The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)

  • INEC begins distribution of sensitive materials in Edo

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Edo, on Thursday began the distribution of sensitive materials to the 18 local government areas in the state for Saturday’s rescheduled elections.

    The first batch of the materials left the Benin branch of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in an articulated truck at about 9.30 a.m.

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    The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Mr Emmanuel Alex-Hart, told newsmen that the vehicle was conveying the materials to Uhunmwonde, Owan East, Owan West and Akoko-Edo Local Government Areas.

    The truck was accompanied by some buses conveying security personnel and political party agents.

    “The second batch of materials are loaded into another truck under the watchful eyes of security and party agents and the truck is heading to Etsako East, Etsako West and Etsako Central Local Government Areas.

    “The third truck is going to be loaded now with materials meant for Esan West, Esan Central, Esan North-East, Esan South-East and Igueben local government areas,” he said.

    According to Alex-Hart, the process is going on smoothly under the watchful eyes of security personnel and the party agents.

    “Hopefully, in the next few hours all the materials would have left the CBN to various local government areas.’’

  • We’ve completed Card Readers’ configuration 100 per cent, says INEC

    THE Independent National Electoral Commission  (INEC) has completed 100 per cent the configuration of the Smart Cards Readers  (SCRs), which will be used for voters’ accreditation for elections on Saturday and March 9, its chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said yesterday.

    Yakubu, who stated this while updating the media and observers on the preparedness of the commission for the polls, said the deployment of voting materials to the 774 local government areas will be completed today.

    The INEC boss added that the deployment began yesterday in 10 states.

    He also acknowledged that there were report of missing materials in some states.

    The commission, he assured, has made good progress in the areas of logistics and is set for the rescheduled polls.

    Yakubu said: “At Tuesday’s briefing, we reported that we achieved 95 per cent configuration of the Smart Card Readers (SCR) nationwide. The Card Readers were introduced in the 2015 general elections to facilitate the accreditation of voters using the PVCs.

    “They are configured to specific polling units and only open for use at 8am on election day. They automatically shut down by 10 pm to forestall any illegal use before the appointed time of elections. I am pleased to report that we have now achieved 100 per cent completion of the configuration. We are good to go on this score.

    “Similarly, I briefed you on Monday that our state offices had commenced the process of inviting stakeholders to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to examine the retrieved materials deployed last week and to witness the batching of materials according to Local Government Areas (LGAs). Reports from the states indicate full compliance.

    “Similarly, I said that having moved the sensitive materials to the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the forward deployment to the 774 LGAs nationwide commenced on Wednesday February 20, 2019 and will be concluded Thursday February 21, 2019.

    “Already, Adamawa, Anambra, Benue, Ekiti, Jigawa, Katsina, Osun, Ogun, Oyo and Taraba states have commenced the movement of materials to LGAs today. Other states will do so and conclude Thursday.  We will give a full rendition of movement to LGAs across all states of the Federation Thursday.

    “We have been making good progress on logistics. Similarly, all other arrangements for the movement of personnel from the LGAs to the wards are on course. We will fully brief you tomorrow at 3pm.”

    On restriction of movement, Yakubu said only accredited diplomats would be allowed to move about as there is restriction on movement.

    On the cost implication of postponement of the elections, he said it would be done after the process.

    “It is impossible to put a finger to the cost. But after the elections, we will know,” he said.

    Yakubu also noted that the commission is not under any kind of pressure ahead of the general elections.

    Assuring that it was almost impossible to penetrate the commission’s system, the INEC boss, however, said it would continue to strengthen facilities around its Information and Communications Technology (ICT).

    On the readiness of the commission to safeguard the voting materials from tampering, the INEC boss assured that the commission has mechanism in place to fully protect its facilities from any unauthorised assess as most of them are offline.

    “But, I want to assure you that much of our ICT facilities are offline. It is almost impossible to attack something that is offline. You can only attack something that is online. So, much of it is actually offline. But, I have taken note of what you have said and we will continue to strengthen security around the ICT. But, at the moment, we have no reason for any panic about any possibility of attack on the facility or compromise on our ICT facilities,” he assured.

