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Tag: Inec

  • Don’t disenfranchise students, body warns INEC

    Many students may be disenfranchised in the 2015 general elections if the revelation of the National Association of Southern Nigerian Students (NASONS) is anything to go by. The association alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had a plan to prevent students from participating in the electoral process, saying 75 per cent of students in the Southern part of the country were yet to get their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

    The association urged INEC to extend the period for the distribution of the cards and registration exercise.

    Speaking with CAMPUSLIFE, the NASONS national president, Anya Anya, said the body had already identified many unregistered students, urging the electoral body to deploy its staff to register the students.

    He said: “We are calling on INEC to abide by the Electoral Act by registering our people in their various states and campuses. It is enshrined in the Act that there should be continued voters registration exercise at local government headquarters.”

    Anya called on school managements to mandate all students to get registered, stressing that effective arrangement must be made for the youth to participate in the electoral process for development and sustenance of democracy in the country.

    He added: “Students are paying no serious attention to INEC registration. A lot of us are not even aware that there is voter’s registration. If it is not mandated for all students to register, they will lose out. I urge managements of tertiary institutions to mandate students to register. They should make PVCs a criterion for writing exam.”

    Anya also warned that the association would resist any attempt to rig next year’s general elections, calling on politicians to hold issue-based campaign rather than violent rallies.

  • Tribunal delivers judgment on Ekiti governorship poll Friday

    The Justice Siraju Mohammed-led tribunal has fixed Friday for judgment in the petition filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) against the outcome of the June 21 governorship election in Ekiti State.

    Justice Mohammed, who is the tribunal chairman, on Wednesday, chose December 19 for judgment after lawyers, representing parties to the petition, adopted their final written addresses.

    Respondents to the petition are the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Fayose, the Independent National Electoral Commission) , the Chief of Army Staff and the Inspector General of Police.

    Before adopting his final address, the petitioner’s lawyer, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), reminded the tribunal that, as against the impression created by the defendants, the petition was predicated on the fact that Fayose was not qualified to contest the election.

    He urged the court to allow the petition and dismiss the responses by the five respondents.

    Lawyers to the respondents, including Yusuf Ali (SAN), Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), Abayomi Sadiku and Abdulkadir Ajana argued that the petitioner had failed to prove its case.

    They also argued that the petitioner was unable to provide cogent evidence to support its petition. They urged the tribunal dismiss the petition.

    The APC, in the petition,urged the tribunal to “unravel the hidden facts surrounding the election,” contending that the election was more of “a mechanical exercise than conventional casting of votes.”

     

     

  • Deeper Life seeks credible polls as Kumuyi storms Ekiti

    Deeper Life seeks credible polls as Kumuyi storms Ekiti

    The Deeper Life Bible Church has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct free, fair and credible general elections next year.

    The church advised politicians to play the game according to the rules and not to engage in any act to subvert the will of the electorate.

    The Ekiti State Overseer of the Deeper Life Bible Church, Pastor Jacob Asubiojo, made the appeal on Tuesday at a briefing on the forthcoming visit of the General Superintendent, Pastor William Kumuyi, to the state.

    Kumuyi is expected to arrive Ado-Ekiti on December 24 for a three-day crusade tagged “Extraordinary Encounter with the God of Miracles” at the Deeper Life camp ground in Ajebamidele.

    The state overseer said   participants would pray for Nigeria to overcome its socio-political problems.

    According to him, holy and honest living could help Nigerians overcome the corruption monster, which he described as more devouring than the Ebola virus.

    The church leader emphasised that the antidote against calamities and crises befalling the country could be found in the gospel.

    He stressed that the prevailing insecurity and insurgency in some parts of the country could be overcome with prayers and supplication to God.

    Asubiojo urged stakeholders to ensure the conduct of a peaceful, transparent, free and fair election in 2015.

    Responding to questions from reporters, the cleric said the conduct of a transparent election would guarantee peace and prevent post-election crises.

    He  urged Nigerians not to allow religious affiliation to becloud their sense of judgment as they elect candidates into various political offices stressing that the country needed God-fearing leaders.

    Asubiojo said: “INEC must be fair and keep to the rules that govern electoral process. Once there is fairness, openness and transparency, everybody will accept the outcome and there will be peace.

    “To help INEC and Nigerians, politicians too must obey the rules. They must not heat up the polity over election if truly they are desirous of serving the people.”

    Speaking on the qualities a leader must possess to be able to deliver, the cleric added that “Nigeria has so many religions but these have not met the needs of the people.

