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Tag: Inec

  • INEC distributes 38.7m cards

    INEC distributes 38.7m cards

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has issued 54,341,610 and distributed 38,774,391.00 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in  35 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The figure is 71.3% of the cards expected to be issued.

    The commission has an outstanding 15,567,219 to be issued.

    The distribution of the cards has just started in Borno State, where Boko Haram is in control of 20 local government areas.

    The final list of registered voters, to be released on Tuesday, will determine the actual figure of those who will vote in the elections.

    The nation expects about 70.3million voters to go to the polls as from February 14.

    A breakdown of the top states on the  list is as follows: Kano (2,771,185); Kaduna (2,643,517); Lagos (2,159,091); Katsina (1,965,840); Bauchi (1,509,255); Jigawa (1,460,620); Rivers (1,253,606); Sokoto (1,211,717);  Delta (1,260,728); Akwa Ibom (1,177,910); Oyo (1,141,405);  Benue (1,132,187); Niger (1,089,002) Plateau (1,072,352);  Kebbi (1,035,780) and Abia (1,020,601)

    They include: Ekiti (481,198); Osun(992,310); Bayelsa (370,062);  Enugu(662,445); Gombe (802,959); Kogi (755,775); Taraba (921,637); Zamfara (925,302); Anambra (862,747); Cross River (763,436); Ebonyi (687,402); and FCT (411,935).

    The others are Kwara (670,694); Ondo (824,715); Yobe (740,336); Adamawa (912,312); Edo (930,276); Ogun (672,017); Nasarawa (799,991); Imo (682,046);

    Speaking with our correspondent last night, the Chief Press Secretary to INEC chairman, Mr. Kayode Robert Idowu said: “We have issued 54,341,610 PVCs to all the states. But the figure does not represent the total number of eligible voters for the 2015 poll. By the time we release the final register of voters next week, we will be able to tell the nation the actual figure.

    “We are working round the clock to ensure that all those who were registered collect their PVCs. We are hopeful that most of them will have their PVCs.

    “Eligible voters have up to January 31 to collect their PVCs. In fact, we are thinking of adding more days in February to enable Nigerians get these cards.

    “The Electoral Act only stipulates when INEC can display register of voters. There is no time-limit law for the distribution of the PVCs.”

    Kayode in an accompanying letter to the table, said: “The difference in levels of turn out by people for their PVCs is not the making of INEC since the commission has put in place the same procedure across the country guaranteeing equal access to persons waiting to collect their cards.”

    “These figures are far from being final for the 2015 general election since PVC distribution by INEC continues until close to elections.”

  • Furore over INEC’s PVC distribution

    Furore over INEC’s PVC distribution

    The Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) is critical to the success of the general elections. But, criticisms have continued to trail its shoddy distribution by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The general feeling among Nigerians is that the exercise has been bungled by the commission. Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI examines the implications of the flawed process for the polls.

    UNLIKE previous elections, Nigerians appear to be enthusiastic this time around about collecting their Permanent Voter Card (PVC), to enable them to discharge their civic responsibilities during the general elections. But, their enthusiasms seem to have been dampened by the hiccups associated with the collection of the cards from the points where they did their registrations within their localities and later at INEC’s local government offices. The exercise involved voters cross-checking their names in the displayed Voters’ Register and collecting permanent voters cards in exchange for the old ones.

     

    Confusion trails

    distribution

    There is confusion about the distribution of the cards and this is creating doubts about the preparedness of the commission to conduct free and fair elections.

    Some of the aggrieved eligible voters have expressed disgust over the shoddy manner the distribution is being carried out, saying they have done everything possible, but have not been able to get their cards. A legal practitioner and a resident of Surulere, Lagos, Mr. Tekema Wakama, said it is sad that he and many of his neigbhours would not be able to vote due to no fault of theirs. Wakama said although he had complied with directives, by registering again at Surulere Local Government, he has not been able to get his PVC.

    He added: “When they said the PVCs are out, Surulere’s own didn’t come out. It’s among the local government areas in Lagos State that was delayed. We have challenges here, but I pray that INEC should be able to do what is right, so that people would be able to vote for candidates of their choice.” Similarly, an automobile mechanic Malik Ogunde complained about not being able to obtain his PVC, saying INEC did not organize the distribution of the cards well.