    The INEC Chairman also added that the commission was not under any pressure from any quarter to conduct the election, promising to announce the result of the election as soon as possible in line with the procedure used in announcing the 2015 presidential election.

    “I said so before but let me also repeat that now we have more presidential candidates than 2015. We have more registered voters than we had in 2015. The size of the result sheet is bigger than we had in 2015. But, we are committed to concluding the process for the presidential election roughly around the same time that we concluded the last general election.

    “I understand that there is greater urgency, but keenly following the extension and particularly for those who are covering the commission that they don’t extend their stay more than is expected for the outcome of the election. We will do whatever we can to speedily conclude the election consistent with the provisions of the law. We won’t sacrifice due process on the altar of speed. But, we will make sure we balance speed and what we are supposed to do under the law,” he assured.

  • Your sincerity to conduct free, fair elections in doubt, Clark tells commission

    Ijaw national leader and elder statesman Chief Edwin Clark has queried the sincerity of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct free, fair and credible elections.

    Clark, who is also the leader of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), spoke to reporters yesterday in his Kiagbodo country home, after reading a letter addressed to the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu,.

    He raised questions about the manner and timing of the postponement of the presidential and National Assembly elections last Saturday, as well as matters surrounding the commission’s contractor saddled with the responsibility of producing sensitive election materials.

    According to him, the INEC Chairman had not done a good job while answering some of the questions posed to him since he called off the elections last weekend.

    The Ijaw leader added that the INEC chief still, among other things, need to explain to Nigerians and the world what the commission is doing with a card-carrying member of the ruling party as its contractor, producing materials for an election himself and other members of his party would take part in.

    Clark said: “On Saturday during the meeting with all the stakeholders, questions were being asked and he said they almost slept at the airport in Abuja because the weather was unfavourable, I should have agreed with you saying it also happened to me, but the Minister for Aviation faulted INEC Chairman that the weather was favourable and clear.

    “He further went on that the airport operations were directed to work for 24 hours. So, one has been wondering what happened. Then the national chairman of the APC asked series of questions, but unfortunately, he did not give all the answers to the questions Oshiomhole asked.

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    “But worse still, the PDP representative asked the chairman that there is a man that is an APC card carrier and is contesting a senatorial position in Niger State. The answer was, yes, the man works with us satisfactory since 2011.

    “At that junction, I decided to put something down, which should come out before Saturday. I was one of those active members, who took on this man in 2015, when there was contest between Jonathan and the present President Buhari.

    “There are questions that need to be answered. If the two major candidates are condemning INEC, who then gave the order to INEC to act? That means there must be something missing.

    “We have been told that it is a process, it does not start overnight on Saturday. Manipulation of election starts with the preparation of the election. It could be two years ago. If this man is working for them, and is a member of the APC, do you not believe that he must have done something to favour the APC?

    “Having regard to all these, it will be very difficult to say that the election will be free, fair and credible”, he said.

  • The wages of rigging

    IF the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had got its act right, we would have put the presidential and National Assembly elections behind us by now. But things did not work out the way the electoral umpire envisaged. INEC had proposed that the presidential and National Assembly elections hold on February 16 and those of the governorship and House of Assembly on March 2. Man proposes, God disposes, so goes the saying. Things did not work out, according to INEC’s plan.

    Its Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, at a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja, attended by some party leaders, presidential candidates, foreign and domestic observers, among others, was hard pressed explaining why he postponed the elections around 2 a.m., on Saturday, some six hours before the polls were to open nationwide. He insinuated that the commission’s efforts were sabotaged by unknown elements. How did he arrive at his sabotage theory?

    Hear him : “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 the Anambra State headquarter in Awka”. Nobody expected the postponement of the general elections at that eleventh hour. The impression Yakubu created before his sudden volte face was that everything was going on well. He repeatedly assured the nation that INEC was on course. So, it came as a shock to his countrymen when he postponed the elections at the ungodly hour of two o’clock in the morning last Saturday. The polls will now hold on Saturday and March 9.

