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Tag: Inec

  • 2015: My fears for Jega

    2015: My fears for Jega

    SIR: As 2015 elections beckon, my fear increases day in day out for what could be the fate of Nigerians and the INEC chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega after the elections. There is no doubt that the atmosphere is going to be tense as some Nigerians and outsiders have already predicted 2015 to be a year of anxiety and violence for Nigeria.

    Right from time, Nigerians are known to be flexible. They have the patience to endure and adapt to whatever situation that comes their way. Nigerians have compassion and are very religious. Owing to their long-suffering nature, they have endured the comatose state of the economy.

    Nigerians have however lost hope and faith in the country’s leadership. They believe that the country’s problems will not abate soon.

    Presently, the problem of insecurity has awakened the zeal of Nigerians into politics. Every Nigerian now seems to be calling for 2015. The situation has become unbearable as people are being killed

    everyday. Thus, every Nigerian is already looking forward and counting down to 2015 election. The forthcoming general election would be a determinant of our living together as one nation because every region, religion, group wants to dominate others. That is why the unity of the country is shaky.

    Meanwhile, the most attention is on Jega and his INEC.

    The bye-election recently conducted in Ondo State has further added to the doubt we have about Professor Jega’s INEC. If just a bye-election can be declared inconclusive because of misconduct, what then would happen in the general election?

    Nigerians are craving for change and the belief is that change can only be achieved through a free, fair and credible election. Jega ought to know the magnitude and implication of not achieving this come 2015. Nigerians would not hearken to excuses from INEC or Jega. He should go back to the drawing board and re-strategise or perhaps he should return to the Jega of those days. We used to know Professor Jega to be a radical-intellectual, upright and sincere man who fought against the military government of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida while as a chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

    Again, Jega should know that many things are at stake; his reputation is at stake, the lives of innocent Nigerians are at stake, the desires of Nigerians to remain as one entity is at stake, infact, everything about Nigeria is at stake. Thus, we hope and pray that Jega’s INEC will not compromise.

     

    • Suleiman Yusuf,

    IBB University Lapai, Niger State.

     

  • Ondo REC insists on supplementary poll

    Ondo REC insists on supplementary poll

    The Ondo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Akin Orebiyi, explained yesterday why the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has decided to conduct a supplementary poll in Ilaje/Ese-Odo Federal Constituency.

    Orebiyi said INEC rejected calls to declare Mr. Kolade Akinjo of the Labour Party (LP) winner of the by-election in the constituency, which was declared inconclusive, to dissuade politicians from using unacceptable means to “get results and win elections”.

    Speaking on a Channels TV programme, “Sunrise”, he said INEC followed the Electoral Act’s guidelines in all its decisions on the by-election, adding that politicians have remained major obstacles to the conduct of free and fair elections.

    Orebiyi said politicians often introduce criminal ideas during elections to cause chaos in areas where they are unpopular, so that elections would be cancelled there.

    He said about 28,852 eligible voters could not vote, adding that the margin of votes between the candidate with the highest number of votes and the first runner up second is less that 1,300.

    The REC said if 30 per cent of the electorate deprived from voting exercised their franchise, the overall result might have changed.

    He explained that election materials meant for Arogbo Ward Two were not hijacked by militants as was widely reported, but the electoral officers were stopped from going to polling units by militants.

    On single majority votes, Orebiyi said, the condition given by the Electoral Act for the declaration of a winner in a governorship election is different from that of the National or State Assembly poll.

    He said the Electoral Act states that a winner can only be declared when results from all the polling units have been collated, adding that a clause in the Act says “where you could not conduct an election you are not expect to declare a winner, until election is conducted in that or those polling units”.

    Orebiyi said: “There is no particular problem when we say an election is inconclusive; it is just that we could not declare a winner because the margin of votes between the leading candidate and the next candidate is smaller than the total number of registered voters, who did not have the opportunity to cast their votes on the election day.

    “What happened is that there were places where election could not hold because politicians went on board with violence. For example, if your ballot materials have been stolen, INEC is to cancel election there. If thugs invade a polling station and polling officials were disturbed from performing their functions, we will not record any result in such unit.