    But, Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, does not agree that INEC has not done a good job. He said heaps of uncollected cards have been deposited at the commission’s local government offices and that there is no reason why anybody should not be able to collect his or her PVC. He noted that the collection of PVCs continues till the end of January and that everyone should be able to collect their cards. Idowu who spoke with The Nation via telephone on Tuesday said the commission placed the December 31, 2014 deadline on continues registration because it is publishing the voters’ register, as required by law, on January 13.

    He said: “Yes, the three days initially allotted for collection of the cards was short, but since then, collection of PVCs has been ongoing since the collection exercise was flagged off in phases across the country. We have been calling on the public to make use of the opportunity by going to their local governments to collect their cards; the cards are there. In Ekiti and Osun, where governorship elections were held last year, the implication is that collection of voters’ card has been ongoing in those states since March 2014. There is no reason why anybody should not collect his or her card.”

     

    Enthusiasm waning

    Nevertheless, indications are that some eligible voters who felt disappointed because they could not collect their cards from the polling units when the distribution of the PVCs was flagged off have lost interest in the matter. For instance, Mr. Nwachukwu Okeleke, a security officer attached to one of the old generation banks, said there is no guarantee that other problems would not crop up when he decides to travel to Ifo town, his local government headquarters. Okeleke, who resides in Iju-Ajuwon, a border town in Ogun State, said all the persons who registered at his polling unit in Iju-Ajuwon could not collect their cards throughout the period the distribution lasted.

    He said: “I didn’t see INEC officials at the centre. I was not the only one. I live at Ajuwon and I went to the centre where I registered, but there was no INEC staff giving out cards to anybody. I trekked to other polling centres within the area, but nobody was giving PVC. I later learnt from neigbhours that the registration for the entire area was cancelled. It is terrible. It is true that INEC has asked us to visit our local government headquarters in Ifo, but there is no guarantee that other problems would not crop up when I get there.”

    Like Okeleke, many residents of Iju-Ajuwon who are required to do fresh registration do not see why they should leave their jobs and businesses and travel to Ifo to begin a fresh process of securing their voting cards. Many of those who went to Ifo after the end of the distribution exercise in their locality were not able to collect their cards. They were directed by INEC officials to come back at a later date. But, most of them never returned. Mrs. Joke Adebayo, a trader in Ajuwon, is one of such persons. “How do you expect me to leave my business and go back to Ifo, when it is not guaranteed that I would get my PVC at the end of the day,” she said.  Ifo is the headquarters of Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State and it is one of the biggest local councils in the state.

    No less a personality than Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State had equally refused to go through another registration process, when he was confronted with an embarrassing situation, November 28, 2014, on getting to Ward G3 Unit E002 in Surulere, Lagos, where he and his wife Abimbola registered. The governor and his wife, as well as other Nigerians who registered at the polling unit, were informed that there were no cards for them because there was loss of data captured during the registration prior to the 2011 polls. The loss of the data was attributed to the crash of the commission’s computing system.

    A week later, INEC’s top officials, including the former Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Adekunle Ogunmola, visited the governor’s office to plead with him to rescind his decision because, as a leader, it may have serious implications on the polity.  Fashola had argued that not having a disaster recovery system in a national assignment as important as the one it is handling amounted to irresponsibility on the part of INEC. The governor agreed and indeed asked Lagosians in similar situation to see it as a national duty to  follow the process to the end.

     

    Polling unit transfer

    cumbersome

    Other Nigerians who may not be able to vote because they could not collect their PVCs are those who have relocated from where they registered in 2011 to new abodes. For instance, an estimated 1.5 million Nigerians displaced by the insurgency in the Northeast may not be able to vote in the forthcoming elections. It is not clear indeed whether elections will take place at all the states under emergency rule; in spite of assurances by the INEC that it is committed to organizing elections in all parts of the country. INEC spokesman Nick Dazzang was quoted as saying that the commission has started distributing permanent voting cards to displaced people, many of whom are living in camps. But, he added that discrepancies in the Electoral Act may not allow them to vote, unless this is “reconciled” before the general elections.

    The President of the Nigeria Voters’ Assembly, Mr. Mashood Erubami said INEC is not ready to entertain the idea of transferring from one place of registration to another and as such has been ignoring persons requesting for such transfer. He said this is because the measures put in place for such transfer is not as easy and simplistic as INEC officials are making people to believe.

