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Tag: Inec

  • ‘INEC may review decision on new polling units’

    ‘INEC may review decision on new polling units’

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) may review, if necessary, its decision on the creation of an additional 30,000 polling units across the country.

    The National Commissioner, in-charge of Southwest, Prof. Lai Olurode, spoke yesterday at a media interaction organised by the Osun State chapter ýof the Association of Veteran Journalists, at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre in Osogbo.

    He said the creation of the new polling units was done with good intention.

    Olurode said the decision was made to make it easier for voters to cast their votes and avoid unnecessary waste of time at the polling centres.

    He also said that the decision was meant to decongest the existing polling units.

  • 2015: INEC, parties to meet monthly

    2015: INEC, parties to meet monthly

    As the 2015 general elections draw near, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has charged political parties to keep to the laws.

    INEC had on Wednesday issued a notice on next year’s general election, confirming that the February scheduled dates for the elections still stand.

    The INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, urged all political parties to commit themselves to lawful and peaceful electioneering leading to the 2015 elections.

    He stressed that the commission and political parties “must continue to work assiduously together to make our elections free, fair and credible, and to deepen democracy in Nigeria.”

    Following the adoption for frequent meeting with all political parties, Jega stated that henceforth, the quarterly meeting of the commission with the leadership of registered political parties will take place on monthly basis.

    Jega explained that as the general election draw closer, there was the need to meet on a monthly basis in order to “have a better opportunity to deliberate and resolve all matters relating to preparations, swiftly, as and when due.”

  • Shelve it!

    Shelve it!

    •INEC should concentrate on its core duties, leaving listing and delisting parties until after the 2015 polls

    Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) plan to register more political parties before the 2015 general elections fixed for next February is difficult to understand. The commission’s chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, disclosed that it would be exercising the powers conferred on it by relevant laws to deregister political parties considered moribund, as well as approve new ones that could field candidates for the presidency, governorship, federal and state legislature seats.

    The commission is apparently relying on provisions of Section 78(7) (i) and (ii) of the Electoral Act, 2010 which states that , “The commission shall have power to de-register political parties on the following grounds: “(i) breach of any of the requirements for registration; and “(ii) for failure to win a seat in the National or State Assembly election.”

    The power conferred by the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) derives also from sections 221 to 226 of the 1999 Constitution, and paragraph 14 of Part 1 of the Third Schedule to the Constitution.

    However, it is puzzling that the electoral commission is dissipating energy on issues that could be controversial instead of addressing more serious ones. In the first instance, while INEC considers the provisions of the relevant laws clear, other experts and political parties do not think so. They say the attempt to muzzle parties runs against the principle of democracy which is to open the door of participation to as many as possible. Some of the parties deregistered last year have gone to court to contest such powers and, if only to err on the side of caution, since it would not infringe any law in doing so, INEC ought to have awaited the final judicial pronouncement on the matter before taking any further step on the issue.

    It is our view that the spirit of the judgment delivered by the Supreme Court on the registration of parties in the matter brought before it by the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi on behalf of his party, the National Conscience Party (NCP) is enough to inform INEC that the supreme law of the land intends to allow as many associations as want to participate in the electoral process access to the soap box and ballot box. The apex court had, in the matter, ruled that the very general criteria stipulated in the constitution were sufficient to guide INEC in performing the task of registering political parties. It has also been argued that if the constitution meant to grant INEC power to deregister parties, it would have done so expressly.

    The commission may have a point in canvassing the view that, if the parties were registered on condition of the criteria spelt out in section 224 of the constitution, any time they fail to meet up the criteria, they should cease to function since they would no longer be better than those that failed the test.

    Whatever may be the argument, we fault INEC’s decision to exercise these powers at the moment given the closeness to the elections and possible futility of the action. The parties to be registered would have very little time to put in place the structure needed to elect candidates and canvass for votes against the already entrenched ruling and opposition parties. Besides, at a time that the existing parties have commenced canvassing for votes, it is too late to be bringing in new entrants.

