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Tag: Inec

  • INEC to lecturers: don’t fail Nigeria

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has called on lecturers of nation’s tetiary institutions engaged for next month’s general elections to place national interest above selfish gains.

    Resident Electoral Commissioner in Anambra State, Dr Nkwachukwu Orji, gave the advice at the weekend in Awka at a town hall meeting organized by Academics in Tertiary Institutions in South-East and South-South under the auspices of Academic Frontiers Initiative (AFI) Anambra chapter.

    He asked the lecturers who were to serve as Collation and Returning Officers during the exercise not to compromise their integrity and the trust reposed on them by the commission.

    He said, “Delivery of a credible election depends on everybody including the lecturers who serve as Collation and Returning Officers during the election based on integrity reposed on them.

    “You must endeavour to live above board and ensure the elections remain the best in the annals of Nigeria’s democratic history.”

    Orji, who was represented by the Head of Department, Voter Education and Publicity, Leo Nkedife, hinted that the electoral umpire has perfected plans to give Nigerians a free, fair and credible elections.

    He however condemned the prevalent cases of vote buying, urging political parties to nominate credible persons as agents to ensure credibility of the outcome of the exercise.

  • Poll: PDP rejects INEC’s move to accommodate Rivers APC

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected alleged moves by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to accommodate candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the general elections in Rivers State.

    INEC had, through its National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, hinted at the weekend that certain circumstances could lead to the postponement of elections in Rivers State, to accommodate the APC.

    The Federal High Court in Port Harcourt had, in two separate rulings, voided the processes through which candidates of the APC for the various elective offices emerged.

    A statement yesterday by the spokesman of PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, described the suggestion by INEC to admit APC candidates to the election as distasteful.

    The main opposition party said the electoral body’s position only points to a collusion with the APC in a plot to stalemate electoral processes in some strategic states to pave the way for the postponement of elections in such states.

    According to the PDP, the motive is to use compromised security forces to effect massive rigging, “as was the case in the 2018 Ekiti and Osun states governorship elections”, a scheme, which the party said, would be resisted by Nigerians in the 2019 general elections.

    The statement said, “Currently, the APC is not on the ballot and has no candidates for the governorship, senatorial, House of Representatives and State Assembly elections in Rivers and Zamfara states, following the voiding of the APC congresses in these states by the court.

    “In line with this reality, the ballot paper in all elections in Rivers and Zamfara states must, under no circumstance, bear the logo of the APC.

    “The PDP insists that INEC must base all its actions and contemplations for the elections on this reality and should under no circumstance predicate any action on a hypothetical condition.

    “It is also important for INEC to know that Okoye’s advocacy for the APC detracts from the commission’s neutrality and exposes it as a compromised umpire”.

    The PDP charged the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to be appropriately guided in the conduct of the general elections.

    “Unlike the APC, our party is fully prepared for the elections and will never allow the APC and some compromised INEC officials to manipulate the elections, just because the APC has seen that it has no chance of winning.

    “The PDP therefore calls on all Nigerians to unite in condemnation of this cowardly scheme by the APC in its bid to foist itself back to power against their collective will as a people”.

     

  • INEC trains 2,641 corps members in Adamawa

    Special election officiating training has started for the 2,641 corps members mobilized in Adamawa State for the coming elections by the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). The corps members are to work as ad-hoc staff of the INEC during the elections. The training is meant to acquaint the corps members with the rudiments of what they would be expected to do.

    The Director-General of the NYSC, Major-General Sule Zakari Kazaure, who addressed the corp members at the Yola North and Yola South training centres yesterday, through the Adamawa State Coordinator of the NYSC, Malam Abubakar Muhammed, reminded them that they are preferred by INEC as presiding officers at polling centres because they are mostly Nigerians from different states who are supposed to be neutral in the politics of the state.

    “You are supposed to be neutral, without sympathy or obligation to any political actors here. Work true to this expectation and do not allow anybody to use you for any self-serving purpose,” Kazaure said, urging them to take the best advantage of the training to master the rules and modes of elections and all that they would be needing to do so that they could work with efficiency.

    “We will be expecting you to work with knowledge, so that no unscrupulous politician, party agent or anybody for that matter would take advantage of you. Know what you need to know and be an authority in your work. Take charge, but know your limits and be humble especially with those who will work with you,” the NYSC boss aded.

  • Candidates’ list: INEC published my name in error, says Ahmed

    Kwara State governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, yesterday said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) mistakenly published his name as the Kwara South senatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He added that Senator Rafiu Ibrahim remains the PDP candidate for Kwara south senatorial district.

