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Tag: Inec

  • Supreme Court judgement: Stop deceiving Nigerians Chris Uba tells brother

    Supreme Court judgement: Stop deceiving Nigerians Chris Uba tells brother

    The controversy generated by last Friday’s judgement of the Supreme Court recognizing the Ejike Oguebego faction of the Peoples Democratic Party in Anambra State and sacking Senators Andy Uba and Stella Oduah from the senate is taking a new dimension as Chris Uba has asked his brother and others to stop deceiving Nigerians and vacate their seats in the National Assembly honorably.

    Chris Uba also declared himself as the Senator representing Anambra South in the Senate, pointing out that he will be leading other beneficiaries of the judgement to INEC on Monday to demand their certificate of return.

    Uba who was the candidate of the PDP for the election was replaced by his elder brother following a decision by the Court of Appeal which set aside the decision of the lower court.

    Speaking with newsmen in Abuja, Chief Uba warned his brother, Senator Andy Uba, Ms. Stella Oduah and others to stop parading themselves as representatives of the people of Anambra state in the National Assembly.

    He said that last Friday’s judgment by the Supreme Court which affirmed an earlier High Court verdict recognising the Oguebego executive as the state’s authentic leadership, advised the affected ‘former’ senators and House Representatives members to accept their fate and honourably step down.

    He said he would be leading other members of the party who emerged as candidates under the Oguebego monitored primaries to the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission on Monday to demand for their certificates of return.

    Andy Uba and Oduah had faulted the assumptions that the Supreme Court judgment effectively removed them from office, arguing that they were not party in the suit which basically had to deal with issues of leadership crisis in Anambra PDP.

    Chris, who described himself as “Senator representing Anambra South” said he was shocked that those who should be conversant with the laws of the land could be deceiving the public regarding their true status after the Supreme Court failed to recognise the dubious way through which they got to the Senate.

    He said: “The time for substitution had passed and we were busy doing our campaigns when, one week to the election, the Andy Uba faction went to the Court of Appeal and set aside the judgement of the High Court.

    “Based on that, they took the judgement to INEC and their names were used to substitute our own. We cried foul then, insisting we were not party to the suit but INEC insisted that our names were initially published based on an earlier court order and that we should go on appeal.

    “We appealed to the Supreme Court and the verdict on Friday clearly vindicated our position as the Supreme Court set aside that judgement of the Court of Appeal, agreed with the judgement of the High Court and even granted all our five prayers.

    “Now, they (Chris Uba and Oduah) went on air and issued press statements to deceive the public that the order from the Supreme Court did not affect them because they were not a party to the suit. The question is: when our names were removed by INEC and replaced with theirs, were we party to the suit?

    “Now they are shouting and trying to misinterpret a clear judgment that has removed them and given us victory. They are just deceiving the public. We will demand for our certificates of return from INEC on Monday because the judgement is clear. We do not need to seek for any further clarifications.”

    Uba said further: “When the whole exercise wanted to start, INEC wrote a letter to the PDP headquarters to avoid confusion, telling the PDP that the Ejike Oguebego exco was the one that it would recognise based on court order of a Federal High Court in Abuja.

    “Unfortunately, the PDP ignored that letter and, instead, set up a two-man caretaker committee to come to Anambra State to conduct primaries. Of course, there was no room for that caretaker committee to operate in the state because the key to conducting the primaries is the 3-man delegates from the 326 wards in the state.

    “It was obvious that without the state exco, the caretaker committee cannot be functional because the people who are supposed to organise the state congress were expected to liaise with the state chairman. From there, they would set up a committee to go to all the wards where the delegates would emerge from for electing candidates into the National and state assemblies.

    “So when they set up this caretaker, the Ejike Oguebego exco went to court and got a judgement recognising it as the right exco therefore making null and void the caretaker committee.

    “The judgment also instructed INEC and the PDP to conduct all the electioneering exercise under the Ejike Oguebego exco including all the candidates who were participating. So, we obeyed the court order and did our primaries as instructed. The exercise was duly monitored by INEC and all the relevant papers were signed.”

    He said it would amount to injustice if the court had ruled in favour of the other group comprising Andy Uba, Stella Oduah and others who allegedly did not undergo any primaries nor visited Anambra.