    He added: “But with this programme, many Nigerians would have their lives changed and transformed for better, because for a society to produce good leaders who can transform a whole nation, such person must first be transformed.

    “What we believe in is prayer as weapons that can transform the lives of the people and not religion that had failed us as a nation. Our people must not continue in wretchedness and backwardness.”

     

  • Insurgency: Displaced Nigerians will not vote unless … – INEC

    Insurgency: Displaced Nigerians will not vote unless … – INEC

    February 14, 2015 presidential election unless the law is changed, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said on Monday.

    Nigeria faces what is likely to be its most closely fought election since the end of military rule in 1999, but the Electoral Act states that voters have to cast ballots in their home constituencies, an obstacle for refugees who have fled attacks by Boko Haram militants.

    A decision on how to deal with the displaced will not be taken before January when the National Assembly next meets, Reuters reports.

    “Unless the act is amended, the IDP (internally displaced person) issue could expose the election to legal challenges by the losing party,” INEC spokesman, Kayode Idowu said.

    President Goodluck Jonathan, the ruling People’s Democratic Party candidate, will face former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, candidate for the opposition All Progressives Congress.

    Voters in northern Nigeria favour the opposition party led by a Muslim northerner. The potential loss of more than a million votes from that area could stoke tension.
    Around 73 million people voted in the last election in 2011.

    The insurgency could also mean some local government areas in three northeastern states may be prevented from holding the ballot if the army deems it too dangerous, Idowu said.

    The Boko Haram sect has been waging a five-year insurgency to carve out an Islamic state in the northeast. Attacks have increased sharply since the government imposed a state of emergency last year in three states – Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.

    Thousands of people have been killed. Bombs, ambushes and raids on towns occur on a near-daily basis in the region, particularly in Borno, the stronghold of the militant group.

     

  • INEC: 1m Boko Haram victims can’t vote in 2015

    INEC: 1m Boko Haram victims can’t vote in 2015

    More than a million Nigerians displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States may not be able to vote in the February’s general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said yesterday.

    The only condition that will make them eligible to vote is if the Electoral Act is amended before the elections, the electoral agency added.

    Besides, the election results may be challenged in court if such a large number of people is disenfranchised.

    The National Assembly returns to plenary today after a vacation to enable members attend party congresses where candidates were picked for all states and local elections.

    “Unless the act is amended, the IDPs (internally displaced persons) issue could expose the election to legal challenges by the losing party,” INEC spokesman Kayode Idowu, was quoted by Reuters as saying.

    Idowu added: “INEC is hoping that some amendment will happen to the legal framework to make it feasible for IDPs to vote,” Idowu said.

    INEC is in the process of identifying displaced persons camps and counting the number of people potentially excluded, Idowu said.

    Many of the displaced are in small groups scattered across the country.

    President Goodluck Jonathan of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) will be challenged by Gen. Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the elections which is expected to be the first real test of the PDP’s strength. The PDP has been ruling the country since the return to democracy in 1999.

    The fragmented opposition came together to form the APC.

    Two of the states under a state of emergency – Borno and Yobe – as a result of the insurgency and where people are displaced, are controlled by the APC. Adamawa State is controlled by the PDP.

    Maiduguri, the Borno State capital is believed to be harbouring almost a million displaced people. About 20 local government areas in the state are controlled by the insurgents.

    The insurgency could also mean some local government areas in three northeastern states may be prevented from holding the ballot if the army deems it too dangerous, Idowu said.

    Thousands of people have been killed. Bombs, ambushes and raids on towns occur on a near-daily basis in the region.

    The United States Council for Foreign Relations estimates that about 10,340 violent deaths between November 2013 and November 2014 were linked to Boko Haram-related violence.

    Also yesterday in Abuja, the United Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWA), said no fewer than 700,000 Nigerians were displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency.

    Mr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the UN for West Africa, spoke at the 46th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government (HOSG).

    Chambas, who put the number of refugees and returnees in Chad, Cameroon, and Niger at about 142,000 persons urged  all parties concerned to intensify efforts at ensuring the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals were met.

    “The Boko Haram insurgency continues to create mayhem as innocent civilian populations are being killed and entire communities are living under very challenging security situations.

    “The regional dimension of this violent extremism is more than ever visible.

    “The number of refugees and returnees in Chad, Cameroon, and Niger is estimated at about 142,000 persons.

    “In Nigeria Internally Displaced Persons are estimated to be about 700,000.

    “Efforts need to be stepped up to globally and comprehensively combat the insurgency.

