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Tag: Inec

  • INEC to send SMS to owners of unclaimed PVCs

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is partnering the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) to send messages to owners of uncollected Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

    A National Commissioner of INEC, Mr. Soyebi Adedeji, who spoke yesterday in Abuja at the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room Dialogue Session on Osun Election, said the measure became imperative to remind Nigerians of their civic duty, so as to ensure a successful electoral process.

    He said the number of uncollected PVCs with the commission was of great concern, adding that this number could determine who wins or loses elections.

    “The Continuous Voter Registration has ended and INEC has other things to concentrate on since election is a matter of a chain of events.

    “Before the end of the CVR, the commission as at last week had 10 million uncollected PVCs in its possession. Now with the end of the CRV, there are additional 14 million registrant cards to be processed within 165 days.

    “People need to come and collect their PVCs; it is not just about registering, collection is the most important thing. When people register, the collection is always less than 50 per cent.

    “We need to find a way to see what we can do about collection so we have decided to partner NCC to alert Nigerians on the status of their cards,” the commissioner said.

    He said 46 parties of the 91 registered had notified the commission about their primaries and when their activities would pick up.

    Adedeji urged civil society organisations (CSOs) to partner INEC to monitor the activities of parties, to ensure they played the game according to the rules.

    He said there was need for the parties to follow and respect their rules since they made it to ensure internal democracy and respect for their constitutions, stressing that it was the basis of democracy.

    The commissioner said the call for parties to respect the law they made in their parties was necessary in order to forestall legal cases after elections.

  • 2019: NGO worried over delay in passage of INEC budget

    A non-governmental organization, Election Monitor, has expressed concerns over delay in the passage of the budget submitted to the National Assembly for the conduct of 2019 election by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

    The group said the failure of the National Assembly to pass the budget could put Nigeria’s democracy in jeopardy.

    Its National Coordinator, Abiodun Ajijola, conveyed the worries of the group in a statement on Monday in Abuja.

    The statement reads: “Election Monitor is perturbed and very worried that the National Assembly has failed to pass the INEC budget since the request for virement and supplementary input to the 2018 budget was made (11th July 2018) and read on the Senate floor (17th July 2018). What this means is that the budget request has spent one and a half months with the NASS without being conclusively acted upon (approved for release).

    “The argument that the budget input came in late does not defend delaying the passage of the budget for any reason moral or political because Nigeria’s sustained democracy is greater than the interest of any person or group of persons.

    “The window to conduct political party primaries is already open and INEC has no budget to monitor these primaries which has implications in the future if these primaries are held without being monitored, especially in the event of disputed primaries.

    “It would be negligent to describe the current situation as normal just because the effects of the current delay of passage of the INEC budget have not yet been felt.

    “No responsible government should wait until there is a full blown crisis to take corrective and preemptive actions when there are clearly ominous signs ahead if the current trajectory is maintained.

    Read Also: INEC lost millions of naira to flood in Edo

    “While conducting elections is based on the electoral laws, Nigerians should remember that smart card readers have been used to conduct just under two hundred elections since the 2015 Nigerian General Elections. Some of these elections have been disputed and all possible legal options have been taken, yet none have had their results invalidated as a result of the existing Electoral Act 2010 (amended) despite the smart card readers were used in all these elections. Therefore equating signing of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2018 to passing the INEC budget is not addressing the root issue which is funding the 2019 General Elections.

    “The meaning of this is that even with the existing electoral act smart card readers would still be used as has been demonstrated in recent elections such as Edo and Ondo 2016, Anambra 2017, Ekiti 2018 etc. Saying that signing of the electoral act will determine the usability of smart card readers in the 2019 General elections is not true and incongruent with the recent and current happenings in the Nigerian electoral process.