    “As such, it was not possible to have results in units and wards where such things occurred. When you add the number of voters in such units and the number is more than the margin between the leading candidate and the second runner up, a winner cannot be declared.

    “The number of voters who could not vote is 28,852 and the margin of votes between the leading and second candidate is less that 1,300. This implies that if 30 per cent of those who could not vote on that day had voted, the result might have been different.

    “The intention of that particular guideline of INEC is to dissuade politicians who will want to employ an illegal means to get result and win election.

    “There is nothing wrong with INEC, but politicians who involve in wrong doing. I have been in Ondo State for three years now. I conducted the 2011 elections, the 2012 governorship poll and this one. If we compare the three, this will be the best so far. We were at every polling unit before 8am.

    “On logistics, INEC was on top of the situation. At Arugbo Two, for example, my men were about to move as early as 5am, but they were prevented from moving out of the registration camp by militants.

    “I got an SOS and phoned security agencies. Many people came around to talk to the militants, who said they have not benefited from the amnesty programme. The materials were not hijacked. My men were not armed and there was nothing they could do. The militants said they had a grudge with the government and we ensured that the situation did not result into violence.

    “When the election was over, they told my people to write that no election took place in the ward. They knew what they were doing. Their action was calculated.”

    Orebiyi said he would meet with stakeholders on the supplementary poll and fix a day for it.

    He hailed security operatives for doing “a good job” during the poll.

  • PDP: by-election devoid of irregularities

    PDP: by-election devoid of irregularities

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State has said the by-election in Ilaje/Ese-Odo Federal Constituency, which was declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), was devoid of irregularities.

    It was reacting to a statement by the All Progressives Congress’ (APC’s) candidate in the by-election, Chief Adewale Omojuwa, who called for the cancellation of the poll on grounds that it was marred by irregularities.

    Omojuwa accused Labour Party (LP) and PDP leaders of turning the constituency into a battlefield and urged INEC to conduct a fresh by-election.

    But the PDP, in a statement by its Publicity Director, Ayo Fadaka, described Omojuwa’s claim as false and “a dishonest account of developments in the area”.

    PDP said: “Truly, Governor Olusegun Mimiko relocated to the area in the weeks leading to the election, but that is not true of the Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, who merely came to Ajapato to address a campaign rally in the same way any political leader will seek to help his party. He left on the same day, so where lies the battle in this effort?

    “Special Adviser to the President on the Niger Delta Kingsley Kuku was around days preceding the election because he had a ballot to cast and also because as a PDP leader, it is normal to be in his constituency.

    “As for Chief Olusola Oke, a leading light in the party to whom Omojuwa was an acolyte, he is a private citizen and, therefore, has is free to deploy his time to whatever venture he so desires.

    “It is a known fact that the use of the military as security back up on election days predates Obanikoro’s appointment as minister, therefore, the lame mischief of Omojuwa in this regard is impotent. We condemn this dishonesty.”

  • Ondo PDP faults Nwanyanwu on Ilaje bye election

    Ondo PDP faults Nwanyanwu on Ilaje bye election

    The Ondo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has criticised a statement credited to the national chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Chief Dan Nwanyanwu, that the LP candidate in the April 5 by-election into the House of Representatives, Mr. Kolade Akinjo, was the winner of the election.

    The party therefore called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare the PDP candidate as the lawmaker-elect.

    The PDP through its State publicity secretary, Wale Ozogoro, said, “Indeed, the desperation of the LP chairman is pardonable, as his in-depth knowledge of the Electoral Act is questionable.

    “His vituperation and uncultured allegations that INEC in connivance with the PDP want to get victory through the back door is uncalled for, unfounded and the deceptive tendencies the party is known for.”

    The party pointed out that INEC reserves the right to declare an election inconclusive or cancel such out rightly, adding that any party that is not satisfied with the decision is free to seek redress at the electoral tribunal or the law court.