    The task before INEC now is to ensure that the continuous voter registration is well handled; permanent voter cards get to all registered voters, controversy on new polling units is satisfactorily resolved and stakeholders are carried along on the journey. The commission has a responsibility to ensure that overzealous security men are tamed and that the voters have confidence in its capacity to deliver credible elections. It should therefore leave deregistration of parties out for now.

  • Senate to reject INEC’s 30,000 units

    Senate to reject INEC’s 30,000 units

    SENATORS are to overrule Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Attahiru Jega should he fail to reverse the proposed creation of additional 30,000 polling units.

    The commission’s attempt to establish the polling units has received several knocks from Nigerians who have read ulterior motives to the move, especially ahead of the 2015 general elections.

    INEC has been accused of unduly favouring some geopolitical zones in the number of new polling units allocated them to the detriment of others.

    The Senate Committee on INEC wrote to the electoral umpire to suspend the plan until after the elections.

    But Jega has continued to defend the proposal, saying it is meant to reduce the high number of voters in most polling units to manageable proportions during voting.

    The chairman Senate Committee on INEC, Senator Andy Uba, told reporters in Abuja that the Senate would pass a resolution to stop the exercise if Jega fails to heed its advice.

    Uba, who noted that the idea behind the creation of additional PUs was sound, however said the timing was wrong.

    He said: “We have sent a letter to the INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, and we expressed our reservations over the planned creation of additional polling units across the country.

    “What he is doing is good, but the timing is wrong. We are close to an election year and we have so many displaced people in the North Eastern part of the country. So where will the INEC put the new polling units?

    “If they (INEC) continue with it (new polling centres), we will pass a resolution to overrule it. It is simple, and once we pass our resolution, is he going to go ahead and say he doesn’t care?

    “There are consequences when you say you don’t care; that is what it is, but I know he (Jega) is a gentleman and he is a man who keeps to his words. We had a meeting and sent him a letter.

    “He should know that his integrity, from what people are saying, is at stake, but that is not our business. And I don’t believe that he has anything in mind against anybody or anything.”

    The lawmaker representing Anambra South explained that his committee intervened due to the timing of the exercise, even though the exercise is geared towards eliminating problems voters usually encounter at polling centres.

    Uba added: “There are over 4000 registered voters in Wuse II in Abuja, for instance, and you know the inconvenience when 4000 people are expected to queue up in line.

    “It is not possible for all of them to be accredited before voting would start. Many people will come and would be turned back.

    “It (the exercise) is a good idea, but the timing is wrong.

    Uba is confident that the amendment to the Electoral Act  will be concluded as soon as the Senate resumes from the Sallah break.

  • Illegal campaign: APC slams INEC for acting too late

    Illegal campaign: APC slams INEC for acting too late

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has slammed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for “acting too little, too late” in issuing a warning on illegal public political broadcast and campaign.

    It said INEC’s belated action was suspicious.

    In a statement in London, United Kingdom, yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party said INEC’s action, coming after the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and President Goodluck Jonathan have been campaigning, can only be to the disadvantage of other candidates and parties.

    ‘’Is it a ploy by INEC to give undue advantage to the PDP and its adopted sole presidential candidate, President Jonathan, in next year’s elections?’’

    APC wondered where INEC was when the so-called Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) was organising “noisy rallies” across the country, attended by government officials and designed to benefit the President and his party.

    The party also expressed shock that INEC has been slumbering since the so-called Protectors of Nigeria’s Posterity has been running TV adverts solely for Jonathan’s benefit.

    ‘’When did INEC become aware that these actions are illegal, considering that Section 221 of the 1999 Constitution, which INEC quoted in its warning letter, says ‘no association, other than a political party, shall canvas for votes for any candidate at any election or contribute to the funds of any political party or to the election expenses of any political candidate at an election’.

    “What TAN has been doing all along is to canvas for votes for Jonathan, in a clear violation of the constitution as well as the Electoral Act, which bans political campaigns until 90 days before election.