     

    Low awareness campaign

    There seem to be a confusion as to where people can pick up their PVCs. As a result, the initial euphoria has given way to skepticism. There are reports of PVCs belonging to persons in one polling unit being located in other polling units. A Lagos resident Olusegun Adegoke who was also unable to collect his card during the exercise in the state scored INEC low in area of awareness campaign. “The information was not well circulated; the awareness was low. I did not hear about it at all. I was on my way to work when I saw a crowd. I decided to find out what was happening and discovered that a board had been put up with incomplete names,” he observed.

    Erubami agrees with Adegoke. He said INEC ought to have come up with stronger measures and adequate publicity in alliance with political parties and civil societies, to ensure that citizens were adequately mobilized for the distribution of the cards seamlessly. He added that the shoddy handling of the PVC production and distribution by INEC is a wrong signal about the commission’s readiness to conduct the forthcoming general elections fairly.

    Since INEC has reiterated that any voter without the PVC will not be allowed to vote in the forthcoming general elections, Erubami said the implication is that millions of eligible voters who are yet to obtain the card would be disenfranchised. “As things are now, a lot of Nigerians will be disenfranchised, as it was in Ekiti and Osun states,” he said. The civil society activist noted that INEC’s idea of assigning a single staff to most of the collecting points falls short of what is required to handle the deluge of citizens turning up for the exercise.

     

    Apathy justified

    The Southeast Secretary-General of the human rights watchdog, Campaign for Democracy (CD), Dr. Jerry Chukwuokolo, believes the apathy being displayed by some Nigerians who are reluctant to go and collect their PVCs at local government offices of INEC is not out of place. His words: “They said people should go to INEC offices in their respective local councils, but when you get there it is another matter; you may not find anybody around to attend to you.”

    The human rights activist said in an ideal situation one could attribute what happened during the initial stage of the distribution of PVCs to logistic problems on the part of INEC. ‘But, as it is, nobody sees it that way, because of previous experiences,” he added. Chukwuokolo attributes the fear being raised in many quarters concerning this development to the do-or-die attitude of Nigerian politicians. He said: “From what is playing out on the political scene, every group is trying to outmanoeuvre the other for unjustifiable reasons. In that sense, people feel that politicians are working on INEC, to achieve their own ends.”

    The Enugu-based Chukwuokolo is of the view that the Prof. Attahiru Jega-led INEC was given a free hand by the Goodluck Jonathan administration, compared to Prof Maurice Iwu under former President Olusegun Obasanjo. He also believes that INEC has improved considerably under Jega. He added however: “But Jega, to my own understanding, is not giving his workers the leverage to work, in the sense that he does not give them the remunerations or allowances they need to operate. Most times, he gives preferences to consultants, who are now more or less siphoning the money he should have used to take of his workers. Yet, after all said and done, the workers would still be the ones to execute the job. So, that leaves them at the mercy of politicians, who may induce the workers to do their own bidding.”

     

    Allegation of connivance

    After cataloging the problems that trailed the exercise across the states, the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu expressed disappointment over the development, saying the situation might have been deliberately contrived by INEC to rig the elections in favour of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP). He equally queried the eligibility of INEC to conduct a free and fair election going by the shoddy manner it conducted the distribution of PVCs to eligible voters. Tinubu said INEC had four good years to prepare for the coming general elections and there are laws, particularly constitutional and electoral act requiring certain actions to be taken.

    Similar tales of woe were echoed by frustrated Nigerians who were initially eager to get their cards across the country. But, Idowu believes the commission has addressed the initial problems encountered by Nigerians in their bid to secure the card. He said INEC has taken care of those who did not find their names in the register initially, with the continuous voter registration (CVR). He added that the situation might have arisen because the fingerprints of such persons were probably not fully captured during the 2011 registration exercise.

    The CVR is primarily targeted at persons who turned 18 years since  2011. But, it also presents a fresh opportunity for those who were 18 years at the time yet did not present themselves for registration, as well as persons who were registered in 2011 and were issued the Temporary Voter Card (TVC), but who for whatever reason did not find their names on the register.

