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Tag: INEC

  • 2019 Election results will be transmitted electronically from polling units – INEC

    2019 Election results will be transmitted electronically from polling units – INEC

    A senior official of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says the electoral body has developed a technology that will enable it transmit election results electronically direct from polling units to its states’ headquarters.

    The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Ebonyi, Godswill Obioma, disclosed this at a meeting with faith-based organizations on Tuesday, in Abakaliki.

    According to him, the new technology is part of efforts by the commission to eliminate rigging, electoral frauds and other irregularities and to ensure the enthronement of credibility and transparency in the electoral process.

    Mr. Obioma reassured the electorate that their votes would count in the 2019 general elections and urged them to participate in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).

    “INEC is strengthening the process of transmitting election results electronically direct from polling booths to INEC Headquarters.

    “We hope that the latest technological innovation will be perfected and deployed in the 2019 general elections.

    “The new strategy will discourage politicians from ballot box snatching, stuffing of ballot boxes and indulgence in other forms of electoral irregularities.

    “The commission will do everything to ensure that votes count in 2019 and that those who will emerge will emerge through popular votes.

    “We have only one message and the message is that you come out and register and ensure that you collect your PVC to qualify you to exercise your franchise,” he said.

    The REC explained that the meeting was part of conscious efforts by INEC to build strategic partnership and alliance that would be harnessed to mobilise the electorate.

    “This meeting is aimed at jointly charting strategic paths for a credible 2019 elections and to see in what best ways we can partner with the organizations to reach out to their members.

    “It is also to mobilise those who are 18 years and above to come out and register and collect their PVCs,” he added.

    Mr. Obioma explained that making the electoral process more inclusive by getting more people involved in civic responsibilities would reduce political tension and those chosen in elections would be better accepted as representatives of the people.

    He said the commission had embarked on aggressive sensitisation and voter education since he resumed office as REC in Ebonyi on July 12.

    “We have undertaken stakeholders’ town hall meetings in all the 13 local government areas of the state where we met with the people in their localities and sensitise them to the continuous voter registration.

    “We followed the town hall meetings with the stakeholders’ village square meetings in the wards across the local government areas.

    “We listened to their views on how we can do better in our programmes to achieve greater penetration in the society,” he said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that no fewer than 50 representatives of faith-based organisations, including Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria and Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs attended the meeting.

  • CVR: INEC registers 125,198 new voters in Enugu

    No fewer than 125,198 eligible voters have registered for the first and second quarters in the Continuous Voters Registration in Enugu State.

    The state Independent National Electoral Commissioner, Mr Emeka Ononamadu, said on Saturday that 56,562 eligible persons registered in the second quarter of the CVR that ended on Sept. 19 in the state.

    He also said 68,672 registered in the first quarter, leading to a difference of 12,110 in between the two quarters.

    The commissioner said that the commission opened eight additional centres during the second quarter, especially in difficult terrains, to reach communities that were far from their local council headquarters.

    Ononamadu said the downward trend in the second quarter called for intensive awareness by Independent National Electoral Commission and other stakeholders to reverse it.

    He announced that the third quarter registration would begin on Oct. 30 and would run for three months.

    “INEC cannot do it alone; we depend on critical stakeholders and the people to make elections very successful,’’ he said.

    NAN

  • Prisoners will participate, vote in 2019 election, says INEC

    Prisoners will participate, vote in 2019 election, says INEC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC says it is making arrangements with the Nigeria Prisons Service to ensure that prisoners are allowed to vote in the 2019 general elections.

    The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this in Abuja on Tuesday at a dialogue session with the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room Dialogue – a coalition of over 70 civil society organisations in Nigeria.

    The development comes three years after a Federal High Court in Benin, Edo State, ruled that prisoners in Nigeria have the right to vote in all elections conducted in the country.

    The INEC boss said the commission was looking at the possibility of creating polling units in Nigerian prisons to allow some categories of inmates to vote.

    He, however, said certain categories of prisoners would not be allowed to vote depending on the nature of the crimes they committed.

    Yakubu said, “We have already engaged the Comptroller-General of Prisons and we have statistics on the number of prisoners nationwide and the number of inmates that are registered. We are looking at the possibility of creating polling units in the prisons and to enable some categories of prisoners to vote.