    “They just sat in their houses in Abuja. INEC and the PDP got copies of the results of our primaries and even sent our names to INEC and that was why the list containing our names was published as candidates before they went through the backdoor to remove it,” he stated.

  • INEC redploys nine RECs

    INEC redploys nine RECs

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday announced the redeployment of nine of its Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs).

    This is contained in a statement signed by the Secretary to the Commission, Mrs Augusta Ogakwu in Abuja.

    The RECs affected in the redeployment according to the statement were Dr Lawrence Azubuike who was redeployed from Ebonyi to Anambra, Dr Ogbudu Ada was moved from Imo to Akwa Ibom while Sylvester Ezeani was redeployed from Cross River to Abia.

    It added that the commission had also approved the redeployment of Mr Sam Olumekun from Ekiti to Edo and Mrs Gesila Khan was moved from Rivers to Cross River.

    Also redeployed were Mr Austin Okojie from Akwa Ibom to Bayelsa; and Baritor Kpagih from Bayelsa to Delta.

    The commission also approved the redeployment of Mr Habu Hinna from Yobet to Taraba while Mr Ikoiwak Abasi was redeployed from Delta to Rivers.

    The statement said the re-deployment takes immediate effect and directed that the handing-over must be concluded on February 2.

  • INEC fixes February 20 for Benue south re-run

    INEC fixes February 20 for Benue south re-run

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has formally announced the date for Benue South Senatorial District rerun election.

    Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC in the state, Prof. Istifanus Dafwang disclosed that the rerun will hold February 20.

    He made disclosure on Tuesday during the IPAC/INEC interactive session held ahead of the election.

    The REC urged the general public to ignore the earlier February 13 date that was widely reported by many media outfits.

    Dafwang also revealed that all non-sensitive materials had already been put in place while sensitive materials were being prepared to meet up with the date.

    He assured of the availability of all the needed sensitive materials needed for the election.

    He explained that the commission would be adopting simultaneous accreditation and voting process in which voters would go to their polling units with their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) by 8am on the election date.

    While disclosing that the process would be completed by 4pm that day at the Polling Unit and 6pm at the Registration Areas /Ward and the local government areas, Dafwang stated that collation of votes would commence immediately after voting is completed.

    He, however, appealed to the contestants, key stakeholders, opinion leaders, party supporters and voters to adhere to the rules of the game as stipulated in the 1999 Nigerian Constitution and the Electoral Acts 2010 as amended.

    “We plead that political campaigns should be devoid of hate speeches and violence which should transcend to the Election Day and thereafter. We should be ‘ballots without bullets’ because that is the only way the electoral process can succeed,” he said.

  • Kogi: INEC, AGF and APC leaders erred

    SIR: The controversy generated by the declaration of the Kogi State election as inconclusive and the substitution of late Prince Abubakar Audu with Yahaya Bello has by no means abated.

    Many people have argued that INEC erred by not declaring the winner of the election. Evidently, the election was already won in 16 LGAs by Audu, with total vote of 240,867 as against Captain Wada’s 199,514. Obviously, the valid 25,000 votes in the 91 polling stations cannot change the outcome of a supplementary election.

    Again, that INEC erred by approaching the  Minister of Justice instead of the Supreme Court for interpretation regarding Audu’s demise during  the election; the latter hurriedly  asked APC to replace  late Audu  without due recourse to the constitution.

    The constitution and the electoral laws are strict about who participates and wins an election. After satisfying the requirements of the electoral acts section 31, late Audu picked Faleke and they became inseparable as clearly stated in section 33.  The section makes no room to change or replace a candidate except in the case of sections 141, 142 and 36 (1) where a candidate dies before the commencement of poll. And from there it is agreed that they share the same fate in the outcome of the election. Therefore, replacing Audu with Bello is a grave error.

    The reason for declaring the election inconclusive is flimsy, because when INEC pronounced the election inconclusive, the Audu/Faleke ticekt had clearly won the election. INEC had announced that they polled the highest number of votes of 240,867 against Wada’s 199,514 and won in 16 out of the 21 LGAs.  Sections 133, 134 and especially section 179(1) (a) emphatically states that a contestant can be deemed to have been elected with a majority of YES votes over NO at the election; subsection (b) further stressed that he has not less than one quarter of the votes cast of the election in each of at least two third of all the LGAs. Section 69 of the Electoral Act corroborates that; in an election to the office of the governor, and in compliance with sections 133, 134 and 179, the candidate that receives the highest number of votes shall be declared elected. This answers the question of whether the Audu /Faleke can be deemed to have duly won the election and the election cannot be declared inconclusive.