    The governor said this in Idofin Odo-Ase, Oke – Ero local government area of the state during PDP campaign rally in the area.

    INEC had included his name in error on the list of National Assembly candidates the electoral body released on Thursday. Ahmed, who openly campaigned for Senator Ibrahim, asked the people not to entertain any fear about the development, assuring them that the mix up  would be  corrected. “Concerning the post of the senator, the person who is there at the present is the one we want to return and by the grace of God, he will be returned,” he said.

    Ahmed had about a month ago voluntarily withdrew from the race to enable the incumbent Senator Rafiu Ibrahim re-contest on the platform of the PDP.

    In another community, Idofin-Igbana, the governor described Ibrahim as a very capable and experienced candidate and urged people of the community to vote for him and other candidates of the party including Atiku Abubakar, who is the presidential candidate and Hon. Razak Atunwa, who is the governorship candidate of the party in the state.

    Also speaking at the party’s campaign rally in Idofin-Igbana, , the PDP governorship candidate, Razak Atunwa, promised to address requests of the communities which include employment for the youths and upgrading of the stool of traditional rulers in the area. “Be rest assured, all what is released will be corrected. Everything will be corrected the way we want it,” he said.

  • INEC trains staff to detect, counter fake news

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced a two-day workshop for its Public Affairs officers (POAs) on how to detect and counter fake news on election-related matters.

    The training with the theme “Fake news, disinformation and Media Monitoring ‘’ was held in collaboration with the European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES) on Friday in Abuja.

    The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), INEC-FCT, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, said that the training would equip the officers on new strategies on how to handle fake news, which was a concern to the commission.

    Read also: Fake News as Symptom

    Bello said that the training would no doubt equip the officers to discharge their duties effectively as the commission prepares for the conduct of free, fair and credible elections.

    “As you already know, the dissemination of fake news has very negative effects not just on elections but other areas of life and must therefore be identified and discountenanced.

    “In particular, INEC is concerned with a situation where mischievous individuals post unofficial election results on the internet. This has the tendency of fomenting violence and mayhem resulting in the loss of precious lives and property.