    The postponement was bound to happen, the only problem was that Yakubu, despite being the head of INEC, did not see the handwriting clearly on the wall as it stared him in the face. If he had moved swiftly to shift the polls when INEC’s facilities were gutted by fire, the nation may have seen reason with him. But he shot himself in the foot when he did so after he had assured the nation that neither the fires nor any other man-made disaster could stop the elections from holding as scheduled. He was resolute about holding the elections on the fixed date and time. This was why he was not ready to allow such a ‘small incident’ as fire which destroyed permanent voter cards (PVCs) and Smart Card Readers (SCRs) to stop him from going ahead with the exercise.

    No doubt, the Prof would have learnt one or two things about public administration and management from what happened. How free and fair will the elections, which he is so determined to conduct, be? Will those who see election rigging as part of the game allow the process to go smoothly? Our elections are acrimonious because of blatant rigging. Many politicians, whether in or out of office, engage in it. No matter how popular they may be, they feel that if they do not back it up with rigging, the other party may get the better of them at the polls.

    Elections are not supposed to be rigged. Candidates are expected to contest and win on the strength of their popularity. Unfortunately, popularity does not win elections in this clime, rigging does. Many would have perfected the art of rigging last Saturday’s elections before they were postponed. The postponement has given INEC a golden opportunity to tie loose ends. The commission is lucky as the postponement has borne a good seed. President Muhammadu Buhari, who is visibly angry over how INEC, “which got everything it required for the polls”, handled matters, has weighed in to warn those planning to rig.

    The President wants a free and fair election. This much, he said, at the All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus meeting in Abuja on Monday to review the polls postponement. The way he spoke showed his state of mind about the deferred polls. It was a clear cut warning to all to allow the people’s vote count. If anybody does otherwise, he will be playing with fire, the President said.

    “Anybody who decides to snatch ballot boxes or lead thugs to disturb the process, may be that will be the last unlawful action you will take…So, I want to warn anybody who thinks he has enough influence in his locality to lead a body of thugs to snatch ballot boxes or disturb the voting system, he will do it at the expense of his life”. The President’s statement has created a storm, with some people tagging it “a licence to kill”. To me, it is not. He made the statement with good intentions. Are those criticising him, saying that ballot box snatchers should be allowed free rein? The President did not ask that riggers be summarily killed. No, he merely warned them about the consequences of their action.

    Put another way, are Buhari’s critics saying the people should turn a blind eye when they see ballot box snatchers at work? For long, the system has treated riggers  with kid gloves, thereby creating room for them to thrive. Thus, they will tell you confidently that without voting, their candidate would win. Our elections should no longer be decided on the dictate of ballot box snatchers and their masters. It is time to rise against them as the President said. Perhaps, this may be the beginning of the cleansing of our electoral process.

  • CODER urges parties to cooperate with INEC

    THE Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reform (CODER), an election observer group for the 2019 general election, has urged parties to support the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure a free and fair election.

    Speaking in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos yesterday, CODER Executive Director, Dr. Wunmi  Bewaji, said the success of the elections should be the concern of all Nigerians, irrespective of political affiliations.

    He said: “CODER is an accredited election observer group for the 2019 Presidential, National Assembly, Governorship and State Assembly elections. To achieve this goal, we have trained 380 field observers, who have been deployed in states since February 14. The purpose of this news conference is to present our initial findings on the postponed election of February 16 and make recommendations to stakeholders ahead of the rescheduled dates of February 23 and March 9.

    “INEC was unprepared for the election and must do all within its power to fix the defects in its logistic chain, which eventually led to the postponement of the election. This unpreparedness may not entirely be the fault of INEC, but was perhaps also due to the late approval of its budget by the National Assembly. INEC must, however, review their planning and logistics and ensure that they have fallback plans in case of unforeseen challenges”

    Bewaji said to ensure that every vote must count, CODER has always strived to monitor elections through the various stages of the electoral process, adding: “In each election cycle, many Nigerians have relied on POLLWATCHNG, CODER’s election reporting platform, for up-to-date, verified election reports. NigeriaDecides2019 will not be different.”