    Further, section 181(1) of the Electoral Act states that if a person duly elected as governor dies before taking oath of office or for any reason whatsoever cannot be sworn in, the person elected with him as deputy governor shall be sworn in as governor.

    It is therefore an error for INEC and the APC leadership to smuggle Yahaya Bello into a process that was already concluded.

    The only claim of Bello is that he participated at the primary elections where he emerged as a runner-up. The Electoral Act in sections 87 (1) (b) states that the candidate with the highest votes at the end of the voting shall be declared the winner of the primaries. This section of the Electoral Act did not validate runner-ups neither does it suggest warehousing runner up’s votes for any reason. The sole purpose of primary elections is to produce a flag bearer for the party and that ends it.

    Yahaya Bello could have been brought in only before the commencement of polls as stipulated in sections 36 (1) of the constitution. Fortunately for the process, he came late to be considered for any relevance, contesting without a deputy in a needless supplementary where he polled an insignificant 6,855 votes and even when the Electoral Act states that a tribunal or court shall not under any circumstance declare any person winner of an election in which such a person has not fully participated in all the stages of the election.

    From the foregoing, it is incontrovertible that James Faleke is the governor elect. As proceedings unfold in the courts, the rights of the petitioner and electorates must be protected as justice should not be done, but should be seen to be done.

    • Akerejola Abiodun,

     Lokoja, Kogi State.

  • INEC gets new technology to collate, transmit results

    INEC gets new technology to collate, transmit results

    •Bars fresh voters from 82 bye-elections 

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has its sight set on new technology designed for easier collation and transmission of results.

    Chairman of the commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu says INEC is determined this time around to consolidate on its use of technology for election rather than experimenting.

    “This Commission will not experiment. It will rather consolidate. Technology has come to stay,” Yakubu told representatives of 30 political parties at a consultative session in Abuja.

    “Not only will the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and the Smart Card Readers remain, we are going to go a step higher to see if we can also deploy technology for collation and transmission of results so that we make the processes between the conclusion of elections at the Polling Units, the counting and final tally at the Collation Centre speedy and more accurate and technology driven,” he said.

    INEC also plans to disallow fresh voters from taking  take part in court ordered governorship  re-run polls  in Rivers, Akwa Ibom and  Abia States as well as  79 other units across the country.

    Only those who voted in the cancelled polls will participate in the re-run, The Nation gathered yesterday.

    Yakubo told the party leaders: “While strengthening the Card Reader and the PVCs, which were innovations introduced in 2015, as we approach 2019, we shall move an inch higher by introducing technology in the processes of collation and transmission of results so that the processes will be faster and more accurate.

    “New approaches are required to strengthen election management in the country and consequently consolidate our democracy further.

    “We believe this can be best achieved by consultation with stakeholders and political parties are one of the most critical stakeholders.”

    He assured the Political Parties of the continued neutrality of the Commission.

    “We will remain an unbiased Election Management Body.

    “All political parties have equal status with INEC,” he added.

    Some of the pertinent issues the Commission sought the advice and input of the Political Parties included:

    • Violence in the electoral process from campaign to voting and after voting;
    • Inconclusiveness of elections;
    • Spate of nullifications of elections arising from the 2015 general elections;

    .Improvement in technology deployed for the 2015 elections and new innovations going forward; and

    • Management of the voting process with regards to accreditation and voting.

    INEC sources said that newly registered voters in the 82 districts and constituencies where bye elections are scheduled for this quarter will have to wait till 2019 or whenever there is a vacancy by reason of death.

    It was gathered that the decision to bar newly registered voters from poll rerun was taken by the management to prevent rigging and litigations after poll re-run.

    One source said: “As part of our preparation for poll re-run, only registered voters for the last general election will be allowed to vote.

    “Those who have benefited from our Continuous Voters Registration exercise after the last general election will not take part.

    “We took this decision to prevent rigging or recourse to inducement of eligible voters to register. We also do not want any distortion in the electoral process. This is a far- reaching measure to avoid litigations.