    The registration process includes collection of the applicant’s bio-data, facial portrait and fingerprints (all fingers). INEC had spent N34.4 billion on the procurement of Direct Data Capture (DDC) machines which were deployed for the nationwide voter registration exercise in January 2011. After the registrations, Nigerians who participated were issued Temporary Voter Cards, which was used for the 2011 general elections. The PVC is an improvement on the temporary cards that were used in 2011 because it contains the biometric data of voters. This is to enable the cards to be read electronically with card readers that will be deployed for the forthcoming general election.

  • New Year, old issues

    New Year, old issues

    He was enraged. His email bore it all. Yet all I sought to do was a review of the developments in the Southsouth after the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primaries. What angered him was my use of the words “answered prayers”. As far as this angry reader was concerned, the governors and (not God) answered their own prayers by foisting their candidates on the people.

    For my “wrong choice of words”, he labelled me an” enemy of democracy” and my article “shameful”.

    What the reader’s email shows is the emotion that is attached by the people, politicians and their supporters to the electoral process.

    Akwa Ibom, one of the places where the electoral process is generating interest, was the reason my reader got mad at me. Many, especially aspirants, are still getting mad at the choice of Mr Udom Emmanuel to fly the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship flag. There are 22 of them, who are not happy about the manner Emmanuel was chosen. They say the primary was rigged. They petitioned the party’s national leadership and followed up with a court action.

    They got a relief when the court ordered that no candidate emanating from the disputed primaries should be submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The court ruled that the case proper would be heard first week of January. By then, the deadline prescribed by the Electoral Act for the submission of candidates’ names would have lapsed. On this basis, the Emmanuel group approached the vacation judge. He saw reason and vacated the order. Now, his name is with INEC.

    Akwa Ibom is an interesting state. It tops the country’s Federal Allocation chart. What it gets from the 13 per cent derivation fund equals what other four states combined receive. Its politics, many will swear, generate so much hullaballoo just because it has so much cash. It is a place where the person in power can make or mar you.

    The outcome of a meeting between Governor Godswill Akpabio and the aggrieved aspirants last month further proves that power intoxicates. The way it started should have warned that nothing good would come out of it. Shouting match is the best way to describe how the meeting started. The shouting match was between Akpabio and an aspirant, Assam Assam, former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice. The duo used to be very close to the extent that they had seen the inner recess of each other’s homes. Akpabio even nominated Assam as ambassador. He also ironically wrote the petition which saw his recall.

    The governor, I heard, was really livid with the aspirant calling him names several times. He had uncharitable words to describe him and kept saying something like: “you are talking to your governor like that.” He also referred to his role in removing him as ambassador.

    The aspirant too would not let the governor have the final say. The duo kept giving it to each other. It was clear that each felt the other had betrayed their once shared bond. It was a tough job for the others to calm them down. So heated was the argument between the duo that the meeting which took place at the secretariat set up by the aggrieved aspirants in Abuja almost never got underway until about several minutes after Akpabio and his team, comprising ex-SSG Emmanuel and Senator Bob Effiong,  arrived.

    When frayed nerves were calmed, an opening prayer was said. Jesus was asked to come and moderate and take charge. Christian hyms were sung. The atmosphere at the secretariat could have been taken for a Redeemed Christian Church of God’s praise and worship session. The only difference is that there was no drumming or any form of instruments playing in the background. Clappings took the place of drumming.

    I was told the governor was the first to speak after the prayer and worship session. He was said to have pleaded with the aggrieved to let Emmanuel fly the flag. They allowed him take his time. At the end, they made sure his prayer received negative answer. One major plank on which they based their objection was that Emmanuel did not emerge in a contest agreeable to them. Emmanuel was said to have added salt to their injury by making an allusion which they considered as comparing himself to Jesus Christ, who was earlier rejected but turned out to be the messiah. They felt this did not show humility.

    After the deadlock, they put their rejection of Emmanuel on paper. The governor actually requested for it. They got it published in this newspaper some 24 hours after the meeting ended. Not only that, they also resolved to go on with the case in court hoping their prayer against Emmanuel is answered. They also demanded that President Goodluck Jonathan must be involved in efforts to bring the matter to a closure.