    “It is also important to note that the National Assembly had since June 2015 to work on the current Electoral Act amendment bill but chose to only submit it for assent in February 2018 despite promising that it would be passed before the end of 2016. The Nigerian Senate passed its own version of the bill in March 2017 but in February 2018 adopted the resequencing of elections which was very controversial and not in the original bill passed by the Senate. The National Assembly had every opportunity to override the executive decision but that wasn’t done and the current bill was eventually received by the executive on 3rd August 2018. Using the signing of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2018 as a precondition to pass the budget for the 2019 Nigerian General elections is therefore unacceptable.

    “This is a national emergency and urgent steps need to be taken immediately to remedy this perilous situation. Though this is an election related issue it is also a security issue. This is because any crisis stemming from elections always has security implications. It should be remembered that much of the civil unrest across many African countries can be linked to elections directly or indirectly.

    “This is the time for bold decisions that will save Nigeria from unnecessary chaos and crisis on the altar of politics. Election Monitor does not accept any attempt to truncate the hard-fought democracy of Nigeria and therefore calls on the National Assembly to expedite action on the complete passage of the 2019 General Elections budget before the end of August 2018 which includes reconvening the National Assembly.

    “In the event of a failure to do this, Election Monitor calls on President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR to take every step necessary to save Nigeria from an impending political crisis which would certainly have grave security implications for which he has a fundamental responsibility to all Nigerians. National security is primary and every government is first expected to secure the lives and property of its citizens and delaying passage of an election budget is tantamount to delaying the elections which has a last date that it can be legally conducted. Therefore since this is inherently a security situation the President should treat it as such.

    “Election Monitor calls on all Nigerians to reject the antics of political actors who are not concerned with the impact of their actions on the average Nigerian on the street. It is therefore imperative that all Nigerians use the 2019 General elections to reject all candidates at all levels who would not serve in Nigeria’s best interest.

  • INEC registers 537,874 new voters in Kaduna

    …says, 269,787 PVCs yet to be collected

    As the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) closed the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise on Friday, the commission said it registered 537,874 new voters in Kaduna State.

    The commission however said that, collection of Permanent Voter’s Card (PVCs) by the newly registered voters, as well as yet to be collected PVCs would continue until one week before the 2019 general elections.

    INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Abdullahi Adamu Kaugama, who disclosed these during a press conference at the commission’s headquarters in Kaduna on Saturday said, 269,787 PVCs were yet to be collected.

    He however urged voters who were yet to collect their PVCs to do so at local government offices of the commission.

    According to the REC, “With the conclusion of the CVR exercise, in Kaduna State, we have so far registered 537,874, comprising 302,342 males and 235,532 females.

    Read Also: 2019: Edo Central aspirant denies stepping down

    “Those whose PVCs were corrected were 29,179, defaced; 4,018 and lost; 17,298, while inter-state transfer were 8,239 and intra-state transfer; 19,434.

    “So far, 52,507 registered voters have collected their Permanent Voter Card in the state, while 269,787 PVCs were uncollected.” He explained.

    Kaugama disclosed that, with the conclusion of the CVR exercise, the new voters’ list would be displayed at INEC local government offices from September 4 to September 8 for affected voters to crosscheck and validate their captured data, as well as for claims and objections.

    While pledging INEC’s resolve to conducting free, fair and credible elections in 2019, the REC assured that, all newly registered voters and those whose PVCs were yet to be printed will get their cards before the general elections.

  • INEC lost millions of naira to flood in Edo

    The Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) has lost property worth millions of naira to flood in Edo State.

    Heavy downpour of rain on Friday morning chased its workers out of their offices at the State headquarters located at Aduwawa in Ikpoba-Okha local government.

    Activities have been paralyzed at the Edo INEC headquarters since August 24 when the building was submerged in flood.

    Adjoining streets including the road leading to the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal were submerged in flood.

    Staff of INEC could not go into their offices on Wednesday following heavy rain that lasted four hours.

    They had gone into their offices after cleaning it up when the rain started this morning.

    A perimeter fence at the INEC’s building was pulled down by the flood.

