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Tag: INEC

  • #Riversrerun: INEC suspends election in Akuku-Toru LGA

    #Riversrerun: INEC suspends election in Akuku-Toru LGA

    Mr Austin Okojie, a Supervising Resident Electoral Commissioner has announced the suspension of rerun legislative election in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area.

    Okojie told newsmen at Abonnema, head quarter of Akuku-Toru Local Government on Saturday that the decision to suspend the election was taken after a meeting with representatives of parties.

    He said the election would be held on Sunday.

    He said INEC did not continue with the exercise because ad-hoc staff and corps members complained of lateness.

    Meanwhile, representatives of the APC and the PDP have expressed mixed reactions to the suspension of the election.

    Mr Tonye Alalibo, Care Taker Committee Chairman of the Local Government,said that the suspension would allow a rival party manipulate the process.

    Alalibo said the PDP was ready for the elections but INEC decided to suspend the process.

    Mr Isobo Jack, a leader of the APC in the area, said it was unfortunate that the elections couldn’t hold but hoped that it would be held as agreed.

    Jack urged his party faithful to be patient and avoid anything that could cause crisis.

  • #Riversrerun: INEC bars journalists from entering collation centre

    Journalists have been denied access to the collation centre of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

    Some of the Journalists who converged at the INEC headquaters in the state were reportedly sent out of the collation unit by security operatives.

    Speaking about the incidence, a journalist who pleaded anonymity said: “A police officer told us they have been ordered to stop some us from accessing the unit”

    “The officer claimed they have a special list of journalists who will be permitted to access the collation center.”

    Meanwhile the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), announced that collation of results would be held at the constituencies were elections held.

    The electoral body made the announcement on Saturday via its Facebook page.

    The statement read, “Collation of the Rivers Re-run elections will take place in the respective constituencies where such elections took place and not in one central location.”

    More details soon..

  • Abe expresses reservation over training of INEC officials in Abia

    Abe expresses reservation over training of INEC officials in Abia

    …Calls for transparency on conduct of December 10 Re-run Elections

    Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Rivers South East Senatorial District in the legislative re-run elections, has expressed reservation on the activities of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) in Rivers State to conduct a free and fair election.

    Speaking at a press briefing in Port Harcourt, Abe said that INEC had been conducting its activities to the knowledge of Governor Nyesom Wike and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

    He revealed that Collation and Returning Officers were being trained at an obscure hotel in Umuahia, Abia State.

    “We are becoming very concerned about the activities and linkages that we are seeing between the PDP and the INEC. We just received a report this evening that the INEC Collation and returning officers were being trained at the Dangreet Hotel in Umuahia in Abia state and from our knowledge of the operations of INEC, no training of officers has ever been conducted in any obscure hotel in this country.

    Training of officers is always done in the universities where the officers are being picked from and from that university they are taken straight to the state where they are to do their job. But to hear now that collation and returning officers were being trained at the Dangreet Hotel, Umuahia in the presence of PDP agents when our own agents were not informed or aware of it. It certainly calls for concern and we believe that in this exercise INEC should not only be fair but be seen by all Nigerians to be fair.

    We are very concerned because of the relationship that exists between some of the key actors in this whole thing and some of the key players in the INEC structure. We think that all Nigerians must be vigilant as far as this Rivers re-run election is concerned and that all the parties should be evenly and fairly treated”.

    Abe said that another case in point was the December 10 election date, which INEC discussed with Gov. Wike, who he stated was an interested party, adding that it was the governor who announced the date as December 10 for the re-run elections before INEC did.

    “I have had cause to tell Nigerians that this date December 10 was fixed at a meeting between Gov. Wike and INEC to which we were not privy, involved and consulted. The first person that made the date 10th of December public to the Nigerian people was Gov. Nyesom Wike, when he announced that now INEC had said that this election will hold on the 10th and we will see how that will work”.

  • Buhari swears in 6 INEC Commissioners

    Buhari swears in 6 INEC Commissioners

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday swore in six Commissioners of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and expressed concern over the integrity of the nation’s electoral processes.