    Key among the reasons the 22 aspirants discredited the December 8 process include: the allegation that the delegate list was concocted by certain interests as there was no delegate election in the state;  that accreditation for the election was done inside the Government House and not at the venue; that agents of the 22 aspirants were not accredited, thus, they were denied  access to the election venue; that marked ballot papers were given to the purported delegates outside the venue to drop in the ballot boxes, and that the electoral panel was compromised.

    As the aspirants are awaiting Jonathan’s intervention, the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) is also trying to cash in on the situation and reap from the discord in the PDP. Its candidate, Umana Okon Umana, is said to have initiated moves to get the 22 on his side. So far, no concrete deal has been reached. The aggrieved aspirants have denied holding any talk with the APC presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. But going by their denial statement, Patrick Ekpotu, Nsima Ekere—two ex-deputies to Akpabio— and the 20 others are not ruling out the possibility of talking with the opposition, if their party continues to ignore them.

    Umana, a former Secretary to the State Government (SSG), joined the APC after the PDP national secretariat zoned him out of the race. It remains to be seen if Umana’s prayer will be answered by getting these men on his side and increasing his chances of taking over the Government House. I hear he needs all the muscle he can muster to defeat Akpabio’s man. He also needs to rein in ex-Minister James Akpanudoedehe, who, I understand, feels the ex-SSG hijacked his structure to get the APC ticket.

    So, this New Year, Akwa Ibom is still beset with old issues. How they are resolved will be closely watched.

    For me, two things are of paramount importance on this matter and they are my final takes. One, Akwa Ibom’s wealth has not really trickled down to the people. Forget the glitz on the beautiful streets of Uyo and other major towns, an average Akwa Ibom man still lives in abject poverty. Millions of them have not truly felt the state’s fabled wealth. So, my prayer is that this fight should be won by someone really out to serve the people. Anyone who will get there and be gallivanting all over with the common wealth will never get there. Two, in the interest of the state, I have another prayer: violence will play no role in resolving the ensuing fight. The sort of madness witnessed during the last governorship race will be alien to this dear state, which has truly transformed from its village-like look over the years.

    Happy New Year!

     

  • 2015: INEC meets on modalities for IDPs participation

    2015: INEC meets on modalities for IDPs participation

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is expected to come out later on Friday with the modalities to address the Internally Displaced Persons’ participation in the general election.

    The commission is still locked in a meeting at the time of filling this report.

    INEC chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, had at different fora assured Nigerians that people from the troubled Northeast will participate in the elections.

    Consequently, the commission sets up a committee to fashion out how to accommodate the IDPs in the conduct of the elections.

     

  • INEC to publish voters list on Tuesday

    INEC to publish voters list on Tuesday

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will on Tuesday publish the voters register – one month to the election –  in line with the Electoral Act.

    Mr. Kayode Idowu, INEC Chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega’s spokesman, said yesterday that the register will be on display to allow for public scrutiny for claims and objections.

    The publication of the register will end the anxiety over the list. Those who have not registered will no longer be able to do so before the elections.

    Idowu said those who registered during the continous Voter Registration (CVR) and those whose names are on the register but yet to pick up their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), will still be free to have the cards until the end of the month.

    The elections are slated for February 14 and 28.

    The list will be published in line with Section 19(i) of the Electoral Act, 2010 as amended.

    Section 9(5) of the Act also forbids INEC from registering any person not later than 30 days before any election. Section 19(5) directs the commission to publish names of those expected to participate in the April 14th and 15th general elections forthwith.

    The section reads: “Subject to the provisions of section 9(5) of this Act, the Commission shall, by notice, appoint a period of not less than five days and not exceeding 14 days, during which a copy of the voters’ register for each local government,  Area Councillor ward shall be displayed for public scrutiny and during which period any objection or complaint in relation to names omitted or included in the voters’ register or relation to any necessary correction, shall be raised or filed.”

    Section 9(5) states: “The registration of voters, updating and revision of the register of voters under the section shall stop not later than 30days before any election covered by this Act”

    INEC is contemplating carving out constituencies for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) among other possible options, to ensure their participation in the elections.

    The committee set up to look into various possibilities has submitted a report after working for two weeks.

    IDP camps have been created in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states, which have been under attack of insurgents.

    Idowu said: “One option is to designate a safe haven as a constituency, because the law prescribes constituency and residency voting. You can designate a safe area as a safe haven and invite everybody to come to that constituency from wherever they dwell within or outside the country to come over and cast their votes.