    The statement said, “The LP chairman should have sought legal advice from senior members of the Bar before going bare to the press with his ignorance. The explanation offered by the returning officer was explicit, straightforward and concise enough for a deciphering mind to understand that the election is inconclusive and, therefore, no winner has emerged.”

    The PDP urged the LP to desist from blackmailing INEC to declare Akinjo as the winner of the bye-election.

     

  • INEC to begin voter registration in May

    INEC to begin voter registration in May

    The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, has said the commission will conduct a voter registration in May.

    The INEC chairman assured Nigerians that the 2015 general elections will be the most successful in the nation’s history because of the commission’s preparedness for them.

    He said the commission had created more polling units to decongest existing large units to ensure free, fair and credible elections.

    Speaking at a meeting between INEC and State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs), organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Prof Jega said: “The continuous registration exercise is to ensure that those who turned 18 years between 2011 and now are registered before the 2015 general elections. Also, those who were 18 and above but were unable to register – for one reason or the other – will be given opportunity to register.”

    He call for a synergy between INEC and SIEC, adding that the conference which was organised by the United Nations Development Programme was timely towards ensuring free, fair, peaceful and credible elections in the future.

  • INEC used untrained officials, says witness

    INEC used untrained officials, says witness

    The three-man Anambra State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, led by Hon. Justice Ishaq Bello, yesterday heard that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) used untrained and unaccredited officials to conduct the election in Oraukwu, Idemili North Local Government Area, during the November 16, 2013 election.

    Principal Witness 23 (PW 23) Tochukwu Onyedibe testified before the tribunal as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Senator Chris Ngige, was making his closing presentation.

    Onyedibe said Funmi Oguntuwase, an official of the electoral body, mandated the town’s union of Oraukwu to recruit people to conduct the election.

    “The people recruited did not undergo any training, neither did they swear to the ‘Oath of Neutrality’ provided by law before any INEC official can attend to any duty,” he said.

    The tribunal rejected the video evidence presented by Channels Television because the certificate attached to it was not listed in the documents to be relied upon in the matter.

    The tribunal, on April 1, had rejected another video evidence tendered by Africa Independent Television (AIT) on the grounds that it was neither certified nor tendered by the maker of the document.

    But counsel to the APC candidate, Emeka Ngige (SAN) said it would amount to “crass technicality above substance justice” if the tribunal failed to admit the evidence tendered by the media organisations.

    On the objection raised by the INEC that the certification attached to the DVD was not listed, Ngige argued that it was ridiculous to expect that a certification attached to another document could satisfy the provisions of Section 84 (4) of the Evidence Act.

    He said a witness who has tendered a video camera would not be expected to also list the manual of the video camera separately since he has listed the camera.

    The tribunal ruled to reject the evidence.

    Justice Bello said Ngige did not address the important issues of listing the certification.

    But Ngige said: “My lord, I not only addressed the tribunal on this subject, I gave an analogy. But if I am not recorded, it would not be my fault.”

    Also, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday opened its defence with the first witness, Mr Tony Ngamji, in the witness box.

  • INEC to begin voter registration in May

    INEC to begin voter registration in May

    Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega has assured Nigerians that the 2014 general elections will be the most successful in the history of elections in the country considering the level of preparedness by the commission.

    The INEC boss also said that the commission has taken steps to create more polling units to decongest large existing units in other to ensure free, fair and credible elections.

    Speaking at a meeting between the commission and State Independent Electoral Commissions organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), he said the commission has concluded arrangement to carry out a voter registeation exercise from May this year.

    Jega said that “the continuous registration exercise is to ensure those that have turned 18 years between 2011 and now are registered before the 2015 general elections. Also those that, were 18 and above but were unable to register for one reason or the other will be given opportunity to register.”

    He call for a synergy between INEC and SIEC, adding that the conference which was organised by the United Nations Development Programme was timely towards ensuring free, fair, peaceful and credible elections in the future.

    He called for absolute independence for State Electoral Commissions to ensure credible elections at the grass root level, pointing out that, there cannot be credible polls at national level
    when the foundation is faulty.

    The participants at the conference were all INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioners in the 36 states and Abuja, Commissioners from INEC Headquarters and top management staff, SIECs Chairmen and other top management staff.