    When our reporter visited INEC, the workers were seen wading through flooded waters to get out of their offices.

    Edo Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Emmanuel Alex-Hart, said he has gone to Abuja to report about the damage caused by the flood.

    INEC

    Emmanuel said he was yet to quantify what was lost to the flood.

    The Edo REC said he was informed about the flooding by the Administrative Secretary of INEC.

    According to him, “I came to Abuja to discuss the issue of the flooding with the authorities.

    “My administrative secretary called me to inform me about the current situation in Edo. They were in the office and had to wade through the flood water.

    “The flooding has paralyzed activities at the INEC headquarters in Edo. Where the office is situated is a valley and when it rains, you have surface run-off of water from all the areas to that place.

    “We at INEC are at the receiving end.”

  • Group urges INEC to support people with disabilities

    A non-governmental organisation, the Centre for Citizens With Disabilities, has appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to provide support for people with disabilities in the September 22 Osun governorship election.

    The Executive Director of the Centre, David Anyaele, advised the INEC to have proper data of people with disabilities to be able to provide adequate electoral materials for them.

    He also advised the electoral body to train its staff and deploy some of them to where there would be special needs for people with disabilities.

    Anyaele who was represented by Senior Programme Officer, Mr. Kola Ogunbiyi, said past experience has shown some of the challenges people with disabilities face during elections as a result of lack of provision for them by the INEC.

    He said: “We have made recommendations to INEC to provide separate ballot papers for the blind but up till now there is no positive response. Also, we asked INEC to have proper data of people with disabilities in the provision of electoral materials for them. We believe INEC should be made to train their staff and employ sign interpreters, as well as provide Braille in future elections.

     

  • 2019: NASS recommends funding INEC budget from Service Wide Votes

    The National Assembly Joint Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) has recommended the sourcing of funds for 2019 General Elections from Service Wide Votes.

    Chairman of the committee, Sen. Suleiman Nazif, made this known at the committee meeting on Thursday in Abuja.

    He said that the suggestion for the budget to be vired from the Service Wide Votes under the Special Intervention Programme (Recurrent) was to ease consideration and avoid increasing the size of the 2018 Expenditure Framework.

    Nazif also disclosed that the committee reviewed the INEC Budget from N143.5 billion to N143.3 billion, explaining that the committee reduced some line items in the budget by N200 Budget.

    He said that N50 million was deducted from N587 million for grassroots enlightenment forum and outreach activities in local government areas.

    He explained that the deduction was made in view of the fact that political parties were already involved in sensitization.

    The chairman also said that N71 million was deducted from N471 million meant for production and airing of election jingles.

    He said the National Orientation Agency and Ministry of Information were already doing that, adding that INEC did not have to burden itself with that.

    He further said that N50 million was deducted from N300 million meant for training of Continuous Voter Registration officials, adding that the training was already captured in the 2018 Budget.

    Nazif also said that N29 million was deducted from N359 million meant for monitoring of the general elections for regulatory compliance.

    According to him, the deduction was made because arrangement on monitoring has been concluded, adding that compliance was assured.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that INEC had adjusted its budget for 2019 elections from N189 billion to N143 billion in line with recommendation of the National Assembly.

    Following adjustment of the budget, Nazif, told newsmen that a sub-committee had been set up to look at the proposal and to point out any area of infraction to the committee.

    The committee had on Aug. 27, recommended N143 billion for approval for the commission’s preparation ahead of the general elections.

    This was in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s request on July 11 when he sought the legislators’ approval of N242 billion for the elections.

    Specifically, he said that N164.10 billion of the funds was urgently needed to enable INEC to commence preparations for the elections, while the balance of N78.34 billon would be provided for in 2019 Budget.

    The President had in his letter of request explained that the urgently needed N164 billion would be allocated as follows: INEC, N143.51 billion; Office of National Security Adviser, N3.86 billion and Department of State Services (DSS), N2.90 billion.