    “The issue of youth unemployment needs to be urgently addressed and the attainment of the objectives of the MDGs which has been shadowed by the many security challenges we’re facing, not only on the African continent but the entire world, needs to be refocused.

    “The nexus between peace, security and development cannot be overemphasised,“ he said.

    The UN representative also commended ECOWAS for restoring political stability in Burkina Faso.

    He said: “UN will remain actively engaged jointly with ECOWAS to prepare for transparent, free, and fair elections that will mark the end of the transition period in 2015.

    “Events in Burkina Faso should be viewed as a call for improved governance and especially participative democracy which allows the driving force in our region.“

    Chambas also called for concerted efforts at ensuring violent-free elections in member-states preparing to hold elections in 2015.

    Such countries include Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Togo, Guinea, and Cote d’Ivoire.

    He also called for coordinated efforts at stopping the spread of the Ebola virus and reiterated the UN’s continued support in the implementation of developed mechanisms.

    In his address, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Amb. Kadre Ouedraogo, said the combined efforts of ECOWAS and the international community had led to the development of mechanisms to tackle the scourge.

  • Stop PDP, INEC from accepting any other candidate, Ayogu Eze asks court

    Stop PDP, INEC from accepting any other candidate, Ayogu Eze asks court

    Senator Ayogu Eze yesterday asked the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja not to accept any other name as governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) other than himself.

    In a suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/2014 filed by his Counsel, Yusuf Ali, SAN, Eze also asked the court to restrain the PDP, the National Working Committee (NWC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), by themselves, agents, officers, officials, privies or representatives and other person whatsoever deriving authority from them from submitting, forwarding or sending the names of any other person other than himself, as their duly elected governorship candidate for 2015 governorship election in Enugu State, pending the final determination of the substansive case.

    ”To restrain INEC, its agents, privies, or representatives from recognising, accepting or giving effect to the name of any other person other than himself as the governorship candidate of the the PDP and the NWC of the party for the Enugu State governorship election in 2015 as well as such further or other orders as the court may deem fit to make in the circumstances of this case.”

    The plaintiff said that the PDP and NWC conducted ward congresses in Enugu State on November 1, 2014 as a result of which a list of delegates for the conduct of primary election for the governorship candidate of the party emerged, consisting names of the elected delegates.

    According to him, the list was sanctioned and authenticated by the Federal High Court, Abuja, in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/816/2014, which judgement was delivered on November 24, 2014.

    Eze further said that he emerged as the governorship candidate of the party based on the correct delegates list sanctioned by the same court, adding however that the defendants were bent on sending another person other than his name to INEC as their chosen governorship candidate for the said 2015 election.

    He added that ”if the defendants were not restrained from doing so, pending the the determination of this case, the judgement of the court will be rendered nugatory.”

    He further said that granting the application would not in any way prejudice the defendants herein.

  • INEC chief blames printing PVCs abroad for distribution hitches

    THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has attributed the hitches in distribution of permanent voter cards (PVCs) in some parts of the country to the fact that the cards were printed in China.

    Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kaduna State Alhaji Haliru Tambuwal said this while receiving yesterday members of the state Council of Imams and Ulamas.

    According to him, the cards were printed outside the country and the process of transporting them had been tedious due to their quantity.

    “As I’m talking to you, our headquarters informed us that a consignment would arrive Kaduna Airport this morning (yesterday), but till now, we are yet to receive it.

    “I want you to know that it is not our intention to cause the hitches for Nigerians in getting their PVCs as earlier announced by the commission. But you cannot fault us for printing the cards abroad because we know our people may duplicate anything made in Nigeria,” he said.

    He assured that nobody would be left out in the exercise, explaining that in Kaduna State, two local government areas had not received the cards.

    “And that is Jaba and Kaduna South local government areas; a situation that arose because of logistics.

    The chairman of the council, Sheikh Usman Baba Tune, said they were in INEC office to inform the commission of the displeasure of people about the way the PVC exercise was being distributed.

    According to him, there was no distribution in some local government areas like the Kaduna South Local Government, adding that the council would want INEC to gear up to its responsibility.

    “We’re also here to seek clearance on the rumours going round that those without National Identity Card will not be allowed to vote, even if they have PVC,” Sheikh Tune said.

  • Adamawa PDP aspirants petition INEC

    Adamawa PDP aspirants petition INEC

    Some aggrieved aspirants and other stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Adamawa State have petitioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on  the conduct of the party’s primaries in the state.

    In the petition, they described the conduct as capable of imposing unpopular candidates against the wishes of the people and in disregard for the tenets of democracy.

