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Tag: Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)

  • ‘We expect improved safety, welfare for corps members by INEC’

    The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to keep to its pledge of ensuring the safety and welfare of all corps members deployed as ad hoc staff for the general elections.

    Mrs Adenike Adeyemi, the NYSC Director, Press and Public Relations, in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, said the commission had assured the scheme that adequate arrangements had been made for transportation, accommodation and security for corps members deployed for the exercise.

    Adeyemi, however, said that the unpleasant occurrences experienced by corps members on the eve of February 16 were against the MoU signed by both organisations.

    “The attention of NYSC management has been drawn to uninspiring pictures and tales of woes experienced by many corps members assigned to INEC duties in several states across the country on the eve of the postponed general elections.

    “These have been confirmed as authentic situation reports and have since been brought to the attention of the INEC management.

    “While these incidents have been adduced to the logistic challenges which INEC experienced, the NYSC wishes to note that the unpleasant occurrences are totally at variance with the spirit of our MoU with INEC.

    “We are therefore, currently engaged in discussion with INEC management towards ensuring that these and all other sundry issues bordering on the welfare and security of corps members are quickly addressed and redressed before the rescheduled elections.

    Read Also: INEC okays resumption of campaigns

    “It will be recalled that in the build up to the participation of corps members as ad-hoc electoral staff, the Director-General of the NYSC, Maj.-Gen. Suleiman Kazaure led other members of management on nationwide tour to meet with INEC state officials, heads of security agencies, community and opinion leaders to obtain assurances on the welfare and security of corps members before, during and after the elections.

    “In these meetings, NYSC received full assurances on adequate arrangement for transport, accommodation and security, especially at the Registration Area Centres (RACs) throughout the period.

    “We therefore expect improved safety and welfare provisions by INEC in the rescheduled elections,” the statement read in part.

    She reassured the corps members and the public that the safety, welfare and remuneration for corps members would be provided by INEC as earlier agreed by both organisations.

    Adeyemi said that in furtherance to this, INEC has assured the management of the scheme that it has commenced payment of training and feeding allowances to corps members nationwide as well as election duty allowance.

    She also assured parents, individuals, groups and other stakeholders that the scheme’s commitment to the welfare of corps members remained unwavering.

     

    NAN

  • We are not under anyone’s influence – Adamawa REC

    The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Adamawa State, Barrister Kassim Gaidam, has refuted a news report that he rejected offer of bribe to the tune of $1m and a house in Dubai from the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

    “We wish to refute this story as not emanating from the Hon. REC. The REC is presently focused on efforts to deliver free, fair and credible elections and has no time for indulgence in distractions intended by the peddlers of the falsehood,” said a statement signed and issued on Tuesday by the Head of Voter Education department of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Adamawa State, Rifkatu Duku.

    The statement called on all Nigerians to disregard “this fake story as the figment of the infantile imagination of its authors which has no basis on facts!”

    Read Also: Troops foil insurgents attack in Adamawa

    A news report had alleged that Atiku had given each REC around the country $1m to compromise the card readers to favour him against incumbent president and candidate of the All Progressives Congress APC), Muhammadu Buhari.

    The Adamawa INEC resident commissioner who spoke further on the allegation while administering oath of neutrality on INEC staff at the INEC state office in Yola, said neither Atiku nor any other politician or group of politicians had given him or any INEC staff any form of bribe.

    “Nobody has offered us inducement and we are under nobody’s influence,” he asserted.

    Performing the oath of neutrality on INEC staff in the state, the resident electoral commissioner said the staff is committed to free and fair elections without preference for any candidate.

    “All INEC staff, permanent or adhoc engaged for the elections, shall carry out their functions in line with global best practices. We are only interested in delivering credible elections and not who wins or loses,” he said.

    He apologized to Adamawa people over the postponement of the presidential and National Assembly elections and appealed to them not to be discouraged but to come out in large numbers to vote during the rescheduled election on Saturday.