    “Any candidate or politician mobilising his or her supporters to register for poll re-run is joking.”

    Professor Yakubu said during the week that  82 Appeal Court-ordered elections will be conducted by INEC in the first quarter of this year.

    “The first quarter of this year will be a mini general election. That is why this meeting is even more urgent so that we can discuss issues surrounding the conduct of elections so that we can have seamless, effective and conclusive processes.

    “We need to put our hands together with RECs and other stakeholders to see how we respond immediately to the decisions of the courts to conduct these elections because we have a maximum of 90 days within which to do so”.

     

  • INEC committee wants prosecution, enforcement department

    INEC committee wants prosecution, enforcement department

    Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)  Committee on Management of Election Petitions (COMEPET), has recommended for the establishment of  a prosecution and enforcement department in the commission.

    This according to the committee will ensure the prosecution of electoral offenders pending the establishment of the electoral offences commission.

    The committee was inaugurated on the 16th of September 2015, and headed by Barrister Kassim Gaidam.

    Gaidam said that “the prosecutorial powers of the Commission be strengthened and a department of Prosecution and Enforcement be created pending the establishment of Electoral offences Commission”.

    The INEC Chairman, while commending the hard work and meaningful recommendations contained in the report, pointed out that the job of arresting, investigating and prosecuting electoral offenders might be far too stretching for the Commission.

    He said: “Whatever the Commission needs to do in the interim, we will. I am also happy that you recognized that the long term solution is to relieve the Commission of the responsibility of prosecuting electoral offenders, which in some cases may include INEC staff. It is very odd to prosecute ourselves. The other constraint that we can’t arrest, we can’t investigate but we are asked to prosecute. If we don’t properly investigate, at prosecution the case may be thrown out.”
    The INEC Chairman observed that:  “Part of the reason why we have so much litigation is the conduct of the election itself.  Politicians hardly accept defeat and because they don’t accept defeat they end up in court.”

    He expressed delight that the report was coming at a very important time for the Commission, with the spate of nullification of elections and the upturning of elections.

    According to him, “There were issues arising from some of the judgments and I like some of the recommendations from the Committee. A number of things you have raised touch on what we are looking out for the future of the Commission: we need amendments to Guidelines, the Constitution, to the Electoral Act (2010 as amended).”

    He assured the Committee that the Commission under his leadership would expeditiously implement the recommendations contained in the report.

    Also, the meeting between Civil Society Organsiations (CSOs)/ media
    and the Commission called for the setting up of electoral offences tribunal.

    The meeting agreed that in order to stem the spate of violence, the CSO and the media called for the setting up of electoral offences tribunal and the speed enforcement of its legal provisions.

    It is on record that no politician has been prosecuted since the return of democracy in 1999. However, over 200 persons were said to be facing trails over various electoral offences before the conduct of the 2015 general elections. Though no notable politician is on the list.

  • Anambra Central: Senator faults fresh primaries for re-run election

    Anambra Central: Senator faults fresh primaries for re-run election

    A Senator from Anambra Central, Annie Okonkwo has faulted plans by political parties that participated in the 2015 general election to conduct fresh primaries for the rerun senatorial election in Anambra Central.

    He argued that the move was “illegal and unconstitutional” and would violate the Electoral Act because the time scheduled by the Independent National electoral commission (INEC) for parties to substitute candidates expired last year.

    Okonkwo, who is the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra Central, said, in a statement Wednesday, that “it would amount to an illegality to allow PDP and APC to field fresh candidates for the re- run election in the Anambra Central senatorial district.

    “The court did not ask political parties to conduct fresh primaries. The court only ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a rerun within 90 days.

    “Ngige, who is the only person that can contest the rerun in the All Progressives Congress (APC), was quoted to have said that he would not participate in the election.

    “So, it is laughable to read that Ekwunife, who the Court of Appeal disqualified and nullified her election has defected to APC to participate in the rerun. ‎Though, she has been disqualified by APC.

    “In the recent judgment, the three-man appellate panel led by Justice A.H. Yahya had nullified the March 28 election, sayingthat Ekwunife did not meet the provision of the Electoral Act because she wasn’t a product of a valid primary,” Okonkwo said.

    He contended that if APC or any other political party go ahead to ‎field a new candidate and wins the rerun, it would cause another legal battle because those who will emerge, will not be product of a valid primary.