  • Nigerians asked to reject Obasanjo’s plot to retard  nation’s growth, progress

    Nigerians across the globe have been asked to stand up against the alleged plots by former President Olusegun Obasanjo on his bid to retard nation from growth and progress.
    AriseNigeria, a group of Concerned Nigerians in the Diaspora, which stated this on Monday, claimed that the ex-president was desperate in his bid to install a president in Nigeria through the backdoor.
    The group in a communique issued at the end of an emergency meeting, to review the state of affairs in Nigeria, strongly frowned at the alleged romance between Obasanjo and leadership of the PDP.
    The communiqué signed by its chairman, Dr. Philip Idaewor and endorsed by Coordinators of AriseNigeria worldwide; including: Charles Eze, Prof. Adesugun Labinjo USA, Mr. Ayoola Lawal (Sweden), Chief Balogun ( France), Mr. Chima Ibezim ( Italy), Mr. Adeayo Tella ( Spain), Mr. Bola Babarinde ( South Africa), Mr. Hammeed Adefioye ( Republic of Irleland), Mr. Marthins Sadoh ( Holland), Mr Ogunwede Lombrado (Germany), Mr. Niyi Agbelese ( Switzerland), Mr. Charles Michelleti (Ghana), Engr David Onmeje ( Scotland), Mr. Eric Ayoola (UK), Mr. Ikem Chinedu ( UK), Mr. David Abraham ( South Korea)
    The group said Obasanjo, in his desperate bid to cover up his corruption and avoid being probe for his failed government between 1999 and 2007 is fighting hard to impose Atiku Abubakar on the Peoples Democratic Party on Nigeria in the rescheduled February 23 presidential election.
    It further warned INEC to ensure the forthcoming coming election is free, fair and credible.
    Full text of the communiqué below.
    The AriseNigeria at its emergency meeting held in London United Kingdom on Monday February 18, 2019 convened to review the state of affairs in Nigeria after the postponement of the general elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which considered issues of urgent National importance including but not limited to the unholy interference by former president Olusegun Obasanjo, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and a segment of the international community in the electoral process in Nigeria.
    The Executive body of AriseNigeria considered the issues mentioned above and resolved as follows:
    The unholy Alliance of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the People’s Democratic Party to compromise the general elections in Nigeria.
    AriseNigeria notes with concern the desperation exhibited by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in active connivance with leaders of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to undermine the credibility of the presidential elections by making overtures to manipulate the outcome of the polls in favour of his erstwhile deputy and current presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party Atiku Abubakar.
    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo took his ill-mannered campaign of slander against President Muhammadu Buhari to astonishing heights by soliciting and getting lobbyist to pave the way for Atiku’s visit to the United States of America after 10 years visa restriction due to corruption charges in the US against Atiku Abubakar and his wife, Jemilla Abubakar (Jennifer Douglas).
    Impeccable information at our disposal indicates that there was a grand plot to undermine the credibility of the elections by some persons led by former president Olusegun Obasanjo in active connivance with the leadership of the People’s Democratic Party in favour of his preferred candidate.
    The plan was to hack into the database of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with the help of some high ranking INEC Systems Analysts in collaboration with some hackers from the USA loyal to the Atiku’s cause and have the election massively rigged to favour Atiku.
    The case they proffered against President Muhammadu Buhari is his insistence that the right things must be done in the overall interest of the citizens of Nigeria which is mostly a disconnect from their way of doing things in times past where executive impunity was the order of the day.
    AriseNigeria also notes with concern the statement credited to Atiku Abubakar in an interactive event in Lagos tagged “Getting Nigeria Economy Working” vowed to “enrich” his friends when elected as the president of Nigeria and sell the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) by all means even if it leads to his death.
    These statements are gravely embarrassing and unbecoming of an individual aspiring to be the president of a country as important as Nigeria, and we are therefore of the opinion that the PDP and its cohorts are hell bent of subverting the will of the people at the elections to achieve their undemocratic plans for the future of Nigeria.
    It is also most embarrassing that a supposed Elder statesman in the mould of former president Olusegun Obasanjo would denigrate to this unenviable level all in a bid to cover his tracks while he held sway as president from 1999 to 2007.
    AriseNigeria also views with concern the soft-handedness the administration of Donald Trump of the United States of America has extended to the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party(PDP), Atiku Abubakar, in the run-up to the elections despite the avalanche of pieces of evidence that indicates that Atiku Abubakar abused office while he held sway as the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria between 1999 to 2007.
    This is given the role of the United States of America in the entrenchment of democracy in the world. AriseNigeria wonders why the case of Nigeria is different even with the glaring commitment of the Muhammadu Buhari led administration in tackling the menace of corruption headlong.
    Arisenigeria expect the government of the United States to support the anti corruption agenda of Muhammadu Buhari. The Trump administration could not afford to watch Nigeria pushed to the brink of possible turmoil by a greedy few, whose only interest has been, and remains, an appetite for unbridled accumulation of money/material by any means necessary from public sources. This is the time to stand with Nigeria. The USA must be unequivocal in declaring looters of the Nigerian state resources as enemies of the Nigeria people and must render the needed assistance to the government of Nigeria to continue to make inroads in the fight against corruption.
    It is therefore instructive to note that previous administrations had raped Nigeria from all indices to the point of death before the advent of the administration President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015. And to think that the people who abused Nigeria blind have ganged up against the truth, justice and fairness are gearing to come back to continue from where they stopped is an anomaly that must be resisted by all and sundry in Nigeria.
    AriseNigeria also wishes to inform members of the international community of the invaluable role Nigeria plays in the stability of the African continent and any attempt to take Nigeria back to the dark ages might spell doom for the African continent.
     AriseNigeria arising from its emergency meeting thereby resolved that Nigerians must protect its nascent democracy from the hands of hawks that are hell-bent on seeing its disintegration. Nigerians must rise to the challenge of subduing unpatriotic, corrupt and selfish past political office holders to save Nigeria from collapsing.  It must be noted that the future of over 180 million people are at stake if the wrong choices are made in this material instance.
    AriseNigeria states in unequivocal terms that President Muhammadu Buhari has displayed a patriotic mien that portray hope for Nigeria in this critical point of its existence. And the forces against his re-election are propelled by selfish and personal motives that are far from National interest.
    The assurances that Nigeria is on the path to greatness under President Muhammadu Buhari are bolstered by the resolve of the administration to tackle the cankerworm of corruption and insecurity.
     The Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) is also urged to rise to the occasion in delivering to Nigerians a free, fair and credible election.

  • Election: Umahi directs supporters to be at polling units by 6am

    Gov. David Umahi of Ebonyi has directed the state’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) supporters to move to their polling units on election days by 6 a.m., to prevent possible electoral malpractices.

    Umahi gave the directive on Friday at Ikwo Local Government Area during the flag-off of his election campaign, urging the supporters to remain at the polling units after casting their votes.

    “Nobody should attempt any form of malpractice because we will resist such with everything we have.

    “When I was asked to sign the peace accord by the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC), I signed but said that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies should actually sign the accord.

    “There will be peace if they say let there be peace and if they refuse, there will not be,” he said.