  • Ondo by-election: ‘Obanikoro militarised Ilaje’

    Ondo by-election: ‘Obanikoro militarised Ilaje’

    •INEC’s decision’ll spell doom for Jonathan, says LP chieftain
    A chieftain of the Labour Party (LP) in Ondo State, Prince Banji Okunomo, has asked Minister of State for Defence Musiliu Obanikoro to explain what he was doing with soldiers on the day of the Ilaje Ese-odo Federal Constituency by-election.

    He urged the authorities to probe Obanikoro’s presence in Ilaje on the Election Day.

    Okunomo warned that the declaration of the by-election inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would “spell doom”, if it is not reversed.

    Speaking yesterday on Sun Rise Daily, a programme on Channels Television, the former Ilaje Local Government chairman said should INEC be allowed to hold a supplementary election, “despite the fact that a winner emerged in the election”, the commission would be leaving a precedent that will affect the ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 presidential poll.

    He said INEC’s declaration of the election as inconclusive because there was no voting in Arugbo Ward 11 does not hold water because before the poll, the commission announced that election would not hold in the area because of the activities of militants protesting against the implementation of the amnesty programme.

    Okunomo said nothing should delay the declaration of a winner in an election that held in 21 of 22 wards, adding: “The electoral body knew abinitio that there won’t be election in the affected area and that it would not affect the overall election. That was why it went ahead to conduct the election, only to turn around because it wants to do the bidding of some money bags and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) bigwigs.

    “The environment was militarised by people who had no business in the area on the Election Day. Why did Obanikoro lead soldiers to Ilaje on that day?”

    On the possible consequence of INEC’s action, if not addressed, the LP chieftain said: “I am afraid that should the powers that be refuse to call INEC to order now and declare the LP candidate winner, this will create serious problem for the PDP in the presidential election.

    “What that will mean is that if elections fail to hold in states where a state-of-emergency was declared in the Northern part of the country for security reasons, elections held in other parts of the country would be assumed useless.

    “What is currently playing out in the Ilaje/Ese-odo by-election is an agenda by some people, who want to prove they are popular where they are not. Ondo State is not a place where people can come to show their might. The bitter lesson learnt by those who tried to do same in the October 20, 2012, governorship election should be enough warning that Ondo is not a place to occupy.

    “The rational thing to do at this time to protect our fragile democracy is to allow wisdom prevail and declare the LP candidate, Mr. Kolade Akinjo, who polled the highest votes in the by-election, winner.”

     

  • Why INEC seeks power to stop candidates, by Jega

    Why INEC seeks power to stop candidates, by Jega

    Violators of campaign ban to be punished

    Politicians jumping the gun to campaign ahead of the 2015 elections will face trial, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Attahiru Jega warned yesterday.

    Besides, he explained why the commission is seeking an amendment to Section 31, which will empower it to reject nominees for elections.

    He also said in spite of security challenges, INEC is hopeful that the 2015 elections will hold in all parts of the country.

    For the umpteenth time, Jega reassured the electorate that the 2015 poll timetable will not lead to a bandwagon effect.

    He insisted that all elections will not hold in one day next year.

    Jega, who made the clarifications while replying to questions at a session with reporters on “2015 elections in Nigeria: Preparations and Challenges”, said INEC would not shield those breaching the Electoral Act 2010(as amended) on campaign.

    He said: “There are clear breaches; we have started documenting those breaches. Those ones, we will try and see whether we can commence prosecution with all the challenges and difficulties.

    “But then we will provide additional guidelines that can help provide clarity in terms of what constitute campaign breaches.

    “We are now being accused by some parties. For example, some parties will hold rallies and they will say they are receiving people who have decamped.

    “Technically, so long as they do not use the platform to say vote for me, they are not violating the law. But people are accusing us that people are moving round; why can’t you penalise them.

    “There is really need for that clarity. And we have taken it upon and I am hoping in the next few weeks, we will be able to come up very clearly with new guidelines.