    Others are Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, N1.85 billion; Nigeria Police Force, N11.46 billion and Nigeria Immigration Service, N530.1million.

    The Senate Committee on INEC had on Aug. 16, queried the commission for presenting a budgetary proposal of N189 billion for the elections, saying it was at variance with the president’s for the polls.

    This was because, though Buhari had in his letter requested for N189 billion for the 2019 elections, he said that N143 billion was urgently needed by INEC to begin preparations for the polls.

    The money is expected to be vired from the 2018 Budget, especially from the N587 billion, which the president said was inserted by the lawmakers into the budget, raising it from N8.6 trillion to 9.12 trillion.(NAN)

  • 2019 Elections: NASS finally approves N143bn

    – Removes funds for media, monitoring and Grassroots enlightenment

     

    The National Assembly joint committee on the Independence National Electoral Commission on Thursday gave a harmonized final figure on the budget of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

    The joint committee after considering the initial request of N143,512,529,455.00, by the INEC approved the sum of N143,312,256,955,13 for the first tranche of the 2019 general election.

    A total of N200,272,500.00 was removed from Media production and airing of of election jingles, Conduct of training for continuous voters registration officials.

    Others left out by the lawmakers are: Monitoring of the 2019 general election for regulatory compliance and local government Grassroots Enlightenment forums and outreach activities.

    The chairman of the joint committee Senator Suleiman Nazif who was at the briefing with his House of Representatives counterpart Hon. Aisha Dukku in a press briefing yesterday said the request would be forwarded to the leadership of the National Assembly and the appropriation committees for further impute.

    His words:

    “The joint committee considered the request by Mr. president for the first component of the election budget of N143,512,529,455.00 to be vired under the 2018 budget due to reasons of financial constraints established in the Presidential communication to the National Assembly, while the second component of N45, 695, 015,438.00 is expected to be funded by 2019 budget, also as requested by Mr.President.

    ” Importantly, both the request of Mr. president and INEC submission to the committee marked the total package for the 2019 general election at N189,207,544,893.00.

    “Therefore the committee remains available at all times to consider any further request from the presidency for the second component of the N45, 695, 015,438.00 for the general election .

    Read Also: Buhari departs for China Friday to attend FOCAC

    “Subsequently,after signifying a reduction of N200,272, 500.00. These reductions covers item nos 64,74,125and 167 respectively. Therefore , the received figure of M143,312,256,955,13 as reached is the recommendation of the of the Joint committee that will be forwarded to both the leadership and appropriation committee. For further legislative consideration.

    “In furtherance, the committee is suggesting to the leadership of the National Assembly and the committee on Appropriation to source the funding of this budget through virement from other service-wide vote under the special intervention programme, ( Recurrent ) to ease consideration to avoid increase in the size of the 2018 expenditure framework.”

    The lawmaker said all contentious issues on the INEC budget has been resolved.

    “Nigerians can be rest assured INEC is effectively positioned to provide for Nigerians free, fair, and credible election devoid of unnecessary contentions and hitches.“

  • INEC to arrest, prosecute vote buyers in Osun election

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned that it will arrest and prosecution anyone found inducing voters with money or material things during the September 22 governorship election in Osun State.

    The commission’s Deputy Director, Voter Education and Publicity,  Stephen Ojewande, made this known yesterday in an interview with The Nation.

    Ojewande said the Electoral Act frowns at voters inducement in any way, as Section 12 of the document stipulates a maximum fine of N500,000 or 12-month jail term or both for anyone convicted of inducement.

    He said the popularity which the crime has gained in recent times is a source of worry for the commission.

    The INEC official explained that sensitization against vote buying is already integrated in its voter education programme, as its officers have been explaining to voters that they cannot own a government that emerges through vote buying.

    He added that the electoral umpire is also out to fish out any of its staff that may be involved in such, adding that the law will be applied appropriately. He said the commission will continue to discourage voters not to sell their votes.