    “If you have possibility of IDP camps being homogenous in terms of where people migrated from, you can move the polling units and get them to vote. So there are many options that the security can work with but essential it will still need security cover to do these things.”

    Jega has been invited by the House of Representatives to explain the plan for the elections.

    The lawmakers are concerned about the chances of the country’s 3.3 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) voting in the elections.

    The meeting has been fixed for January 20.

    The Chairman, House Committee on Electoral Matters, Jerry Manwe, the INEC boss and his team are expected to elaborate on INEC’s level of preparedness.

    Funding, security and franchise of IDPs as well as other sundry matters will be discussed.

  • Editors’ Guild scores INEC low over PVCs’ issuance

    Editors’ Guild scores INEC low over PVCs’ issuance

    THE Nigerian Guild of Editors has urged fair play in next month’s general elections, warning that the country’s reputation as well as that of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was at stake.

    Its president, Femi Adesina, said this in a communique after the Guild’s last quarterly meeting for 2014  in Lagos.

    The communique noted that with the shoddy arrangements in the issuance of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), “there is urgent need for INEC to redeem the process by ensuring that eligible voters are not disenfranchised.”

    The statement reads: “Editors advise the political class, security agents and the populace to be cautious in their utterances, abide by the rules of campaigning and exhibit tolerance before and during the elections to avoid over-heating the polity. Security agencies, particularly, should be non-partisan.

    “The Guild laments that insurgency has lasted for too long in the northern part of the country, especially in Nigeria’s Northeast, with its attendant huge death toll and massive number of Internally Displaced Persons. The crises call for harmonisation of efforts, change of tactics, and a review of the country’s security architecture, to win the war.

    “The Guild notes that the sudden sharp fall in global oil prices is a wakeup call on the Nigerian government to urgently go beyond rhetorics by developing economic policies and measures to diversify the economy.

    “Federal and other arms of government must take drastic actions to reduce the huge cost of governance, particularly in the face of recently announced austerity measures.

    “The Guild laments the high failure rate in the just released November/December results of the West African Examinations Council, WAEC, believing it is symptomatic of the decay in the education sector. It therefore calls for increased allocation to the education sector, and training and retraining of teachers.

    “The Guild appreciates the unifying role of sports globally, and laments that as the Nations Cup kicks off in January, our national team, the Super Eagles and defending champions will be conspicuously absent at the AFCON tournament. The football authorities are therefore urged to resolve all issues bedevilling the nation’s sports sector with promptitude.

  • Lagos APC candidates to INEC: provide Permanent Voter Cards

    Lagos APC candidates to INEC: provide Permanent Voter Cards

    Candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State have called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that the over six million registered voters in the state get their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) before next month’s elections.

    Expressing concerns about hitches in the distribution and collection of PVCs in the state, the candidates lamented that eligible voters might be disenfranchised, if the situation was not urgently addressed.

    They spoke at a parley hosted by the party’s governorship candidate, Akinwunmi Ambode, at his Gbagada campaign office.

    The event was initiated to have all the Lagos APC candidates united in their campaign strategies.

    According to them, it would be disastrous if registered voters were denied the opportunity of exercising their constitutional rights.

    The candidates, therefore, urged the electoral body to allow those with Temporary Voter Cards (TVCs) exercise their civic obligation during the polls.

    They said this option would become necessary to forestall massive disenfranchisement.

    Ambode said: “The issue of PVCs is critical to successful polls and a commendable electoral system and we demand that INEC provides these tools of change for the masses.

    “Under no circumstances should any eligible registered voter be disenfranchised because of non-availability or collection of PVCs.

    “All voters must be able to exercise their rights and choose the candidate of their choice during the polls through every legitimate means.”

    His running mate, Mrs. Oluranti Adebule, said: “I want to advise INEC to decentralise the distribution and collection of the PVCs, instead of directing the masses to one point of collection in a whole local government.

    “I believe that will be a simple and effective way to stop the confusion in the process right now.”

    The Lagos West senatorial candidate, Olamilekan Adeola, said: “No voter should be disenfranchised. Every vote must count and no one should be stopped from voting.”

    Some of the candidates at the parley include Gbenga Ashafa(Lagos East); Abiodun Faleke (Ikeja Federal Constituency); Adeyemi Alli(Mushin Federal Constituency); Akeem Muniru(Oshodi-Isolo Federal Constituency) and Wole Diya(Somolu Federal Constituency).

