credibility of the electoral process and ensuring the preservation of peace and stability in Edo State. The Centre for Credible Leadership and Citizens Awareness reiterates its commitment to promoting transparency, accountability, and the rule of law in all electoral processes.

    “We call upon all relevant authorities to address this urgent matter, providing a level playing field for all political parties and citizens to exercise their democratic rights devoid of intimidation or harassment.

    We remain optimistic that the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, and other heads of security agencies will take swift actions to address this concern and uphold the values of a credible election in Edo State.

  • Edo governorship election: INEC denies sales of PVCs

    Edo governorship election: INEC denies sales of PVCs

    Ahead of the September 21 Governorship Election in Edo State. the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has denied the report making the rounds that its officials were selling Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs.

    The commission describing the allegation as false, challenged a civic group, Transparency for Electoral Systems Advocacy, TESA, to provide concrete evidence against Electoral Officers to back up its claim of PVCs sale in Edo.

    Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, made this statement in response to the allegation.

    He said the Commission does not sell but issues PVCs free of charge to only registered voters.

    According to him, the allegation followed the pattern of similar narratives leveled against the Commission by partisan groups whenever off-cycle governorship or major elections are about to be conducted.

    He added that with the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System BVAS, it has become practically impossible for any voter to use another person’s PVC to vote.

    Oyekanmi further stated that any uncollected PVC cannot be used by anyone to vote during the Edo State Governorship Election, stressing that any person who attempts to do so will be arrested and handed over to law enforcement agents on Election Day.

    “Besides, the PVC collection process only began in 192 Wards in the State on Thursday 22nd August and will end today Monday 26th August. Thereafter, collection of PVCs will move our 18 Local Government Offices from 28th August to 8th September 2024.

    “Therefore, the notion of ‘uncollected PVCs’ cannot suffice when, in fact, the collection process has just started.

    “However, we encourage TESA and other individuals with concrete evidence of unethical acts against any of our Electoral Officers to promptly avail the Commission of the evidence for immediate action.”