    He said: “Our observers noted that voters turned out in many areas despite the postponement. This was not surprising, considering the late hour of the postponement announcement.”

  • Delta REC threatens to cancel rescheduled polls

    The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Delta State, Dr. Cyril Omoregbe, has threatened to cancel the rescheduled polls should the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters fail to send materials for the polls.

    He said: “If all election materials do not arrive by 2pm on Friday, I will not hesitate to cancel the election. I will not wait till 2am to cancel the poll. Some of the discrepancies we spotted in the materials include those of other states wrongly sent to Delta and vice versa. Some council areas did not have result sheets as well.”

    Prior to last weekend’s postponement, the REC said the commission, due to non-receipt of some sensitive materials, did not deploy to the field.

    Omoregbe, who spoke to reporters yesterday in Asaba, said sensitive materials which where warehoused at the Central Bank in Asaba were intact as none had been deployed. “It is pertinent to state that no single sensitive material had been deployed to the field before the postponement was announced.”

    He added that election materials will be deployed to the field earlier than expected, especially to inaccessible parts of the state.

    The REC added that reconfiguration of 5,823 card readers was on and the configuration was in compliance with the timeline of activities of the new dates.

  • INEC commence distribution electoral materials in Kebbi

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Kebbi State has confirmed that it has received all the sensitive materials meant for presidential and national assembly elections and would kicks off its distribution today Wednesday across 21 Local Government Areas in kebbi state.

    The Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Alhaji Ahmad Mahmud who confirmed this while briefing newsmen after inspection of the delivered materials at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Birnin-Kebbi, he notes that all the needed Card Readers have been configured.

    According to him, “I can confirm to you that we have received all the sensitive materials meant for Kebbi and all the Card Readers have been configured. Also, later today (Wednesday) we shall start distribution of all the sensitive materials across 21 local government areas in the state”, he said.

    Mahmud also discloses that 1,806,231 registered voters are expected to cast their votes in the national and state elections in the state stressed that 77,932 Permanent Voters Card (PVCs) were still unclaimed by eligible voters in the state.

    According to him, “the total registered voters in the state are 1,806,231 and we have 77,932 unclaimed PVCs in the state. The voting exercise will also take place in 2,398 polling units with 1,345 voting points in 225 wards.

    “We have over 16,000 adhoc staff, including collating officers, Returning Officers and other electoral officers that would supervise the elections. Let me all assured you that as of today, there is no flash point in kebbi state”. He added.

  • Your sincerity to conduct free, fair and credible elections in doubt, Clark tells INEC

    Ijaw national leader and elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, has raised questions about the sincerity of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a free, fair and credible 2019 elections.

    Chief Clark, who is also the leader of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), who spoke after reading from a letter addressed to the Chairman of the INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, to journalists in his Kiagbodo country home on Wednesday, raised questions about the manner and timing of the postponement of the presidential and National Assembly elections last Saturday, as well as matters surrounding the commission’s contractor saddled with the responsibility of producing election sensitive materials.

    According to him, the INEC chairman had not done a good job answering some of the questions posed to him since he called off the elections last weekend, adding that the chief elections umpire stills, among other things, to explain to Nigerians and the world what the commission is still doing with a card-carrying member of the ruling party as its contractor, producing materials for an election himself and other members of his party would take part in.

    “On Saturday during the meeting with all the stakeholders, questions were being asked and he said they almost slept at the airport in Abuja because the weather was unfavourable, I should have agreed with you saying it also happened to me but the minister for aviation faulted INEC chairman that the weather was favourable and clear.

    Read also: Elections: FG declares Friday public holiday, excludes bankers

    “He further went on that the airport operations were directed to work for 24hours, so one has been wondering what happened. Then the national chairman of the APC asked series of questions, but unfortunately, he did not give all the answers to the questions Oshiomhole asked.

    “But worse still, the PDP representative, asked the chairman that there is a man that is an APC card carrier and is contesting a senatorial position in Niger State, the answer was, yes, the man works with us satisfactory since 2011.

    “At that junction, I decided to put something down which should come out before Saturday. I was one of those active members who took on this man in 2015 when there was contest between Jonathan and the present President Buhari.