    The petition said. “It is evident that Adamawa State is a stronghold of PDP and is overwhelmingly behind Mr. President in the last election (2011). But unfortunately, with the flagrant abuse of the rules and laws with impunity as regard to party primaries, it is a thing of serious concern that will lead to complete eradication of the party in the minds of our grassroots supporters.

    “It is very clear that both the Electoral Act and our party guidelines state unequivocally that should there be any change of election venue, there must be a notice of not less than seven days and more; to that, all elections are to be held in the various constituencies.

    “But unfortunately in the case of Adamawa State, all the delegates and aspirants were in Yola without any communication either from INEC or the party while a purported election was said to have taken place in Abuja.”

    It added: “More so, the purported primary election was conducted in contravention of the court order restraining PDP and INEC from using any delegates’ list other than the one recognised by all the executives at all levels, aspirants and stakeholders affirmed by the court.

    “In view of this, it is our unanimous resolution to distance, condemn and reject it in its entirety, and in protest, we will not be part of any illegality that is happening within our party.

    “It is our collective view that anything short of cancellation of this kangaroo primary by the National Working Committee of our party will leave us with no option but to follow the views of the entire majority of the people of Adamawa State.

    “We, therefore, resolve to boycott the national convention of the party scheduled to take place in Abuja.”

    Among the signatories of the petition were Prof. Andrawus Sawa; Halima Hayatu; Senator Abubakar Girei; Gen. Aliyu Kama (rtd); Dr. Ahmed Moh’ D Modibbo; Awwal D. Tukur; Markus Gundiri; Senator Grace Bent Jackson; and Dr. Francis Zira.

    Others were Commodore Sali Bodes (rtd); Commodore James Pukuma (rtd); Aishatu Dahiru Binani; Captain Altine Inuwa; Binoes D. Yaroe; Col. Gar Doga (rtd) and Gen. Haladu Hananiya.

  • ‘INEC ’ll use electronic card readers in 2015 elections’

    ‘INEC ’ll use electronic card readers in 2015 elections’

    Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC’s) Chairman Prof Attahiru Jega has again assured the nation on plans to conduct credible elections next year.

    He, however, urged all stakeholders, especially the politicians, to play the game according to the rules.

    He confirmed that voter card readers would be used for the conduct of the polls.

    Jega, who spoke on the measures to ensure credible elections next year, however, disagreed that the deployment of the military during elections was disenfranchising Nigerians from voting.

    The INEC Chairman, who spoke at the presentation of the Nigerian Media Code of Election Coverage in Lagos, assured that all registered electorate would have been issued with the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) by January 30.

    According to him, anybody without the PVC will not be allowed to vote, assuring that the card reader could not be manipulated.

    Jega said the card reader has capacity to detect cloned PVC’s and cannot be manipulated to compromise the integrity of the election, except through connivance by the commission’s technical workers and the manufacturer of the facility.

  • Reps primary valid, says Ekiti PDP

    Reps primary valid, says Ekiti PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State has insisted that the primary election conducted in Ekiti North Federal Constituency 2, which produced Thaddeus Aina as winner, was valid.

    The party faulted the position of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that there was no election in the federal constituency on Saturday and that the procedure violated the minimum electoral standards.

    INEC deplored the conduct of the midnight primary at Ido/Osi Local Government secretariat, saying reports from its officials who observed the exercise showed that no voting took place.

    The electoral umpire said it would not recognise the primary on the grounds that “there was no evidence that the primary took place as its observers did not witness it”.

    But the PDP maintained that a primary election was conducted and that it conformed to extant rules.

    In a statement by the PDP State Secretary, Tope Aluko, the party stressed that “primary election is purely an internal affair of political parties”.

    The party said INEC should wait until there was a legal action, challenging the exercise that produced Aina, adding that an Appeal Committee was in place to take care of grievances emanating from the primary.

    The PDP insisted that the primary election took place in accordance with all extant rules and the candidate emerged.

    The statement said: “In accordance with our party rules guiding conduct of primary elections, Thaddeus Aina emerged as the House of Representatives candidate and that remains valid.

    “There was an Appeal Committee for aggrieved aspirants to approach for complaints and as at today, we are not aware that the Appeal Committee cancelled the exercise.

    “We are also not aware of any of our party member complaining to INEC and joining the commission in any suit, challenging the outcome of the primary so as to warrant INEC making any statement.

    “Therefore, we state that Thaddeus Aina is our party’s candidate for Ekiti North Federal Constituency II, and INEC should wait until there is a legal action challenging the process that produced him.”