    “Ghana does it but there are some categories of prisoners who by the nature of crimes committed lose the right to vote. Whatever we can do to open up the process to ensure that as much as possible Nigerians are given the opportunity to vote, will be done.”

    Also speaking on the forthcoming Anambra governorship election, the INEC boss said the commission would do everything to ensure that the election is not inconclusive.

    Yakubu raised the alarm over the wrongful substitution of names of governorship candidates by two political parties ahead of the governorship election.

    He regretted that the high level of non-compliance to the Electoral Act by the political parties was threatening the electoral system.

    Although the INEC boss declined to name the parties involved in the wrongful substitution of candidates’ names, he warned that if the act was eventually challenged in court, the whole election could be voided on that account and the nation made to bear the financial brunt of conducting a fresh election.

    The Executive Director, Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, and Convener of Situation Room, Clement Nwankwo, said the event was organised to find out the commission’s preparations for the forthcoming Anambra State governorship poll as well as other elections update.

  • INEC involved in 419 cases – Chairman

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday, said that it had been involved in 419 court cases over election matters from 2016 to date.

    Chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this in an interactive session with a group of civil society organizations, under the umbrella of the Situation Room, on Tuesday, in Abuja.

    “Between 2016 and 2017, till this week, we have appeared for 419 cases in four different courts; so, I will say that in the last two years INEC has been dragged to court 419 times.

    “Conversely, 187 of them are at Federal and state high courts while 141 are at the Court of Appeal. Sixty-one of them are at the Supreme Court and two at the Industrial Court,’’ he said.

    Yakubu said that the political atmosphere in Anambra was quite peaceful as compared to recent elections, adding that “up till today, we have no case in court on the nomination of any candidate’’.

    He said that though the situation was unusual, it was rarely amazing in the context of litigation since the 2015 general elections.

    The chairman said that 37 political parties were participating in the Nov. 18 Anambra governorship election which was a record for any governorship election in the country.

    He said that INEC monitored all the political party’s primaries and that 35 of them complied with the rules except for two that changed their candidates after the primaries, which was not allowed.

    He said that Anambra had 21 local government areas, with 326 wards, 468 polling units, 724 voting points and 2,154,738 registered voters, including 203,681 new registrants.

     

    NAN

  • INEC determined to conduct credible, conclusive election in Anambra – Yakubu

    The Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Mahmood Yakubu, has assured Nigerians that the commission under his leadership will ensure it conduct a credible and conclusive election in Anambra.

    Mr. Yakubu who gave the assurance while speaking during a dialogue session with Covil Societies (CSO) said INEC is ready to make the Anambra governorship poll the first conclusive election after a long period of time.

    Tweeted on the official handle of the electoral commission, @inecnigeria boss said ‘We are determined and full of confidence’

    The governorship elections in Anambra State will hold on November 18.

    He furthers,

    “We have modified and customised the Form-60E to enable officials paste election results at various polling unit after collation.

    “In Sokoto, this weekend we will be piloting the electronic collation platform; but not to be used for declaration of result. Prof. Mahmood

    “We have reviewed the regulations and guidelines for the recall process; you can also find the [ Frequently asked Questions] FAQs for the recall process on our website. ”

  • Registered voters may hit 80m by 2019 – INEC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has projected that the registered voters in the country might increase by about 10 million to over 80 million by 2019.

    The Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, made the prediction at a roundtable organised by the European Union Electoral Follow-up Mission to Nigeria and West Africa, held in Abuja.

    A statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi on Sunday in Abuja, noted that the roundtable was also attended by Civil Society Organisations and other stakeholders.

    Yakubu speaking on the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) said that no fewer than 3.2 million Nigerians had been registered in addition to the 70 million registered voters for the 2015 general elections.

    According to him, the credibility of election depends on the credibility of the Voter Register. We are now doing it continuously. We have seen some challenges and we are responding to them.

    “We started in April and as at last week, and we have registered 3.2 million Nigerians on top of the 70 million registered voters for the 2015 general elections that we had before.