    Ojewande said: “Any act of lawlessness is anti-societal development. We will ensure the arrest of anyone caught with voter inducement this time, because it is against the law. They will be prosecuted. In fact, INEC is looking for scape goats in this area.”

    Vote-buying allegedly reigned in the last governorship elections in Ondo and Ekiti states.

    On the level of preparation, particularly with card readers, Ojewande said the machines are being tested from time to time and that there are enough back-ups for them.

    He disclosed that some of the machines were used in the last governorship election Ekiti State and in the House of Assembly by-election held in Oyo State recently.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • 2019: INEC requires 2,600 vehicles for elections in Ebonyi

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday said it requires 2,652 vehicles of different types for movement of materials and officials for the 2019 general elections in Ebonyi.

    INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Ebonyi Prof. Godswill Obioma, said this at a meeting between the commission and state officials of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Abakaliki.

    Obioma said effective and timely movement of election officials and materials to designated poling units and voting points was critical for credible, smooth and successful conduct of election.

    He explained that the vehicles would be deployed to the 2, 293 poling units and voting points across the 13 local government areas of the state and INEC state Headquarters.

    According to him, the Transport Strategy Plan (TSP) is an innovation by the state Headquarters of the commission to achieve prompt and unhindered transport arrangement for the 2019 general elections in Ebonyi.

    The REC said it would send the final draft of the transport strategy compiled by the two bodies to the INEC headquarters for approval.

    “The draft strategy plan provides for the deployment of 2, 652 vehicles of different types for the elections in Ebonyi. 1, 326 vehicles will be deployed for the Presidential and National Assembly elections in February 16, 2019 while another 1,326 vehicles will be required for governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections making a total of 2, 652 vehicles,” Obioma said.

    According to the arrangement, Abakaliki will be allocated 131 vehicles, Afikpo North, 92, Afikpo South, 76, Ebonyi 90, Ezza North 99, Ezza South 89 and Ikwo 135.

    Others are Ishielu, Ivo, Izzi, Ohaozara, Ohaukwu and Onitcha local government areas will receive 105, 60, 142,78, 125, and 98 vehicles respectively while INEC state Headquarters will have six haulage vehicles.

  • Osun election: INEC to arrest, prosecute vote buyers

    The Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) has expressed its willingness to ensure arrest and prosecution of anyone found inducing voters with money or material things in the September 22 governorship election.

    The Deputy Director, Voter Education and Publicity of the commission in Osun State, Ven. Stephen Ojewande, revealed this in a chat with The Nation yesterday.

    Ojewande said the Electoral Act frowns at voters inducement in any way as Section 12 of the documents stipulates a maximum fine of N500,000 or 12-month jail term or both for anyone convicted of inducement. He said the popularity which the crime has gained in recent times is a source of worry for the commission.

    The INEC official explained that sensitization against vote buying is already integrated in its voter education programme as its officers explain to voters that they can not own a government that emerges through vote buying. He added that the electoral umpire is also out to fish out any of its staff that may be involved in such, stressing that the law will be applied appropriately. He said the commission will continue to discourage voters not to sell their votes.

    Read Also: ‘How we deployed ICT to prevent rigging in Osun election

    “Any act of lawlessness is anti-societal development. We will ensure the arrest of anyone caught with voter inducement this time because it is against the law. They will be prosecuted. In fact, INEC is looking for scape goats in this area.” Ojewande said.

    Vote buying allegedly reigned in the last governorship elections in Ondo and Ekiti states.

    On the level of preparation, particularly with card readers, Ojewande disclosed that the machines are being tested from time to time, adding that there are enough back-ups for them. He disclosed that some of the machines were used in the last Ekiti State governorship election and in the house of assembly bye-election held in Oyo State.

    According to him, the machines performed creditably well. He pointed out that the little problem in the Ekiti election was human error, assuring that such errors would not occur in the Osun election.

    A total of 48 parties are participating in the September 22 election.