    “Still, virtually, all the parties you can find at the highest level who are breaching this. Sometimes, they make an argument when we raise this issue at parties meeting. They said it is our adversaries or our sympathisers who are doing it. They said our adversaries will go and print posters.

    “Again, they are just being clever by half because you have various responsibility because if someone puts those pictures, you should not allow it.”

    To Jega, it has been difficult to allege violation of campaign laws against politicians because “they are skillful”.

    “If someone comes out and puts a poster or a billboard that says ‘elect me as governor or president or senator in 2015, that is an outright breach of the law and we have evidence of people who have done that.

    “But if people come out and say “An achiever, carry on,” “Continuity assured,” or “Two terms,” you know what they mean but they are very skilful. What we have agreed with the politicians is that as at now the guidelines are not very clear.”

    In the INEC chief’s view, the security challenges facing the nation may not affect the 2015 poll because elections can be conducted under an emergency.

    He added: “Security challenges are enormous, I do not want to waste a lot of time on this. Whether it is Boko Haram, or kidnapping armed robbery; they are security challenges.

    “And elections can be conducted under situation of emergency; there are countries that have conducted election under situation of emergency.

    “All we are saying is that if you want free, fair and credible elections, they are better conducted when there are minimal security challenges.

    Jega explained why INEC is pushing for an amendment to Section 31 of the Electoral Act – to be able to reject nomination of candidates by parties.

    He said INEC is not seeking arbitrary powers to disqualify candidates as being insinuated.

    “All we are asking the National Assembly to do is to amend Section 31 and to remove the phrase at the end of it which says for any reason for whatsoever”, he said, adding:

    “We do not think it is proper, particularly given the fact that Section 87 has already said that candidates should emerge from democratic party primaries, then there is no need to say INEC should not reject nomination for any reason whatsoever.

    “If the reason is that the candidate did not emerge from democratic primaries, INEC should be able to reject that candidate. That is all we are asking as regards to that. But, unfortunately in this kind of discussion, people were saying that INEC is demanding more powers. And that is not the issue.

    “I will give you an example, if you leave that section, you know what happened in the past, like the Shugaba Abdulrahman’s kind of case. The constitution says only Nigerians can stand for an election. If we are not careful, if that provision stands, the way our parties are going, they may put foreigners on the ballot and INEC cannot reject it for any reason whatsoever, which is ridiculous.

    “All we are saying is that there should be sanity and consistency. Section 87 is beautiful. We want to democratize; we want to deepen democracy; we want internal party democracy. So, it is good that Section 87 said candidates should emerge from democratic party primaries. So, why throw that away with the provision that says INEC cannot reject candidates for any reason whatsoever.

    “And we have seen (as I have said) how parties before the 2011 elections were sending us names of people who did not participate in primaries or who had participated and lost or who were unqualified. Again, even the constitution has given qualifications for candidature. All we are being told is that it(nomination) is an internal party affair; ‘if you allow INEC to do that, you are restraining parties from the right to choose who will represent them’.

    “But INEC itself is a regulatory body; we are supposed to regulate the process, using the Electoral Act. So, if there are inconsistencies in the Electoral Act, they should be corrected.”

    Responding to a question Jega maintained that the 2015 poll timetable was not designed to favour any candidate or party.

    He also ruled out the likelihood of conducting elections in one day.

    He said: “There are countries that are doing all elections on a single day. In Nigeria, at this point in time, as I speak with you, we are hesitant to do elections on a single day in 2015. We may be able to confidently do it in the future.

    “But in 2015, given all the logistical challenges, given the fact that we have been improving incrementally, we do not want to introduce something that can go the other way and we will have total negative reversals.

    “The logistics of organizing all elections in one day are huge. From the large number of ballot papers we have to use; the large movement of materials and personnel that we have to move; and the challenges of lack of proper voter education in a country with a high percentage of illiteracy; all these complicate matters.

    “What will happen is that on election day, you will give all the voters about five different ballot papers to put in five different ballot boxes. Already, there is complaint about how our voters are not sufficiently educated and they are wasting their votes. A lot of tension will occur. People will put ballot papers in different boxes; they will be confused in terms of which papers belong to what; then other people may now come in to guide them and you will have chaos and confusion in the electoral process.