    The governor noted that anybody collecting gratifications to perpetuate malpractices during the elections was risking his life because Ebonyi people would not agree to such.

    “Anyone coming for elections in the state should do the right thing because we are not asking for favours, having been blessed by God.

    “Henceforth, appointments into governmental positions will not be based on local government area considerations but on support to the PDP and its candidates.

    Read Also: Umahi donates operational vehicles to security agencies

    “Do not allow people to deceive you with all sorts of insinuations as everybody supporting the PDP must vote for the party’s candidates.

    “We are commencing our house-to-house campaign from Sunday, Jan. 20, and party faithful should post their findings on our social media platform,” he said.

    Umahi said that the campaign was flagged-off in Ikwo Local Government due to the electoral success recorded when such flag-off commenced in the area in 2015.

    “You gave 90 per cent of your votes when an incumbent governor from the area was not supporting us and you hadn’t a present deputy governor, three commissioners and other appointments.

    “I am optimistic that you will give us 100 percent presently with our infrastructural strides in roads and plans to make the Oferekpe water scheme functional, among others,” the governor said.

    Dr Kelechi Igwe, the Deputy Governor, who hails from the area, thanked the governor for replicating the flag-off of the campaign in the area and assured of the peoples’ total support.

    “The women of the area and decampees from the All Progressive Congress (APC) have donated Sienna buses respectively in appreciation of your numerous developmental strides and to support your re-election,” he said.

    Chief Uche Secondus, the PDP National Chairman, urged the electorate to vote for all PDP candidates from the presidential to the House of Assembly level.

    Secondus, represented by Chief Austin Umahi, the party’s National Vice-Chairman-South East Zone, said that the journey to the party’s electoral victory in 2015 started in Ikwo Local Government Area and expressed optimism of a repeat performance.

    Mr Onyekachi Nwebonyi, the state Party Chairman, noted that the governor had justified his campaign with his numerous infrastructural strides across the state.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the occasion witnessed the defection of APC supporters to PDP, presentation of PDP candidates from the area and goodwill messages from party faithful among others.

  • We’re overwhelmed by rush to collect PVCs- INEC

    The Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) says it is overwhelmed by the current rush by eligible voters to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) few days to the election.

    Mrs Ndidi Okafor, Head, Voter Education, Publicity, Gender and Civil Society at the INEC office in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria  in Abuja on Friday.

    Okafor, therefore, appealed to prospective voters who were yet to collect their PVCs in the FCT to be patient with the commission as it is doing everything possible to distribute them before the deadline.

    NAN reports that INEC had set Feb. 8, as deadline for eligible voters to collect their PVCs.

    “We have been distributing PVCs in the six Area Councils and in all the 62 wards of the FCT for the past 20 months.

    “We had earlier appealed to residents to come and collect theirs to discourage the 11th-hour rush syndrome, but they did not come, now they are putting pressure on everybody.

    “One of our staff was injured and most of them cannot even take break to eat due to the pressure from the people, so we are working on seeking assistance of the police in all the collection centres to maintain order.

    “The Feb. 8, deadline is sacrosanct and there won’t be an extension that is why we have extended the collection time from between 9 a.m. and 3p.m. to between 9.am. and 4p.m. daily,’’ she said.

    Okafor appealed to residents to be orderly on the queues so they can collect their cards on time.

    Read Also: INEC seeks media’s support on voter education

    She said the commission would distribute PVCs on Saturday, Jan. 19 and Sunday, Jan. 20 to enable workers collect theirs.

    She said that complaints of those whose names were omitted had been noted and had been sent to the headquarters for redress.

    She said their PVCs would be produced for collection before the deadline.

    Okafor said the commission has two PVC hotlines- 08153162663 and 08188241666 that people can call for complain or enquiry.

  • INEC seeks media’s support on voter education

    The Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ), has called on the media to deeply engage in sensitization and concientisation exercise targeted at educating the voter.

    The National Commissioner, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Barrister Festus Okoye, explained that there was urgent need to build public confidence in the electoral process through holistic voter education and general enlightenment of the electorate.

    Okoye who was represented by the State Commissioner, Prof. Abdulganiy Raji said this in Ado Ekiti on Friday at the zonal sensitisation forum for the media organised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    Speaking at the forum, Okoye said the Commission’s was adequately prepared to conduct the coming elections with all activities attached to electioneering processes are almost fulfilled as entrusted by the constitution.

    He said: “since the release of the timetable for electoral events, the Commission has been diligently implementing the schedule of activities for the 2019 general elections.

    “We have so far implemented most of the activities, soon, we shall implement all and fulfil the mandate thrust upon us by the constitution”.