  • INEC okays resumption of campaigns

    PARTIES threatening to resume campaigns following the postponement of the general elections got the nod to return to campaign grounds last night.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) reversed itself on its earlier position that political campaigns ended last Thursday, being 48 hours to the Presidential and National Assembly elections that was shifted by a week.

    The commission after reviewing its decision yesterday gave parties the go-ahead to resume campaigns.

    INEC had in the early hours of Saturday postponed Presidential and National Assembly election from February 16 to February 23 and the Governorship and State Assembly, as well as Federal Capital Territory (FCT) polls of March 2 to March 9.

    The commission cited logistics and alleged sabotage of its efforts for the shift.

    Fielding questions at a stakeholders meeting where INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, explained the last minute’s decision, the commission insisted that the ban on campaigns would remain in force.

    But the parties vowed to go ahead with campaigns since Section 99 of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended, stipulates that campaign should stop 48 hours to the election.

    INEC announced the resumption of campaign yesterday through a statement by its National Commissioner in charge of Information and Voter Education, Mr. Festus Okoye.

    The statement reads: “The Independent National Electoral Commission met on Monday, 18th February, 2019 and reviewed its preparations for the 2019 general elections re-scheduled for Saturday, 23rd February, 2019 for the Presidential and National Assembly elections and Saturday, 9th March, 2019 for governorship, State Assembly and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council Elections.

    “It would be recalled that at the briefing held on Saturday, 16th February, 2019 at the Abuja International Conference Centre (AICC), the commission gave reasons for re-scheduling the polls and released a new schedule of activities leading up to the elections.

    Read also: Court remands pastor for allegedly raping girl, 11

    “The commission has also worked out in detail, concrete steps to be taken to ensure that election materials arrive at the polling units in good time for prompt commencement of the polls on Saturday, 23rd February 2019.

    “An update will be provided by the Commission at a press conference on Tuesday, 19th February at the Abuja International Conference Centre by 3pm.

    “In the meantime, after consultations with political parties, the Commission has approved that campaigns by parties and candidates can resume forthwith to end by midnight of Thursday, let February 2019.

    “Media organisations are at liberty to accept, publish, broadcast and circulate campaign materials up till midnight of Thursday, 21st February, 2019. Political parties and their candidates are enjoined to abide by the extant laws governing campaigns.

    “The commission wishes to thank all Nigerians for their understanding regarding the rescheduling of the elections. We appeal to stakeholders to be dispassionate and circumspect in their comments.

    “The Commission is focusing on the elections to be held on 23, February and 9, March to ensure that they are free, fair and credible. We urge all Nigerians to participate fully in the elections, notwithstanding the disappointment.”

  • Oshiomhole accuses INEC of colluding with anti-democratic forces

    •Says party’ll resume  campaigns

    ALL Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole is not done with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the stoppage of the Presidential and National Assembly elections last Saturday.

    Oshiomhole believes that some elements within INEC are colluding with “anti-democratic forces” to push the general elections to a point where it becomes impossible to hold as guaranteed under the law.

    The chairman, who spoke at the emergency National Caucus meeting of the ruling party, also said that the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has no legal power to stop parties from continuing with their campaigns.

    He said that the APC, as a law abiding party, will go ahead with its campaigns until Thursday –  in line with the 48-hour before election, as provided for by law.

    The APC chairman insisted that some of the staff deployed by the commission have been identified as working with the opposition in their states. He cited Akwa Ibom.

    Oshiomhole said that allowing the “anti-democratic forces” to have their way would give victory to those calling for an interim government. He urged the President to act.

    “The President should invoke the powers of state to ensure that any institution of state that has misbehaved, anybody that is involved in that act, particularly actions that weaken the fabrics of our democracy, you have a duty to trigger the process that will compel everyone involved in this to account,” he said.

    The APC chair said he was sure INEC knew it was going to postpone the elections and shared the information with the PDP, while pretending that all was well.

    He said: “As a governing party with huge a support base, we were determined not to disappoint our members and those who believe in our party. We mobilised our members to ensure that on Saturday, the 16th of February, all our polling points were manned by people who are competent and passionate about our party to function as agents of our party.