    “It is something we can hope for and we can work towards but we in INEC do not believe that it will be good to attempt to do it in 2015. But that is why we are improving.”

    He gave insight into how INEC arrived at the poll order for 2015.

    He said: “ In 2011, we did elections on three different days. We said ‘okay, we cannot do all elections in one day’; we said, ‘okay, let us see if we can reduce the number of days’. That is why we said in 2015, we want to do the elections in two days.

    “In 2011, we did National Assembly Elections first; then we did presidential election and governorship and State House of Assembly elections.

    “Nobody complained about the sequence; nobody said at that time that governorship election should come first and presidential election should come last. That was how we did it.

    “Now that we decided to do two-day elections instead of three. All we did is to use common sense and logic. We said the three elections we did before, the one you did first and the one you did second should be on the first day in 2015 and the one we did third in 2011 should be on the second day. That is the logic we applied.”

    Jega insisted that INEC was not acting any script ahead of the 2015 poll.

    He said: “When you hear people talking, they said we changed the sequence and we did not change any sequence. They said there was going to be bandwagon effect. When we did it in 2011, was there a bandwagon effect? The President was elected under PDP, many PDP governors lost election. Where was the bandwagon effect? Now, people are talking about possible

    “So, we did not design the timetable to favour anybody or to disadvantage anybody. We did not alter the sequence of the elections. We are consistent in terms of what we did in 2011 with regards to the sequence and we believe it is the best thing to do under the circumstances. Asking us to do all elections in one day is going to create massive challenges

    “Really, we should not bite more than we can chew. We have been improving on what we did in 2011. If we do much better than we did in 2011, we will be prepared to do all elections in one day later.

    “I think we are being railroaded by partisan politicians who are becoming jittery about their own participation in politics. All these talks about changing of sequence, bandwagon effect; do elections in one day; they are all outcome of fears or psychological mentality who believe they cannot win elections until these things are done the way they want it. If it is going to be bandwagon; it can go either direction.”

     

  • INEC defends decision to conduct supplementary election in Ondo

    INEC defends decision to conduct supplementary election in Ondo

    •PDP: only election tribunal can adjudicate on electoral matters

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has defended its decision to conduct supplementary elections in areas where election did not hold in Ilaje/Eseodo Federal Constituency of Ondo State.

    On Sunday, the commission declared the by-election inconclusive.

    It said the difference between the votes polled by the first runner up, Mr. Kolade Akinjo of the Labour Party (LP) (23,926), and the second runner up, Mr. Adewale Kukute of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) (22,628), is less than the number of registered voters in areas where the election was cancelled or did not hold.

    The Resident Electoral Commissioner, Akin Orebiyi, said the winner would be announced when election is conducted in areas where it did not hold.

    Orebiyi said the commission would announce the date of the supplementary election.

    The PDP said only an election tribunal can adjudicate on electoral matters.

    Speaking with reporters yesterday in Akure, the state capital, PDP alleged that the LP was planning to approach a court to seek an order that would compel INEC to declare Akinjo winner of the election.

    According to PDP Chairman Ebenezer Alabi, there was no election in Arogbo Ward Two because alleged LP thugs blocked the waterways to prevent the arrival of INEC officials and the supply of ballot materials to the ward.

    He said the LP allegedly took the action because the ward is a stronghold of the PDP.

    Alabi said: “In their calculations, they were unmindful of the provisions of the Electoral Law, which mandates INEC to declare the election inconclusive, if a candidate did not score a wide margin that would have rendered the outstanding votes inconsequential.”

    He said there was no election in New Jerusalem polling unit in Arogbo Ward One because of the unavailability of the voter register.

    Alabi said there were no elections in the five units of Ogogoro community in Mahin Ward Two, adding that election materials were hijacked in Mahin Ward One, particularly in Legha and Piawe units.

    He said INEC conducted a free and fair election, adding that electoral materials and INEC officials arrived at polling units on schedule.

    Alabi alleged that huge state resources were spent on the by-election by the state government.