    ‘’Our party, joined by well-meaning Nigerians, had publicly alerted INEC to these campaigns and the fact that those behind them are breaking the law, but INEC merely responded with some unbelievable sophistry.

    “Now that those illegal campaigns have run for several months, INEC suddenly awoke from its slumber to issue a warning on illegal campaign.

    ‘’This is unbecoming of an election umpire that expects to be taken seriously, an umpire that is expected not only to be fair but to be seen as such, and one that knows its onions. This caution by INEC is coming too little, too late,’’ APC said.

  • Court suspends judgment in suit seeking to reinstate Nyako

    Court suspends judgment in suit seeking to reinstate Nyako

    Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Lagos has suspended judgment in a suit seeking to reinstate “impeached” Adamawa State Governor, Murtala Nyako.

    Verdict was fixed for Tuesday, but the judge said he would not deliver it yet in the interest of justice.

    The suit, numbered FHC/L/CS/1180/14, was filed by a Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Olukoya Ogungbeje.

    He is seeking an order compelling the acting governor, Umaru Fintiri, to vacate office with immediate effect.

    The lawyer is also praying the court to order Nyako’s reinstatement

    According to him, the process which led to Nyako’s impeachment was unconstitutional as the ousted governor was not personally served with the impeachment notice by the state’s House of Assembly.

    Fintiri, the Adamawa State House of Assembly, the Chief Judge of Adamawa State, Justice Ambrose Mammadi, Chairman of the Impeachment Panel, Buba Kajama, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Inspector General of Police are the respondents.

    Nyako was impeached on July 15 after the state’s House of Assembly adopted the report of a seven-man investigation panel which indicted him on 16- count charge of gross misconduct.

    Fintiri, who was then Speaker of the House of Assembly, had since been sworn in as the acting governor in Nyako’s place.

    Ogungbeje claimed the Assembly’s alleged failure to serve Nyako personally with the impeachment notice violated his fundamental right to fair hearing as enshrined under Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution.

    After the court heard arguments from parties and judgment date fixed, Fintiri, through his lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) urged the judge not to deliver the verdict.

    The former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) president prayed the court to set aside all the proceedings conducted in the suit so far because his clients were not served with the suit in accordance with the law.

    According to him, the court should strike out the entire action since the due process of law was not followed.

    Olanipekun, who is also representing Mammadi and the House of Assembly, argued that the originating processes were not properly served on his clients.

     

  • ‘Lagos councils’ polls may not hold this year’

    Chairman of Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) Justice Fatai Adeyinka (rtd) has explained why elections might not be conducted into the state’s councils this year.

    The tenure of the state’s elected councils’ members expires next month.

    Adeyinka spoke on the floor of the House of Assembly yesterday when he presented a report on the commission’s preparedness for elections into the 57 councils.

    The House, at a plenary last week, invited the LASIEC’s chairman to brief the lawmakers on the preparation to conduct the election before the expiration date.

    But he named two constraints in conducting the elections – the issue of polling units and voter register as well as executive’s delay in approving report of delineation of wards.

    He said: “Although polling units have also been increased to a total of 1,061, it is the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that has the constitutional right to create polling units while LASIEC delineate wards, though there is co-operation between the two bodies.

    “But the major constraint from INEC end is on the issue of voter register.”

    He said the register with INEC has no address of voters, adding: “We have written to INEC to supply the addresses. But INEC said it would not do that, but offered to give us the 2011 register on payment of huge sum of money.

    “But we want to use the current voter register because using the 2011 register would disenfranchise many voters. And stakeholders expect us to use the current voter register,” Adeyinka said.

    On the second constraint, he explained that though the commission has completed the delineation of wards and submitted the report to the governor, it was yet to receive any response from the executive.

    “We had 376 wards in the state before. This has been increased to 417 with the creation of additional 41 wards. We are expected to use the new wards in the next election and until we have response on the report from the governor, we cannot hold election because it is expedient to use it to avoid wasting human and material resources,” he said.