    Others were Desmond Elliot (Surulere 1); Olusegun Olulade(Epe); Rotimi Abiru(Somolu-Bariga); Tunde Braimoh(Kosofe) and Tobun Abiodun(Epe), among others.

  • Don’t use corps members for polls, INEC urged

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been advised not to engage National Youths Service Corps (nysc) members as ad hoc staff for general elections next month.

    This advice was given by Dr Ayo Yussuf of the Department of Linguistics African and Asian Studies, University of Lagos.

    Yussuf, who recommended that locals, who know their localities well, be recruited instead, spoke against the backdrop of violence that erupted in some parts of the north shortly after the 2011 presidential elections when some corps members used by INEC were killed.

    He said: “You know we have a government that talks from both sides of the mouth. They (government) will always tell you there is no cause for violence (during elections) or they may want to lure the youth corps with a fat pay. But we know there will always be violence at the end of the day. So my take is that rather than incorporate youth corps as ad hoc staff, INEC should recruit individuals that understand their terrain.

    “For instance, I have a daughter who is serving in Edo State. No one prays for violence, but let us assume it breaks out, she doesn’t understand either their terrain or language, and that could be dangerous for her.  But insiders know the terrain and people especially those who perpetrate atrocities around them which make the incidence of attacks less likely.”

    Dr Yussuf said recent events of attacks in schools by Boko Haram and the April, last year’s abduction of over 200 girls in Chibok are evidences that the Federal Government is no longer in control of the country’s security.

    Yusuf’s view was corroborated by the former National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS)’s  President, Comrade Dauda Muhammed, who said if INEC must recruit corps members, they should work in low-risk regions.

    He urged his contemporaries not to allow themselves to be used as easy tools for violence by unscrupulous politicians in the forthcoming elections, saying that unlike in 2011 elections,  fears of likely violence are heightened. He urged the government to beef up security nationwide.

    “The violence that claimed innocent lives of corps members in some parts of the north during the general election is still fresh in our memories. Every life is as important as the other. Therefore, I do not support that corps members be redeployed to any violence-prone area if at all INEC wants to recruit them,” he said.

    Speaking on the failure of the Federal Government to pay the second tranche of the N220 billion it agreed with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) last year, Yussuf lamented that the government did not keep its promises.  He faulted some universities for not involving ASUU members in implementing the needs assessment projects.

    He said: “It is also obvious that government makes promises and reneges at will.  They always pretend to comply by signing an agreement in order to call off the strike. We knew what ASUU went through before that agreement was signed. But in contrast with the spirit of that agreement, it is unfortunate that today some of these universities are not involving ASUU members in the committee that will oversee how this money is undertaken on projects. Our case today is now like the hunter that suffered in the jungle before he killed the game only for someone else to hijack it from him.”

     

     

    “Though I am not speaking for ASUU, I am not in support of any strike action now so that government does not see ASUU as rocking the democratic boat. All we can do is to continue to pressure government perhaps after the election.”

     

  • Jonathan to INEC: Issue PVCs to all eligible Nigerians

    Jonathan to INEC: Issue PVCs to all eligible Nigerians

    President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday directed the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, to ensure all registered eligible Nigerians get their Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) before the next month’s general election.

    He gave the order while swearing in the new INEC Commissioner representing Oyo State, Prof. Akinola Murtala Salawu, at the Presidetial Villa, Abuja.

    Jonathan said that it is unacceptable for any eligible Nigerian not to vote in next month’s election because of inability to get their PVCs.

    He said: “I believe Prof. Jega will even want to double the number of staff if he has the resources to make sure that they can cope. Nigerians are getting worried if INEC can actually conduct the elections.

    “Talking about the PVCs, even some governors are complaining that they are yet to get their PVCs. If governors are yet to get their voters cards of course that means that so many Nigerians are yet to get and people are a bit worried.”

    “So the chairman of INEC luckily you are here, all Nigerians must get voters cards, we cannot conduct an election where some people will not have the rights to vote.”

    “People must decide who rules them at all levels not just about presidential elections, at the lowest level of elections conducted by INEC, the state assembly elections, House of Representatives, Senate and Presidency. All Nigerians must vote and INEC must do everything possible to make sure that all Nigerians have their voters’ card because we cannot have a situation where some Nigerians will not vote that day. So Prof. Salau and Prof. Jega I wish you success.”

    But Jonathan noted that the improvement in the electoral system under his tenure gave room for the complaints from various quarters.

     

  • INEC closes presidential nomination

    INEC closes presidential nomination

    The Independent National Electoral Commission( INEC) yesterday closed submission of nomination forms for the presidential race.

    No party can replace its presidential candidate again, unless in case of death or withdrawal from the race.

    As at 6pm yesterday, only 11 candidates had returned their forms. Among them are President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress ( APC)— the top contenders.

    The two leading candidates will face nine others at the poll on February 14.

    The other candidates are: Ambrose Albert (Hope Democratic Party); Ganiyu Galadima( Allied Congress Party of Nigeria); Rafiu Salau ( Alliance for Democracy); Godson Okoye( United Democratic Party); Dr. Nani Ibrahim Ahmad( African Democratic Congress); Martin Onovo (National Conscience Party); Prof. Comfort Oluremi Sonaiya( Kowa Party); Tunde Anifowoshe-Kelani ( Action Alliance); Chekwas Okorie( United Progressive Party).

    The vice-presidential candidates are Vice-President Namadi Sambo( PDP); Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (APC); Haruna Shaba( Hope Democratic Paty); Balarabe Ahmed( ACPN); Prof. Clinton Cliff Akuchie( AD); Haruna Adamu(United Democratic Party); Obianuju Murphy-Uzohue( African Democratic Congress); Ibrahim Mohammed(NCP); Saidu Bobboi(Kowa Party); Comrade Paul Ishaka Ofomile( Action Alliance); and Bello Umar( United Progressive Party).

    According to a source in INEC, the list of presidential candidates has not changed from what was pasted by the commission about two weeks ago.

    The source said: “In line with Sections 32, 33, 34, 37, 38 and 39 of the Electoral  Act 2010(as amended), we have officially closed the nomination and submission of forms for presidential candidates.

    “By implication, none of the parties fielding candidates can effect a change of nominee for presidential race unless by reasons of death or withdrawal from the race by a candidate.

    “There was no addition to the list of 11 candidates  as at 6pm on Tuesday, although parties have up to midnight to tidy up the nomination process.

    “The electoral commission is expected to verify the nomination process  of all these candidates to ensure that it is in compliance with Section 32 of the Electoral Act. If there is any defect, INEC will invoke the necessary sanction but it cannot invalidate any nomination.

    “We will publish the list of the candidates that will participate in the race on January 13, in accordance with Section 34 of the Electoral Act.”

    Responding to a question, the INEC top official said: “This commission has no right to disqualify any candidate. If any Nigerian has reservations about any candidate, he or she should go to court.”

    “Section 8 of the Electoral Act says a political party which presents to the commission the name of a candidate who does not meet the qualifications stipulated in this section commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a maximum fine of N500,000.

    “Also, Section 32 reads in part: “A candidate for an election shall be nominated in writing by such number of persons whose names appear on the register of voters in the constituency as the commission may prescribe.

    “A person shall not nominate more than one person for election to the same office. A person who contravenes subsection(2) of this commits an offence and is liable on conviction to maximum fine of N100,000 or imprisonment for three months or both but his action shall not invalidate the nomination.”

    Another official of INEC said with the closure of nomination, parties cannot change their presidential candidates again in accordance with Section 33 and 35 of the Electoral Act unless in case of death or voluntary withdrawal from the race by a candidate.

    The section says “A political party shall not be allowed to change or substitute its candidate whose name has been submitted pursuant to Section 31 of this act, except in the case of death or withdrawal by the candidate.”

    Section 35 however says: “A candidate may withdraw his candidature by notice in writing signed by him and delivered by himself to the political party that nominated him for the election and the political party shall convey such withdrawal to the commission not later than 45 days to the election.”

    The source also said the final list of those who will vie for the presidential seat on February 14 will also be published on January 13 – in line with Section 34.

    The section reads : “The commission shall at least 30 days before the day of the election publish by displaying or causing to be displayed at the relevant office or offices of the commission and on the commission’s website a statement of the full names and addresses of all candidates.”