    “Our projection is that the Voter Register will probably be over 80 million by 2019,” Yakubu said.

    He also revealed that about eight million Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) were yet to be collected by their respective owners.

    “We haven’t made much progress in the last two years, but we have made elaborate arrangements with the states to ensure that the cards are collected.”

  • #AnambraDecides: INEC to provide albinos with magnifying goggles

    The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, says it has provided magnifying goggles for polling units to enable people living with albinism to recognise political parties’ logos in the Nov. 18 Anambra elections.

    The Chairman of the commission, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, made this known while receiving EU Observer Mission to Nigeria led by Mr Santiago Ayxela on Thursday in Abuja.

    He said the provision of the goggles was part of the commission’s efforts to ensure inclusiveness in the elections.

    “We are doing a lot about inclusiveness for women, youths and people living with disabilities in terms of access to the polling units and participation in the elections.

    “One of the things we have done in this regard in forthcoming Anambra elections is provision of magnifying glasses in polling units to enable people living with albinism to see logo of parties and make their choices,” he said.

    Yakubu recalled that it was exactly two years ago since the EU sent delegations to observe the 2015 elections in Nigeria.

    He said that the current mission was important and critical as it came at a time when the commission was preparing for the 2019 general elections.

    He reaffirmed that the commission had fixed Feb.16, 2019 for Presidential and National Assembly elections, and March 2 for Governorship, State House of Assembly and Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections.

    According to Yakubu, the commission is already in election mood as the date slated for the presidential elections is only 484 days away.

    He said that the 2015 general elections received global recognition for its credibility and for meeting international best practice.

    According to him, the commission is committed to ensuring that the 2019 elections would be better than 2015.

    The chairman said INEC had so far conducted elections in 172 constituencies since the 2015 elections and that eight of the 30 recommendations of the EU team in 2015 had been implemented.

    He said that the remaining 22 recommendations were at various stages at the relevant agencies, including the National Assembly, responsible for the implementation.

    Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Mr Santiago Ayxela, said they had come to make recommendations that would aid the commission in preparations ahead of 2019 elections.

    He said that the commission was at liberty to either implement the recommendations or not as the EU parliament was not in the position to impose its ideas on it.

    Ayxela explained that some of the recommendations were for the commission while others were for the national assembly and political parties.

    He announced that the technical team of the delegation would stay with the commission until November to further support and observe its preparations.

    Later at the National Headquarters of People’s Democratic Party, Chairman of the party’s National Caretaker Committee, Sen. Ahmed Maikarfi, commended the EU Parliament for supporting democracy in Nigeria.

    He urged the parliament to continue to support the country for sustained democracy and good governance in the county.

     

    NAN

  • EFCC operatives forced me to admit taking N30m from Diezani – INEC official

    An ex-Administrative Secretary with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Mr. Christian Nwosu, on Thursday alleged that operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC forced him to admit receiving a N30m bribe from the former embattled Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Allinson-Maduekwe to compromise results of the 2015 general elections.

    Nwosu, who is being prosecuted before the Federal High Court in Lagos for the alleged bribery, claimed that the three confessional statements he made to the Commission on December 28, 2016 and March 15 and 22, 2017 were not done voluntarily.

    He claimed to have been threatened and cajoled to make the confessional statements, adding that he was not given the opportunity to consult his lawyer before he made the statements.

    He, however, admitted that he signed for and collected N30m from Fidelity Bank.

    Nwosu stated this on Thursday while being led in evidence by his lawyer, Mr. Victor Opara, during a trial-within-trial ordered by Justice Mohammed Idris to test the voluntariness of three confessional statements he made to the EFCC.

    The EFCC accused him of conspiring with two other INEC officials to take a total bribe of N264.88m from Diezani to compromise the election.

    He had earlier pleaded guilty to the charges and opted for a plea bargain, after which the EFCC told the court that it had already recovered N5m cash and a landed property worth N25m from him.

    But Nwosu later abandoned the plea bargain after Justice Idris rejected the N500,000 fine proposed for him as punishment by the EFCC.

    Justice Idris had held that by virtue of Section 16(2)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, under which Nwosu was charged, he was supposed to pay a fine of N10m or go to jail for two years.