    The LASIEC chief said without overcoming these constraints and hurdles, the commission cannot conduct free, fair and credible election.

    Responding, the Deputy Speaker, Kolawole Taiwo, who presided at the plenary, said there was a need to come up with a stop-gap measure to avoid a vacuum in the councils when the tenure of the current office-holders expires next month.

    He mandated the House Committee on Judiciary to liaise with the executive and come up with a law, even on interim basis, as a stop-gap measure to avoid a vacuum pending when elections will be held.

  • Printers urge INEC to obey laws on printing regulation

    Printers urge INEC to obey laws on printing regulation

    The Chartered Institute of Professional Printers of Nigeria (CIPPON) may sue the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the violation of laws on printing of electoral materials.

    INEC is said to have voted about N6billion for the printing of ballot papers meant for the presidential and governorship election slated for February next year.

    The contract, it was learnt, would be awarded to American or European printing firms.

    It was reported that top INEC officials would visit the United States of America, Germany, Italy, and Ukraine to inspect elite printing companies which can handle the job, classified as ‘security documents’ by the commission.

    But CIPPON said patronising foreign firm does only lead to capital flight, which is contrary to existing laws, but INEC’s lack of trust in the country’s printers is untenable and illegal.

    The Desk Officer to CIPPON at the Ministry of Information, Mr Sunday Baba, urged the institute to sue INEC for allegedly violating the law.

    Baba, who represented Minister of Information Mr Labaran Maku, spoke at a  printers’ seminar organised by CIPPON in Lagos, with the theme: Printing regulation – a vehicle for national development.

    “If it means going to court to seek interpretation of the Act, please do so to force INEC to look inwards,” he said.

    Baba said it is left for the printers’ institute for fight for their right. “The fight is yours if you want to stand your ground. You’re like an orphan. If you keep quiet you will starve to death.

    “Nigeria belongs to al of us. Get a good lawyer. Sue INEC. Do whatever you have to do so that some of these billions will spill over to you,” Baba added.

    Section 7 (g) of the CIPPON Act 2007 empowers the institute to proffer advice to the federal and state governments on printing activities, while Section 7 (k) directs it to collate, process and disseminate printing data and information within and outside Nigeria.

    Section 23 (1) (b) says CIPPON shall ensure that no firm or partnership shall practice as printers in Nigeria unless registered by the council while Section 7 (i) mandates the institute to provide consultancy services to the public on printing.

    A former Chairman, House Committee on Judiciary, Mr Bala Ibn Na’Allah, represented by Mr Kenneth Ugwu, a lawyer, urged the police and other law enforcement agencies to help in the enforcement of the CIPPON Act.

    “Apart from the police, the judiciary is also an important player in this project. Our courts will need to apply to purposive interpretation approach (call it the mischief rule) to the enforcement of this law, i.e, by looking at the mischief (the situation) which the law was meant to address and giving the law the kind of interpretation which will achieve rather defeat that purpose.

    “That approach is the growing trend in judicial interpretation today the world over and Nigeria cannot afford to be an exception.

    “This approach places more emphasis on the merits of the case as against unnecessary, sometimes ridiculous technicalities, which are meant to defeat rather than promote the cause of justice,” he said.

    CIPPON’s President/Chairman-in-council Mr Wahab Aderemi Muhammed Lawal, said for the institute to provide advice to the government, it must be represented in its agencies.

    He said INEC has no reason to take printing jobs outside the country. “Printers in Nigeria are well-equipped. I see no reason jobs should be taken out. It is the same machines that are used abroad that we use in Nigeria. The institute can guarantee any licensed printer to handle printing of electoral materials,” Lawal said.

    On whether sensitive materials can be printed in Nigeria, Lawal said: “They’re just giving it a name to take these jobs out of Nigeria. What is ‘sensitive’ in electoral materials when we print cheque books, annual reports and accounts; we print all other confidential documents and certificates here.