    Okonkwo said the right thing for parties to do is to allow those, who participated in the primary to take part in the rerun.

    He insisted that “if Ngige is no longer interested in the rerun, APC won’t be able to participate.”

    Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has fixed judgment for January 29 in the dispute among members of the PDP, including Okonkwo over the party’s candidate for the party in the senatorial zone.

     

  • Group condemns sack of Edo lawmaker

    Group condemns sack of Edo lawmaker

    A socio-political group, the League of Young Edo Professionals (LEYEP) has condemned the sacking of Gowon Jerry, the lawmaker representing Etsako West 11 Constituency in the Edo State House of Assembly.

    Jerry was sacked by the Court of Appeal based in technicalities and declared Sylvanus Eruaga of the Peoples Democratic Party winner of the election.

    The group described the court’s ruling as a miscarriage of justice.

    It said the sacking of the APC lawmaker based on technical issues and not on electoral malpractice or loss of votes was a disservice to the people of Etsako West 11 Constituency.

    A press statement signed by the group’s Secretary-General, Dr. Osatohamwen Nosakhare, the league said the people endured harsh weather conditions and intimidation from all areas to cast their votes for the APC candidate.

    Dr. Nosakhare said it stood reason on its head for the Election Petitions Tribunal to declare a candidate who garnered 4,001 votes winner against that of a candidate who polled 14,373 votes.

    The group noted: “The league of Young Edo Professionals finds it discomfiting that the Tribunal relied on mere technicalities to annul the 14,373 votes legitimately won by Mr. Jerry and gave victory to Mr. Sylvanus who polled a mere 4,001 votes.

    According to the statement, “While we admit that the APC may have erred as it failed to meet the required 21-day sent to INEC to hold its primaries, we make bold to say that the candidate who went through the full electoral process should not have been made to suffer the negligence of a few.

    “The reliance on technicalities to nullify the 14,373 votes freely given to Gowon Jerry by the good people of Etsako West 11 is therefore a travesty of justice.

    “It is disheartening that the PDP and its candidate are celebrating the nullification of votes freely given to another candidate when they should hide their heads in shame for the poor outing in the election and seek ways to worm themselves into the hearts of the people for the next elections.

    “The League believes that although the Courts have sacked the APC candidate, the PDP really has no moral right to claim a victory they could not win at the polls, but through court technicalities.”

  • INEC to meet with RECs, political parties, others

    INEC to meet with RECs, political parties, others

    Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will be holding separate meetings with the various stakeholders in electoral process.

    The meetings are scheduled to hold from Tuesday, 19th January to Thursday, 21th January 2016.

    The meeting with the RECs is scheduled for Tuesday, while the meeting with the leadership of the Political Parties will hold on Wednesday, 20th.

    The last in the series of consultations will be held with the CSOs and the Media on Thursday, 21th, January 2016.

  • Bayelsa poll: Dickson receives Certificate of Return

    Bayelsa poll: Dickson receives Certificate of Return

    The Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Seriake Dickson, on Thursday received a Certificate of Return from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after winning the state governorship election.

    Dickson, who was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the election, was issued the certificate by INEC at the commission’s office in Yenagoa, the state capital.

    The brief ceremony was witnessed by enthused crowd of party faithful, aides of the governor, youth leaders, members of the state House of Assembly and women groups.

    Among the personalities at the occasion were the Chief of Staff to the governor, Chief Talford Ongolo, the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Kombowei Benson, former acting Governor, Ebebi, Director-General, Restoration Campaign Organisation, Fred Agbedi and commissioners.

    The PDP supporters and various groups of women including female dancers from northern part of the country kept the area busy drumming and dancing to celebrate the victory of the governor at the poll.

    The state Deputy Governor, Rear Admiral John Jonah (rtd) also received his certificate of return.

    Presenting the certificates to Dickson and Jonah, INEC’s Supervising National Commissioner, South-South, Mr. Mustapha Leki, said it was the responsibility of the commission to present the certificates following the declaration by the returning officer.

    He said Dickson was declared the winner of the keenly contested election and in accordance with Sections 68(1) and 78(1) of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended deserves the certificate.

    He said the certificate must be presented to the governor-elect within seven days, adding that the pronouncement of the returning officer after every election is the final and can only be challenged at the tribunal.