    The president charged the commissioners to be firm and fair in the discharge of their duties, urging them to help consolidate the integrity of the electoral body

    “This administration is extremely concerned with the integrity of the electoral processes. You are people of great integrity, renowned throughout the country. This administration will depend on you to be firm and fair.

    “What this administration expects after we have gone, Nigerians will read the political history and know that we served Nigeria.

    “Woo Nigerians to use Permanent Voters Card (PVC), cross checked by card reader, that they have been given the opportunity,” he said.

    The president, who frowned at the way bye-elections were conducted in some states of the federation, said government would continue to ensure violent-free elections in the country.

    He congratulated the commissioners for their new appointments.

    Responding on behalf of the commissioners, Mr Okechukwu Ibeano, pledged that they would discharge their duties diligently.

    He also thanked the president and Nigerians for giving them the opportunity to serve the nation.

    “On behalf of my five colleagues, I thank the President and Nigerians for giving us this special and challenging opportunity to serve this country.

    “We pledge to discharge our duties, responsibilities and functions as contained in the oath of allegiance and oath of office which we have just sworn to.

    “We seek the support and prayers of the government and people of Nigeria so that we can discharge our functions to the best of our abilities and contribute to improve the advances and achievements that have been recorded in our electoral processes so far.

    The six INEC commissioners sworn in by the President are Okechukwu Obinna Ibeanu (Anambra), May I. Agbamuche-Mbu (Delta) and retired AVM Ahmed Mu’Azu from Gombe state.

    Others are Mohammed Kudu Haruna (Niger), Mr Adekunle Ogunmola (Oyo) and Abubakar Nahuche from Zamfara.

  • Lagos by-election: INEC, CP blame low turnout on poor awareness

    Lagos by-election: INEC, CP blame low turnout on poor awareness

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Saturday blamed the low turnout of voters for the Ifako/Ijaiye Federal Constituency by-election in Lagos to poor awareness.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the election resulted from the death of Mr Elijah Adewale, who represented the constituency in the House of Representatives.

    Adewale died in Abuja on July 20.

    Alhaji Abdullahi Kaugama, Supervisory Resident Electoral Commissioner
    for the Ifako/Ijaiye Federal Constituency By-election, made the observation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) during the election.
    He said that although the commission did its best to create awareness on the exercise, awareness of by-election generally in the country was low.

    ”Actually, awareness of by-election in Nigeria is low because people don’t know much about it.

    ”It may also be because political parties did not carry out enough campaigns, but generally, the conduct has been peaceful, ” he said.

    The commissioner said that poll officers and materials got to polling units in time.

    Also speaking to NAN during a routine inspection to the polling units, Mr Fatai Owoseni, Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, said that the low turnout was because political parties and their candidates did not carry out adequate campaigns.

    ”INEC will not go and bring voters out to vote. The parties did not campaign enough for this by-election. Out of six political parties, only about two printed posters.

    ”Adequate campaigning was not done. So the people did not really know who they are voting for, ” he said.

    Owoseni confirmed that the electoral process had been without any violence.

    ”It is almost 2p.m. It has been peaceful, and I am advising the contestants to imbibe the spirit of sportsmanship – election is just like football game. There must be a winner,” Owoseni said,

    The Administrative Secretary of the commission in Lagos State, Mr Clement Oha, said: “We have been going round; we have visited 90 per cent of the polling units so far.

    ” I will say I am very impressed except that the turnout is very low. The process is peaceful.

    ”Our card readers are working 100 per cent; we have not got any complaint whatsoever”.

    On the low turnout, Oha said that INEC did its best to sensitise the people in the constituency.

    ”We went round the nooks and crannies of the constituency for two days to create awareness; so, we cannot explain why people did not turn up.

    ”But generally, I am impressed with the whole process and the conduct of voters and parties.
    “There is no violence, thuggery, ballot box snatching. All our registration area centres are in top form and ready for collation, ”Oha said.

    Mr Babatope Akinyele, the PDP candidate for the election, said that inadequate campaigns caused the voter apathy.

    NAN reports that voting had been concluded in most polling units and voting points at Iju, Fagba, Ogba as at the time of this reports, while counting had started