    “We want the government to fully comply with this law. It means the institute must be represented in INEC, Universal Basic Education (UBE), National Population Commission (NPC) and other agencies where they use 70 to 80 printed materials.”

  • FRESH and the burden on INEC

    In all honesty, can anyone expect the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to be truly independent, going by the obvious lack of impartiality on the part of its head? To say no is to state the obvious. And the reasons are not far-fetched: First, it is a contraption created, bankrolled, sustained and regulated by the sitting government. And if the adage that he who pays the piper dictates the tune is anything to go by, then it must as of necessity do the bidding of its benefactors.

    Secondly, this is Nigeria; a country where executive meddling, undue influence and tinkering with the system are the stock-in-trade of our political aristocracy. It will be counter-productive to the agenda and perpetuity of the ruling class to allow such a strategic agency to run free of its reins on the tenets of autonomy and independence. Thirdly is the political pathogen called the PDP, a party that has exhibited Nigeria’s worst tenures of governance, whether military or civilian, and is yet intoxicated with its self-belief, and aims to perpetuate itself for at least 60 years! After 15 years at the helm, Nigerians are to expect another 45 years of abject poverty, diminishing returns of their lives, misery and insecurity, which the PDP symbolises.

    So, to ensure that PDP’s reign is not truncated, organisations like INEC are doing their utmost to dismantle all forms of opposition. The commission is also leaving no stone unturned in fulfilling its mandate, which saw it de-registering some parties in 2012, protracting the course of justice by unduly delaying the trumped up appeal of the Fresh Democratic Party’s victory in the judgment delivered by Justice Gabriel Kolawole at the Federal High Court 5, Abuja Division, which quashed its de-registration on July 29, 2013. This cannot be allowed.

    If public morality still counts, no member of the Uwais Committee on Electoral reform set up by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua should get involved with INEC. Why? One of the key recommendations of that committee is that for INEC to be truly independent; the President should not appoint its chairman. Sadly, Prof. Attahiru Jega was a member of that panel, and a signatory to its recommendations. When he was offered the chairmanship of INEC by President Goodluck Jonathan, he grabbed it with both hands. This obvious infidelity to principles is symptomatic of the degeneration of our ethical and moral ethos.

    Jega was a distinguished unionist, whose exemplary leadership of ASUU is still a reference point because he fought the military dictatorship to a standstill. As a university teacher, he rose meritoriously to become a professor. He was the sitting Vice Chancellor of the Bayero University, Kano when he was appointed INEC chairman. He certainly was not jobless, poor or hungry—key factors that inspire lust for public office by political touts in the corridors of power in Nigeria. Prof. Jega would have received my vote if he had run for public office, because of his pedigree in the human rights community. Was the allure of the lofty offer of INEC chairman simply too much for him to reject that he forgot the unwritten rule that you cannot benefit from a wrong you help to right. This sudden change of attitude by this crusader is hard to comprehend. The arrogance of INEC under his watch now seems to fire off wildly in dozens of different directions.

    To affirm his strong moral credentials, he ought to have rejected Jonathan’s offer of the INEC job, since the President refused to implement the recommendations of the Uwais panel which his boss, late Yar’Adua, set up, obviously with his full knowledge as the then vice president. No wonder he now he finds himself in the eye of the storm with the controversial de-registration of political parties, and the subsequent calls for his removal from the helm of the electoral agency.

    Now, the Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly (SNPA) has called for his resignation, following the agency’s decision to create additional polling units. The bone of contention, according to them, is the basis for the skewed allocation of more units to the north, especially the war-torn North-eastern part of the country where droves are fleeing from the insidious Boko-Haram insurgency. Even a lone voice that spoke against SNPA’s demand agreed that “if indeed Jega deserves to be sacked, he should have been a long time ago…” The capricious de-registration of political parties and his snub of the FRESH court verdict is the reason why.