    Okoye who urged all registered voters who are yet to collect their Permanent Voters Cards to go and collect them, nothing that INEC has made special arrangement to make the pvcs available at the designated centres across wards.

    The National Commissioner stressed that smart cards reader was designed to authenticate, confirm and verify the fingerprint of the voters as an additional confirmatory procedure to avert electoral malpractices.

    In a case, the finger is not authenticated by the card reader but the PVC is confirmed as genuine and the voter’s personal details are consistent with the manual register, the electorate shall be allowed to vote, he added.

    Okoye who spoke on the existing challenge of vote buying said the electoral body has put in place measures aiming at curtailing the vote buying on the forthcoming general elections.

    Read Also: 2019: INEC warns against vote buying in Ekiti

    He said: “We have received credible information that some politicians are financially inducing electorate to collect the Voter Identification Numbers(VIN) on their PVCs since it will be difficult to buy votes at the polling units”.

    He, however, assured Nigerians that INEC will collaborate with security agencies to deal with the violators of electoral laws, including those who may be trying to compromise its staff to perpetuate the illegal acts.

    Meanwhile, the Resident Electoral Commissioner warned its staff against conniving with politicians to promote the culture of vote buying that has inhibited democratic consolidation in the country.

    Raji said: “The commission can’t deny the fact that there was vote buying in the system, but this was being done by politicians by way of manipulating the placement of the polling booths so that those voting can be monitored for financial inducement.

    “In most cases, some party leaders do coerce or manipulate our staff so that they can be favoured in such arrangement which INEC did not support.

    “INEC is not in support of any action that can affect the actual outcome of elections and hamper democratic consolidation”, he declared.

  • 2019: INEC warns against vote buying in Ekiti

    The Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ), has warned its staff against conniving with politicians to promote the culture of vote buying that has inhibited democratic consolidation in the country.

    The Resident Electoral Commissioner(REC) in Ekiti State, Prof. Abdulganiy Raji, explained that INEC staff should not be blamed for the malfeasance but politicians, that many of the commission’s staff do compromise to perpetrate the offence through polling booths arrangement that could facilitate the unacceptable practice.

    Raji who spoke on the inability of the Nigerians in diaspora to vote in the 2019 elections, said there was no legal provision backing such policy for now, pointing out that this could only happen if the existing constitution and the Electoral Acts are amended to accommodate electronic voting.

    The REC said these in Ado Ekiti on Thursday while delivering a lecture themed: ‘Women Participation in Electronic Process in Ekiti State: What exists, Challenges and Benefits’, at a workshop organized by New initiative for Social Development (NISD)in collaboration with Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room.

    Speaking at the forum, Raji said the electoral management body is being challenged with the litigation on the guidelines to use for the poll.

    He added that could serve as clogs in achieving success in the forthcoming election.

    He stated that many of the new innovations fashioned into the electoral processes by INEC were being hindered by some parties in courts, saying these may create confusion for the commission.

    Read Also: INEC clears Buhari, Atiku, Ezekwesili, Okotie, others

    “The commission can’t deny the fact that there was vote buying in the system, but this was being done by politicians by way of manipulating the placement of the polling booths so that those voting can be monitored for financial inducement.

    “In most cases, some party leaders do coerce or manipulate our staff so that they can be favoured in such arrangement which INEC did not support. INEC is not in support of any action that can affect the actual outcome of elections and that we had told our staff, who are foreigners in most cases”.

    Raji advised that political parties may end up having high void votes in the coming elections if INEC staff are stampeded to circumvent the use of smart card readers.

    “INEC is no longer using Incident Forms. Whatever votes that will be counted as being valid must be verified and authenticated by Smart card readers, so resorting to other means will not be accepted by our commission.

    “If the smart card readers are not working as expected, call for another one because any votes not authenticated by the machine will be regarded as invalid”, he said.

    He urged political parties against institutionalising any structures that could manipulate the internal democracy against women emergence for political positions, saying doing so would amount to total infringement on their rights.

    “For our electoral system to get it right regarding women’s rights, the constitution must take cognizance of our culture. Women and aged people must be given the rights to vote first, but the present Electoral Acts did not take cognizance of such”, he said.

    The NISD Executive Director, Mr. Biodun Oyeleye, said the dialogue was organized to sensitize and conscientise women on the need to to have unity of purpose to fight for their rights in order to remain relevant politically in the country.

    Oyeleye lamented that Nigerian men always manipulate the internal democracy of their party to relegate women during primaries, describing this as inhibitive to democratic consolidation.

    He urged the security operatives to erect a formidable security architecture that would curtail intimidation, rigging, voting buying and all other forms of electoral threats.