    “We did what is expected of a responsible political party. Unfortunately, we saw INEC magic. Gradually, as if it is a joke, we woke up to the worst; INEC postponed the elections by one week without adducing conducive reasons.

    “In moments like this, those who are weak hearted will give up while those determined will fight on. Whoever is involved in this action designed to frustrate our party and members as well as the electorate, it is our collective duty to put them to shame by using the period we have effectively to assure Nigerians that one setback cannot be the end.

    “Our commitment to democracy is not negotiable. Our people’s determination to re-elect Mr. President is not at the mercy of anybody, including INEC. Many have resolved that the more INEC tries to frustrate our people, the more determined we are. We want to assure Nigerians that we are committed to a free and fair election and we are not going to compromise on that.

    “It will be out of place to ignore all the hidden speculations surrounding the unjustified postponement of the election by INEC. This date was fixed by INEC about two and half years ago. It was not imposed on them and it was difficult to accept that in all of the period at their disposal, INEC did not know what ought to be where and at one time or the other to guarantee free and fair election.

    Read also: PDP alleges plots by Buhari, APC to truncate democracy

    “INEC chairman talked about the huge challenges of managing an election like this. In 1999, we conducted election and there were lessons to learn from that and we have had elections thereafter.

    “One had expected that 19 years down the road, INEC would have studied the process of its predecessor and it turned out not to be so. As we speak, we have questions we want INEC to provide answers to. For election to be free, fair and credible, the man with the key responsibility is INEC.

    “We have conveyed to INEC, the need to move some officers who have stayed too long in particular locations and have become part of the establishment in those locations and therefore may not be able to co duct free and fair election.

    “We have pointed out some Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) who have become so comfortable in their current states who are embedded in the state authority in their respective states.

    “In the past, when issues like this are raised, particularly when they can be proven, INEC leadership is known to have used administrative mechanism to change and redeploy. This INEC insists and the more you complain about a compromised officer, the more they are determined to keep the compromised officer.

    “For example, an officer in the Southsouth, a REC, chose to use the governor’s special assistant to superintendent over the training. How can our brother and sisters in Akwa Ibom State have confidence when the recruitment, process and deployment of the ad hoc staff is done between INEC and the government of Akwa Ibom State.

    “What we are expected to do is to point out what will be unhelpful and draw the attention of the authority. As we speak, that problem persists.

    “From what we now know, INEC leadership knew they were going to postpone the election and they shared the information with the PDP and advised them not to waste their resources while pretending to us that they are on top of the situation. I think that INEC deserves to make explanation to us, not because we are the governing party, but because we are a major player.

    “What INEC is doing in collusion with PDP is to get the opposition party to be shouting that they want INEC chairman removed under fake attack. If you ask me, I would say that as APC chairman, I second Secondus.

    “I have no difficulty seconding Secondus in having a new INEC chairman, if that is what it means to have a credible election. But this is fake; it will be a tragedy if, as a governing party, we cannot complain of being rigged out and yet, the early warning signals are there.

    “There are reports of elements in INEC working with anti- democratic forces to gradually move us to a situation where elections will become impossible, having regards to the provisions of the law. Those anti-democratic forces calling for interim government will, therefore appear to be winning.

    “It is time to assert the authority of state and direct INEC to begin to do what they need to do and if they don’t do it, they must be made to understand that that there are huge consequences. Whoever will preside over Nigeria must do so on the basis of one man, one vote. Those who want short cut to power must be identified and flushed out.

    “We must now go back and renew the campaign with the additional cost it entails. INEC again took a wrong decision to attempt to amend the law through mere administrative pronouncements that campaigns are frozen. INEC is not in a position to make law and the laws made by our parliaments are superior to the opinion of the INEC chairman.

    “The law is clear that when you postpone election, you are entitled to renew campaign up to 24 hours to the day of election. Therefore, as a law abiding party, we will proceed to re-energise our members to continue with the campaign and come out in huge numbers.

    “When you have a low voter turnout; that is when election rigging is most easy. Voter turnout and voter apathy can result from the confusion. We need to remind them across the country that elections have been rescheduled and they should have faith and be determined to vote.