    “There are questions that need to be answered. If the two major candidates are condemning INEC, who then gave the order to INEC to act? That means there must be something missing. But he has assured us that the elections will be free, fair and credible, so I’m not suggesting that the elections will not be free, fair and credible if Nigerians actually.

    “We have been told that it is a process, it does not start overnight on Saturday, manipulation of election starts with the preparation of the election. It could be two years ago. If this man is working for them, and is a member of the APC, do you not believe that he must have done something to favour the APC? It is morally unjustifiable and that.

    “Having regard to all these, it will be very difficult to say that the election will be free, fair and credible”, he said.

  • INEC begins movement of sensitive materials to 16 Ekiti LGs

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Ekiti on Wednesday began movement of sensitive materials for Saturday’s rescheduled Presidential and National Assembly elections to the 16 local government areas.

    The News Agency of Nigeria  (NAN) reports that sorting and distribution of the materials took place at the temporary site of the state branch of the Central Bank on the State Secretariat Road, Ado Ekiti.

    Among the items distributed were card readers, ballot papers, result sheets, and different forms and registers.

    Representatives of leading political parties such as the PDP and APC were on hand to monitor the distribution exercise.

    Dr Muslim Omoleke, the INEC Administrative Secretary in the state, who doubles as the Acting Resident Electoral Commissioner, said it was part of  proactive measures devised by the commission to  ensure a hitch-free exercise.

    He said the exercise,  which began about 2.00 p.m on Wednesday,  would be concluded  before the close of work on Thursday.

    Omoleke assured that the commission was not leaving any stone unturned toward achieving a timely and hitch-free exercise.

    NAN reports that the adjoining roads leading to the apex bank were barricaded by stern looking mobile policemen keeping vigil.

    Speaking on the development, the PDP representative at the Central Bank, Mr Oluwalafe Sunday,  expressed satisfaction that all the sensitive materials were intact and distributed accordingly.

    His APC counterpart, Mr Garuba Arogundade,  also expressed satisfaction with the process.

    He said his only area of concern was that INEC should have started the distribution days earlier so as not to be under pressure.

    Also commenting, the MEGA Party representative, Mr Femi Oladipo,  commended INEC for making efforts to live up to its promise of making sure all election materials got to polling booths on record time on the day of the election. (NAN)

  • INEC distributes sensitive materials in Kwara

    …returns uncollected PVCs to CBN

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in Kwara on Wednesday commenced the distribution of sensitive materials to the 16 local government areas in the state.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the first local government to receive INEC’s sensitive materials was Asa.

    The reports from other local governments such as  Barutin and Kaiama in the northern part of the state were still being expected at the time of filling this report.

    NAN also reports that a total of 1, 149, 969 Permanent Voter Card (PVC) were collected by prospective voters, while the 257, 431 that were not collected were returned to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Ilorin branch.

    Also, the total of  registered voters in the state stood at 1,407, 335.

    The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Malam Atahiru Madami, who led journalists to inspect the PVCs said that the return of the PVCs was to protect the integrity of the process.

    Madami said that no electoral officers could go beyond the accredited number of voters in each of the polling units across the state.

    According to him, the number of collected PVCs in each of the local government cannot be more than the number of votes cast.

    The REC stated that after the governorship election slated for March 9, INEC would resume the distribution of voter cards to potential voters.

    He said that Kwara scored 82 per cent in PVCs’ collection, adding that the state came third in the exercise.

    NAN reports that no fewer than 11 political parties’ agents and some election observers monitored the distribution of sensitive materials and the return of the PVCs not collected to the CBN.

    The observers were from: Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as a local observer witnessed the distribution.

    When NAN sought the views of Mr James Lahai representing EISA, one of the monitoring organisations for the elections, he replied that their assessment was usually done holistically.

    He told NAN that they have a central database which would inform the public their general and collective findings of the elections.

    “We don’t look at issues in isolation, we look at our database and present our findings jointly. Giving a verdict about Kwara will be in isolation of the entire process,’’he said. (NAN)