The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC)

  • Three abducted INEC ad-hoc staff in Katsina regain freedom

    The three Independent National Electoral commission’s (INEC) adhoc staffs that were abducted on Saturday have regained their freedom.

    According to a police report, the three were released at about 9 pm Sunday night.

    They have since being reunited with their families.

    The Katsina police Command in a statement said they have been taken to Danmusa hospital for medical checkup.

    The terse statement reads: ” Today 10/03/2019 at about 21:00hrs, the 3 abducted INEC ad hoc staff were released by their abductors. They have been taken to Danmusa Hospital for medical checkups and later rejoined their respective families. Investigation is top gear with a view to arrest the  hoodlums. I will continue to keep you posted.”

  • Card readers failure: INEC cancels 132,189 votes in Cross Rivers

    The Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Cross Rivers State Collation Officer, Prof. Akii Ibhadode on Tuesday said 132,189 votes were canceled due to failure of card readers, violence and electoral malpractice in the Presidential election in the state 

    Ibhadode, also Vice-Chancellor, Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, Delta, made the disclosure while giving a break down of election results for 17 Local Government Areas (LGA) of the state at the INEC National Collation Centre in Abuja.

     The Cross Rivers Collation Officer said that 1,512,915 voters were registered; 461,033 were accredited; 446,046 votes were cast and a total of 421,901 valid votes were recorded while 24,145 votes were rejected  in the 17 LGA of the state. 

    He, however, said that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) scored 326, the All Progressives Congress (APC) scored 117,302 and the Peoples Democratic Party scored a 295,737 in the state. (NAN) 

  • Bride-to-be laments elections postponement

    The postponement of the presidential and national assembly elections has left a bride-to- be in  a dilemma  as the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) timetable has disrupted her marriage plan for a second time.

    Miss Rita Osawende’s wedding was originally fixed for yesterday but was unexpectedly  re-scheduled for Saturday,February 23,the same date she had picked because of the earlier clash of  date.

    Osawende told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin that  all arrangements for her big day had been concluded for February only for INEC to upset her plan again.

    “INEC please help me revisit this issue,” she said.

    “The original date was fixed for February 16, but as soon as I knew it’s elections day, it was postponed to February 23rd.

    “What do I do? All arrangements have been made.

    “I have printed and distributed my invitation cards for the wedding. I am so confused,” NAN quoted her as saying.

  • European Centre trains 100 INEC staff in South-East

    The European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES) says it is training over 100 Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) staff in the South-East on Election Monitoring and Support Centre (EMSC).

    Declaring the workshop open on Thursday in Enugu, the Senior Legal Expert of ECES, Ms Maria-Teresa Mauro, said the aim of the EMSC workshop was to enshrine credible, free and fair elections.

    Mauro said that EMSC was an effective tool INEC required to manage field assets, resources, constituencies and a chain of electoral activities needed in the organization of elections.

    According to her, it is also an innovative way to monitor electoral plans and implementation of electoral activities that could assist INEC in evaluating its readiness for an election and assist accordingly.

    “The workshop goals include to provide better understanding of the EMSC concept, goals and objectives, ensure better understanding of timeliness, activities and reporting frequencies.

    “To sensitize implementers on ESMC operational structure, roles and responsibilities in the management of state EMSC secretariat,’’ she said.

    The ECES officer said it would also build capacity of implementers on the use of data collection and reporting tools, validation process and general usage of EMSC platform.

    Read Also: INEC to deploy one million personnel for poll

    Mauro noted that the workshop would provide participants with requisite knowledge and sensitize them on their expected roles before, during and after elections, thereby laying a solid foundation towards the conduct of credible elections in 2019.

    In an address, the Secretary of the center, Mr Jameel Elyaqub, explained that the EMSC indicators were meant to assist task owners and managers as well as supervisors to monitor and track compliance, election readiness, performance and threats/risks to election plan.

    He said that the exercise was to maintain the quality and credibility of the electoral processes.

    In his goodwill message, Dr Emeka Ononamadu, INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner in Enugu State, urged participants to utilize the gains of the training during the general elections.

    “We have very experienced staff in INEC, however, there is a danger because of the multiple innovation introduced by INEC headquarters already.

    “So, due to new innovations, we must open our minds to absorb these fresh ideas.

    “We cannot keep recycling our old ways of doing things and expect a different result. We must embrace innovations and change to get more positive results and outcomes from our elections,’’ he said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the INEC’s staff, who are participating at the two-day workshop, are drawn from Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states.