    “We will resume the campaigns between now and Thursday because Friday is not a campaign day. Not going out to campaign can be good for parties without a support base. So, we want to inform INEC that we are proceeding with campaign and we are ready to meet them in court because they cannot, by administrative fiat, amend or distort the provisions of the Electoral Act and those laws are not secret to INEC.

    “INEC, having violated our confidence, must now earn it and sustain it every inch of the way. We have been told they will reconfigure card readers and we are told that they are about 180,000. Has it started and when will it be concluded?

    “Since we have about 176,000 polling points, it would mean that we have 4000 extra. Is INEC assuring us that the failure rate of the card reader will be about two  per cent? What is the basis for making allowances for only 4000?

    “Should there be failures above 4000, what is INEC contingency plan? We do not want staggered election, but nationwide election on the same day. So, they need to speak to us on the basis of this small addition. I would have thought that every card reader should have a spare. What they have done create room for suspicion.

    “From what we now know, in some states, INEC materials have been distributed, some people have cited some of the result sheets and some ballot papers. What is INEC doing differently to ensure that those who have seen those samples will not go and print them.

    “Are they telling us that they have taken care of some of the things that happened last Friday? For example, the materials meant for Edo state were delivered to another state, the ones meant for Delta state were delivered to Edo state.

    “Mr. President, I believe that because you are the President, you have dual responsibilities. One is to ensure that any institution of state that has misbehaved, anybody that is involved in that act, particularly actions that weaken the fabrics of our democracy, you have a duty to trigger the process that will compel everyone involved in this to account. We cannot be helpless because at the end of the day, all fingers will point at you.

    “We should insist that the election must be conducted properly and those RECs that have been compromised, we will impress on the INEC leadership that they don’t have the right to impose a corrupt or compromised REC on us.

    “When sufficient doubts have been raised on the character of a referee, no responsible match official will impose that referee on the players. We don’t care where people are posted to but INEC has the responsibility to move people around.”

    The governors at the meeting include: Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), Simon Lalong (Plateau), Godwin Obaseki (Edo), Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Umar Jibrilla Bindow (Adamawa), Yahaya Bello (Kogi), Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos), Tanko Al Makura (Nasarawa), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger), Kashim Shettima (Borno), Mohammed Abubakar (Bauchi), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti) and Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara).

    Also at the meeting were: Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; former Lagos Governor Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha; former Senate President Ken Nnamani; Senate Leader Ahmed Lawan; Power, Workers & Housing Ministers Babatunde Fashola; Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi and Information, Culture & Tourism Minister Lai Mohammed were also at the meeting.

    Also at the meeting were: former Zamafara State Governor Ahmed Sani Yerima; former Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio as well as governorship candidates of the party.

  • Our expectations about reschedule polls, by Mamora

    The Deputy Director-General (Operations) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, has advised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to redeem its image by conducting a free, fair and credible election on Saturday. Mamora,  who described the postponement of the elections by the electoral body as a national embarrassment, said the image of the country is also at stake.

    He said the postponement was unexpected against the backdrop that at every point in time INEC had consistently assured the nation of its readiness to conduct the elections as scheduled. He recalled that when INEC office in Anambra was razed down by fire, the electoral body said there was no cause for alarm and promised that the election would hold as scheduled.  The postponement is very painful, he said.

    He said: “It’s hard to quantify the economic losses and inconveniences that the postponement had caused.. Many people had travelled to where they registered only for them to wake up on Saturday morning and heard that INEC had postponed the election. It had great implications on businesses. Many people had postponed social programmes such as wedding, funerals and house warming to Februry 23 because of the election that didn’t hold, now their plans have been distorted by the new date fixed for the poll”.

    For the political parties, Mamora said the postponement means extra budget for logistics and mobilisation of their members and supporters, adding that they have to seek additional funds to meet up.

    According to him, the trauma would also affect the foreign observers who had planned their programmes based on INEC time table, meaning they would stay longer in the country than what they envisaged.

    Mamora urged INEC to work assiduously to strengthen our democratic process through free, fair and credible election. This, he said, would ameliorate postponement.

    Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN) said the Electoral Act permits the Commission to postpone elections in the national interest. He cited Section 26(1) of the Electoral Act 2010 (As Amended) to back up his argument.  Akintola said: “INEC has powers to postpone. But the sad thing about this postponement is that it waited till very late at night, disrupting the economy, the political lifeline of the country, the social traffic of the country.

    He said the postponement had caused inconveniences to the people. For instance,  The President had travelled to his home town in Daura, the Vice President had travelled, practically everyone that  is somebody had travelled.

    He urged INEC to learn fromits mistakes and redeem its image by making sure it conducts a transparent, free and fair election.

    Lawyer and human rights activist, Mr Monday Ubani agreed that the postponement had implications on the economy. He said many people had travelled far and near to where they registered in order to cast their votes but they were disappointed by the shift.

    Ubani said: “I travelled all the way from Lagos to my village in Abia State for the election. I woke up on Saturday morning to be informed that the election had been postponed. I will still come home because of the election on February 23. But how many Nigerians can afford to travel twice in a week because they want to cast their votes”.

    He said INEC may have good reasons to postpone the election. It is better we endure with the electoral commission to conduct a free, fair and credible election than to rush things and end up with sham election, he added.

    The chairman of the United Peoples Party, (UPP)Chekwas Okorie said: “The postponement of the election came to Nigerians irrespective of parties as a rude shock. We know quite well that there had been postponement in the past, that is in 2011 and 2015. They should have decided on how to avoid this situation. INEC should have been guided by the experience and not allow it to repeat itself. Now, it repeated itself in a manner that causes embarrassment. The cost in term of work not done, sitting at home, and businesses shut down and on the social scale you cannot begin to enumerate the social dislocation as a result of what happened. In another Saturday, the economy will be shut down for another round of election which ought to have taken place.

    He added: “The reason given by INEC may not be enough, we would not cry took much over spilled milk, this matter will continue to gain currency even after the election, so thing ought to be done well.

    “Nigeria is a vast country, we have been clamouring for electronic voting, the clamour started when UPP was registered as a party. We pointed this anomaly as one of the things the electronic voting will help us overcome. But unfortunately even the current President who promised us, when he was first elected, the UPP paid him a visit and advised him on electronic voting. He acknowledged that the card reader largely contributed to his winning the election.

    “Unfortunately for whatever reason, he has not been able to implement it. I understand he refused to sign the amended electoral bill and the aspect of the constitution that would have electronic voting possible, now we are here in this situation.

    “Again, the international community and people at home have to understand that our democracy is still developing. But INEC should ensure that it does not repeat itself and the new date is not shifted. Everybody is disappointed including the international community.

    “INEC should give the election the attention it deserved, so that it may end up being the most credible election Nigeria ever had. That is the only way Prof. Mamood Yakubu can justify the shift, otherwise I will recommend they should prepare their resignation letter and hand it over.”

  • Activists accuse INEC of tampering with election materials

    A group of activists, Kwara Advancement Initiative, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of tampering with sensitive election materials meant for the conduct of the rescheduled presidential and National Assembly elections in the state.

    In a statement by its Coordinator, Kamaldeen Olanrewaju, the group alleged that “there are strong indications that sensitive election materials – ballot papers, result sheets and card readers – transported to Kwara State for the elections and returned to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) office in Ilorin have been tampered with by some INEC officials in connivance with a prominent party.

    It added: “We wish to draw the attention of the media, observers, civil society groups and the public to this illegal and undemocratic act.

    “We also call on security agencies in the state, particularly the police, to urgently conduct an investigation into this matter and ensure that justice is done.

    “Kwarans should also be at on the alert and resist attempts by any party and the electoral body to manipulate elections in the state. We want free, fair and credible elections in Kwara.”

    But the INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Media, Jacob Ayanda said the report was not true.

    Ayanda, who said every process of the election had been done in full glare of the public, political parties and media, stressed that all stakeholders were there when the electoral body returned the election materials to the CBN.

    The INEC director said ballot papers had not been opened because the electoral process had not got to that level before the polls were postponed.

    He said the election materials were retrieved from the local government areas immediately the postponement of the presidential and National Assembly elections was announced last Saturday.

    “All political party agents and the media will be there when the election materials will be taken back from the CBN again for election purposes. They will be counted and the number and materials included will be counter-checked by all stakeholders involved.

    “There’s no secret about it. No ballot paper has been tampered with. It’s at the polling units that the materials will be opened for all to see. Party agents will be present at every stage of the election process,” Ayanda said.

  • PDP urges people to vote

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on the people of Anambra State to exercise their franchise on Saturday despite the let down by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) last weekend.

    The Chairman of Atiku/Obi Campaign Council, Oseloka Obaze, who addressed reporters yesterday, regretted the economic implications and opportunity cost of the postponement.

    He maintained that four years was enough time for INEC to prepare for the elections, “the postponement was a systemic failure on the part of INEC,” he added.

    According to him, INEC must apologise for causing so much frustration and international embarrassment to Nigeria, even as he urged Nigerians to ensure that their voices were heard through the ballot on the rescheduled dates.

    Read also: PDP alleges plots by Buhari, APC to truncate democracy

    He said: “INEC should revisit its directives that political campaigns should not be reopened. Our party takes a strong exception to that, and if need be, we are willing to approach the court to seek interpretation of the Electoral Act.

    “Our party in Anambra State will meet with the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) to inspect those materials, just the way we inspected them when they arrived, to ensure their sanctity has not been violated. And that should apply across board.”

  • Masari to Buhari: Your promised 3m votes intact despite postponed elections

    Katsina state Governor, Aminu Masari has said the postponed elections will not affect the promise made by Katsina people to deliver three million votes for re-election bid of President Muhammadu Buhari on Feb. 23.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on Saturday shifted the conduct of the Presidential and National Assembly elections to Feb. 23.

    The governorship, house of assembly, FCT area council elections were also shifted from March 2 to March 9.

    However, Masari told State House correspondents in Katsina that the postponement would not change the position of Katsina people, stressing that the APC Thursday’s rally had clearly indicated that the people would deliver on their three million votes for Buhari/Osinbajo ticket.

    He said: “Katsina people are ready; you saw it if you were here on Thursday (rally) you would know Katsina people are ready and prepared for these elections.

    “The postponement will not change anything, it will not change the position of Katsina state.

    “We were ready two days ago. I believe those of you who were in Katsina since on Wednesday or Thursday you would have seen that we were more than ready as far as the elections is concerned.’’

    According to the governor, the postponement based on previous experience did not come as surprise to him.

    Masari, who expressed serious concern over the postponement of the elections almost at the last hours by INEC, said “I hope INEC does not develop a culture of shifting dates of elections’’.

    He maintained that it would be unfair for anybody or organization to shift the blame of the postponed elections on President Buhari, adding that INEC, an independent body should be held responsible for its action.

    He said: “But the fact on ground is that INEC gave assurance and the federal government has given INEC all the resources they required. So, the failure if there is any is their own.

    Read also: Buhari’s directive could lead to extra-judicial killings – Dogara

    “It has nothing to do or very little to do with the President except that being the President and the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces whatever happens under the sun in Nigeria he becomes responsible but not liable.

    “If you are looking for somebody who is liable, INEC is liable to convince Nigerians why it shifted the elections because all the political parties are going to suffer the consequences of INEC’s action.

    “So, obviously there will be additional cost on the political parties and also on the government. So, the president cannot deliberately orchestrate this and knowing the kind of president Nigeria has now –  he has not even interfered with departments that are directly under him let alone a commission that is independent based on the provision of the constitution.

    “He is somebody who believes in the rule of law.’’

    On security situation in the state, the governor disclosed that the state government in collaboration with relevant security agencies at both local and state level had succeeded in securing the state from criminals.

    He commended the federal government for deploying more security personnel with additional tracking and other security gadgets to locate and apprehend kidnapers and bandits within and beyond the state.

    “From the time I cried out to date, one – there has been reinforcement in the police, also the Department of State Services has sent in more tracking devices and more personnel and the military are operating, the air force is in the air always.

    “I think there is improvement in terms of the level of security with regards to kidnapping, armed banditry.

    “We were very much concerned because we were afraid that it would affect elections in some of the wards that are bordering the forest areas.

    “But luckily enough with the combined operations of the local security under the local government system, the police; the Nigerian Civil Defence and the army, the situation has improved tremendously and we can now conduct elections in more than 95 per cent of those places that were being daily attacked, because most of the attacks were coming from the forest in Zamfara.

    “They hit and go on motor bikes. So, really security, yes,  is still a problem but not to the extent that it will disturb the issue of elections,’’ he said.(NAN)

  • Ekweremadu raises the alarm over missing result sheets

    Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu on Monday raised the alarm over alleged missing Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) result sheets for Enugu West Senatorial District during last weekend’s botched presidential and National Assembly elections.

    A statement by the Special Adviser (media) to the Deputy Senate President, Uche Anichukwu, said Ekweremadu spoke during a town hall meeting he organised across the local governments in his senatorial district.

    It said Ekweremadu, who spoke at Oji, council headquarters of Oji River Local Government Area, reported the result sheets remained missing, although he had brought it to the notice of the INEC authorities.

    According to him: “Some people intended the Saturday elections for evil, but all things work together for good unto those that love God, those who repose their absolute trust in Him.

    “Don’t forget that some people had earlier boasted how they would overrun us by isolating the State for a staggered election.

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    “You must also have read the reports that Enugu State was one of the states that didn’t receive any materials or materials were incomplete.

    “They ensured that the result sheets for the entire Enugu West Senatorial District were missing or not delivered. I have lodged the complaint with the INEC authorities, but the result sheets are still missing as I speak.

    “So, I urge you and indeed Nigerians to remain vigilant. Don’t despair. Don’t allow your spirits to be broken.

    ”We have come very far in this struggle and we are now at a point of no retreat, no surrender.”

    He added: “Use the opportunity of the rescheduled dates to make your voices heard louder at the polls.

    “Those who travelled to vote should, please, exercise a little more patience by staying behind or endeavouring to return this weekend to cast their votes.

    “I urge every Nigerian to be where he or she will cast ballots on the rescheduled dates.”

  • You lack powers to stop campaigns, Shittu tells INEC

    The Minister of Communications Barrister Adebayo Shittu on Monday declared the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) lacks the powers to ban campaigns more than 24 hours prior to commencement of voting.

    Shittu made this declaration while addressing journalists in Ibadan.

    The Minister said the commission, based on the electoral act, does not have the power to stop campaigns more than 24 hours prior to any election.

    Shittu, who said many Nigerians were disappointed with postponement of the general elections last Saturday, solicited INEC, should be given another chance to prove it is truly independent with the rescheduled polls.

    He pointed out Section 99 of the Electoral Act stipulates campaigns for elections only end 24 hours to polls, stating INEC does not have the power to extend the ban beyond the stipulated time.

    According to him: “Again and again, they must justify that ban, because under the law, campaigns must stop 24 hours to the elections.

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    “Today and tomorrow, 24 hours, let just assume is 48 hours. To sustain that ban within the period the election would be held, that would be justified, but certainly not the elections that have been extended.

    “Then, certainly, there is no justification for them to say that people should not campaign.

    “People must go ahead to campaign. They must go ahead to campaign. And for political parties, they must make the best of the time.

    “So, if there is a rescheduled election, spanning another one week, you must expect that voter education by political parties should continue.

    “Many people may forget what they have been taught on how to vote, how to identity a political party.

    “So, I will say that any ban extended beyond 24 hours or at most 48 hours will not be justified.”

    He added: “I think we ought to give them a benefit of doubt. If they had gone ahead and they conducted the election where some materials were taken to a far destination other than where they were meant for, I still believe, that Nigerians will still blame them.

    “So, I want to appeal to Nigerians to give INEC a second chance. I am happy that Mr. President himself has expressed a lot of shock and embarrassment and disappointment and inefficiency of INEC”.