    At his resumed trial on Thursday, he maintained that he never voluntarily entered into a plea bargain with the EFCC but was cajoled to do so.

     

  • 2018: INEC fixes dates for Ekiti, Osun gov elections

    2018: INEC fixes dates for Ekiti, Osun gov elections

    The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has announced the dates for the governorship election in Ekiti and Osun states.

    The electoral umpire said Ekiti State Governorship election will hold on July 14, 2018, while Osun State Governorship election will hold September 22, 2018, INEC disclosed on Thursday.

    INEC national commissioner, Solomon Soyebi, who disclosed the dates, said commencement date of campaigns for Ekiti Governorship election is April 15, 2018.

    Campaigns for Osun election is scheduled to start on June 24, 2018.

  • Corruption: Yakubu spits fire, says ‘We might get rid of everybody in INEC before 2019 elections’

    The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu on Tuesday said the Commission under his leadership might overhaul the entire system in order to kick out the corrupt officials before the 2019 general elections.

    The INEC boss noted that the commission will continue to cooperate with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to fish corrupt officials in the within its fold.

    Yakubu also disclosed that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission was already probing the commission’s officials in 20 states over alleged electoral fraud.

    He said this during a quarterly consultative meeting with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday.

    Regarding the prosecution and probe of 205 of its officials for allegedly receiving part of the N23bn reportedly disbursed by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani-Alison Madueke, the INEC boss said he would continue to cooperate with the EFCC.

    Yakubu said the last report given to him by the EFCC involved 16 states. He said the EFCC was already probing INEC officials in 20 other states

    He said, “I want to say that this is the first time in the history of our elections that in one fell swoop, 205 officials were disciplined based on the interim report we received from the EFCC covering 16 states.

    “Under the terms and conditions of service what we can do is to interdict them which means placing them on half salary and suspending them from work until their innocence or guilt is established. The last report covered 16 states and only last week I heard they had started prosecuting them.

    “However, after receiving the report, we had a discussion with the EFCC and told them that for the outstanding 20 states, they should not submit any interim report to INEC but just prosecute them.

    “Once they are taken to court, we activate the provisions of the terms and conditions of service. Whatever we need to do we will do even if it means getting rid of everybody in the commission and recruiting afresh for the purpose of the 2019 elections. We are committed to doing so.”

    Giving a breakdown of the Continuous Voter Registration conducted between April and September 2017, the INEC boss said about 667, 103 persons registered to vote in the South-South geopolitical zone. The zone comprises Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Rivers states.

    The South-West came in second with 532,172 persons registered to vote while the North-West, which has seven states, had a combined 477, 056 registered voters.

    The North-Central came in fourth with 374, 923 while the South-East which has five states recorded 352,942 voters.

    In the North-East, 350,398 registered within the same period.

    Rivers State recorded the highest number of registered voters at 151, 398 while Lagos came second with 144, 076. Ondo recorded the lowest number with 29, 766.

    In total, about 2, 786, 405 persons registered to vote between April and September. However, only 108, 752 had come forward to claim their cards.

    Yakubu said eight million voter cards remain unclaimed.

    Yakubu lamented that out of the eight million PVCs were unclaimed nationwide, Lagos accounted for about one million.

    He said, “Some of you will also recall that Lagos has recorded the least collection of PVCs not in terms of numbers but in relation to the numbers that registered. Out of the eight plus million PVCs still uncollected nationwide, over a million are uncollected in Lagos.”

    The INEC boss said the voter apathy in Lagos was worrisome as various strategies employed by INEC seemed not to be working.

    He said the last two by-elections in Lagos had recorded very low turnout.

    The INEC chairman said the commission was ready for the Anambra governorship election which comes up next month.

    He said over 6,000 smartcard readers would be used for the election

    The INEC boss said the commission would not be discouraged by the legal obstacles it was facing in the process of recalling the Kogi-West lawmaker, Senator Dino Melaye.

    Yakubu said constituents had the right to recall anybody they wanted to in a democracy.

    The INEC boss also warned politicians seeking to run in 2018 and 2019 to stop campaigning as this was in contravention of the Electoral Act.