    It will be recalled that in the heat of his December 2012 de-registration exercise, and after the Rev. Chris Okotie- led party won its landmark judgment upturning the de-registration, a league of 20 deregistered political parties called the Coalition of Concerned Political Parties demanded his immediate dismissal for deliberately flouting the ruling of the court on party de-registration. The National Chairman of Peoples Progressive Party, Damian Ogbonna, who read the position of the coalition, said: “We state for the avoidance of doubt that we have lost faith in Professor Attahiru Jega as an unbiased umpire in the political process. Having publicly exhibited his partiality and disdain for many political parties in the country, we believe he is no longer in a position to honourably superintend in elections where the same parties are participants. Accordingly, we demand that Professor Jega be dismissed immediately as the chairman of INEC.”

    One thing is certain: the piper’s payer is dictating the tune here. INEC is playing deity, because when the story of the Commission (2007 – 2014) is written, Jega, who responded to the SNPA by saying “I will be there in 2015”, should not expect to receive accolades if he persists in dragging his own name in the mud for whatever reasons. He is unwittingly etching himself on the list of names which conjure failure and are synonymous with the breakdown of developmental aspirations and dreams of the nation. It is without equivocation that only a truly independent INEC, operated with forensic checks and balances, can ensure a truly free and fair electoral environment.

    • Ojekwe wrote in from Owerri, Imo State.

  • Still on INEC’s unending controversies

    SIR: As the nation moves closer to the election year, there are two contending issues that are worth discussing in view of their volatile nature and the misgivings that have already trailed them. We would recall that at the formal launching of the National Electronic Identity Card recently, President Goodluck Jonathan directed that the printing of ballot papers for next year’s general elections be handled by the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC). The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was to tap into the expertise of the Mint in the production of the sensitive electoral materials. This presidential order later propelled the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, to visit the INEC chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega. At the end, the two gentlemen struck a deal.

    The NSPMC, which is responsible for the printing of most of the nation’s currency denominations, bank drafts, cheques, stamps, treasury bills and other security documents, is a subsidiary of the CBN. In other words, the federal government owns majority shares in the company while the CBN governor is also the chairman of its  governing board.

    While it may be argued that giving the Mint the N9 billion printing job for elections materials would help to enhance its production capacity, create employment opportunities, prevent capital flight and increase foreign exchange earnings, it is however dangerous to use a sensitive national assignment such as the general election, for experimentation and trial.

    Nigerians may not forget so easily that in 2012, about N2 billion was reported to have been stolen from the Mint – a company also reputed to have suffered operational losses – as a result of operational deficiencies.

    Can somebody tell us why the same commission should still be the preferred producer of the sensitive materials despite its low rating? INEC should be made to realise that this attempt could erode its powers as well as the credibility of the entire electoral process.

    INEC should reserve the discretion to carry out its statutory functions bearing in mind that the essence of any election under democracy is to create a secure, level playing field for eligible voters and candidates. President Jonathan, as an interested party has no constitutional or moral right to control INEC around any aspect of the electoral process.

    Again, INEC recently announced that in its compliance with the 2010 Electoral Act, it had created additional 30,000 polling units across the country to ensure that no polling unit has more than 500 voters.

    As laudable as the initiative appears to be, there are allegations of lopsidedness from many people and socio-political groups against the allocation of the polling units in favour of the North as the zone has clearly got over 70 per cent out of the new polling units. That is where the INEC chairman should ensure that genuine observations, issues and complaints raised are addressed without further delay. If truly there are structural, administrative and institutional arrangements that appear to have favoured candidates from a particular section of the country above the others, the commission should look inward and rectify them before the polls. For the sensitive nature of its duties, INEC should guard against partisanship and should be seen as such in the allocation of the polling units. It should not be reluctant to do the right thing without any iota of fear or intimidation. This should be done as quickly as possible. Beyond the printing of electoral materials and the creation of new polling units, there is need for continuous enlightenment, voter education and honesty of purpose in order to have free, fair and credible elections in the country.

     

    •  Adewale Kupoluyi

    Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta