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Tag: Inec

  • Ekiti, Osun residents urged to verify names on voter register

    Ekiti, Osun residents urged to verify names on voter register

    The Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) has urged eligible voters in Ekiti and Osun states to check if their names are on the voter register.

    It urged those who have just turned 18 to register for a voter card.

    The verification of names in the voter register begins today and will end next Wednesday.

    In a statement in Abuja yesterday by its Chairman, Comrade Ibrahim Zikirullahi, TMG said: “As a critical component of the electoral process, the importance of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) cannot be overemphasised. A comprehensive, user-friendly and credible voter register is fundamental to the conduct of free, fair and transparent elections.

    “The Ekiti and Osun governorship elections have been scheduled to hold on June 21 and August 9. Majority of people in these states who are now qualified to register for a voter card should as a matter of urgent civic duty explore the current opportunity which will lapse on March 19 to cross-check and register their names.

    “The 2010 Electoral Act (as Amended) mandates the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to carry out CVR of all persons qualified to be registered voters. Preparatory to the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections, INEC has, by this scheduled exercise, fulfilled that responsibility.

    “It now behooves on residents of both states to go out and exercise this important civic responsibility. Each potential applicant should go in person to a functional, active and existing registration centre with any of the following documents – birth or baptismal certificate, national passport, identity card or driver’s license, or any other document that will prove the identity, age and nationality of the applicant. It is to be noted that failure to participate will deprive one from casting one’s vote during the June and August elections.”

    TMG hailed INEC for providing a simplified on-line means for intending voters to check their names on the commission’s website.

     

  • 2015: Jega defends INEC’s two-day election time table

    2015: Jega defends INEC’s two-day election time table

    150,000 polling units to be used

    Permanent voter card issuance ‘poor in Ekiti’

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will use about 150,000 polling units for the 2015 elections, its Chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega, said yesterday.

    The polling units will be 30,000 more than the 120,000 used for the 2011 elections.

    But Jega, who spoke in Lagos, ruled out holding the elections in one day because of what he called the ‘’enormous challenge involved’’.

    He said INEC was increasing the number of polling units because some units have as many as 3000 voters, adding : “This is not ideal. It should be an average size of 500 voters per unit.”

    INEC, he said, would not change the order of elections, noting that the presidential poll was not the first held in 2011, but the second after the National Assembly’s.

    He said: ‘’We did elections for three days in 2011, starting with the presidential, then the National Assembly and governorship/Houses of Assembly. In 2015, we have reduced the number of election days to two, beginning with the presidential/National Assembly, followed by the governorship/Houses of Assembly. We cannot do the elections in a day. To try it will be inviting more challenges to the system. Doing the elections in one day will mean deploying five different ballot boxes and ballot papers. We will also have to give illiterates too five different ballot papers.

    “Logistics will be too enormous. Instead of moving materials for a particular election, we will be moving materials for all the elections. It will be cumbersome. It is not impossible to do it in a day, but it will be challenging. So, we decided to hold it in two days. We decided to hold the presidential/National Assembly elections the same day and the governorship/Houses of Assembly the same day. We tried to be rational and logical in fixing the dates”.

    Jega denied that the African Peoples Congress was denied registration because of the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying the process through which the associations sought registration was different.

    APC, he said, is the product of a merger of some existing parties, adding that the party complied with the requirements of merger and was registered.

    The African Peoples Congress, Jega said, was not registered because it did not meet the requirements for the registration of a new party.

    Jega said : “After looking at the documents of the African Peoples Congress, it was duly informed on why it could not be registered. APC met all requirements for merger. INEC was guided by the law in whatever it did. Anybody who feels otherwise can go to court.”

    The INEC chief said he harboured no fear over the outcome of the forthcoming National Conference affecting the 2015 elections, adding: “I have hopes for 2015; it will be better than 2011. But I have concerns that some politicians have not attuned their minds to ensure that the elections are free and fair.”

    To ensure credible elections in 2015, he said, INEC has cleaned up the voter register, pointing out that the integrity of the register is crucial to the integrity of the elections.

    The clean-up, Jega said, became necessary because INEC inherited a register “with too many challenges” in 2011, adding that there is need for continuous voter registration in most states to capture those who have attained the age of 18.

    He said the register was better than that of 2011 “and compares with any voter register in the world”.

    Eligible voters in all the states, he said, would get their permanent voter cards (PVCs) before the 2015 elections. The PVCs, he said, were being distributed in Ekiti and Osun states where governorship elections will hold on June 21 and August 9.

    Jega promised that there would not be a repeat of the Anambra State governorship election fiasco in Ekiti and Osun, saying the crisis was caused by the wrong distribution of the customised result sheets in Idemili North Local Government Area.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has been threatening to reject the voter’s register which INEC wants to use for the governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states and for the 2015 general elections.

    The party’s interim national chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, told reporters at Ila-Orangun, his Osun State home town at the weekend, after collecting his permanent voter’s card that INEC’s records had been manipulated.

    He described his experience in Ila-Orangun as “very uncomfortable” because of so many “irregularities”.

    Akande said though he collected his card with ease, the story was different for many others, who had registered in 2011 but could not find their names in the register. Many people found their names appearing twice, according to him.

     

  • Ekiti poll: PDP clears 13, drops Olowoporoku, two other

    Ekiti poll: PDP clears 13, drops Olowoporoku, two other

    •Knocks for INEC over voter cards

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has disqualified three of its 16 governorship aspirants in Ekiti State.

    Senator Bode Olowoporoku, Mr. Peter Obafemi and Mrs. Bosede Dada were dropped by the Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba-led screening committee.

    Ndoma-Egba told reporters yesterday that Olowoporoku was disqualified for failing to provide his tax clearance certificate and the court judgment he claimed overturned his expulsion from the party.

    Obafemi was rejected for failing to produce his NYSC discharge certificate.

    Mrs. Dada was dropped because she could not produce her secondary school leaving certificate, evidence of tax and membership dues payment.

    Those cleared are former Police Minister Caleb Olubolade; former Governor Ayo Fayose; Mr. Dayo Adeyeye, Mr. Oluwadare Bejide, Mr. Bodunde Adeyanju, Erelu Ogundipe, Mr. Gbenga Aluko, Mr. Mr. Abiodun Aluko, Mr. Adewale Aribisala, Mr. Adebisi Omoyeni, Mr. Oluropo Ogunbolude, Mr. Omolara Adubiaro and Mr. Ayodeji Ajayi.

    The disqualified aspirants are free to approach the party’s screening appeal committee.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been scored low by stakeholders in the issuance of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs)in Ekiti State.

    Speaking yesterday at an interactive forum with stakeholders, including a coalition of Civil Society groups, Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi from the Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC) said: “INEC failed to sufficiently sensitise the electorate for the exercise.”

    The civil society groups lamented the insufficiency of personnel across the 2,195 polling units, adding that only one ad hoc staff (a youth corps member) attended to a large crowd while many collected their PVCs through proxies.

    Representatives of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, African Centre for Leadership , Strategy and Development, HEDA Resource Centre, New Initiative for Social Development, West African Network for Peace, Centre for Democracy and Development, National Council for Women Societies and Electoral Reform Network were present.

    Dr. Akiyode-Afolabi said: “Incidents of relocation of registration units led to confusion over designated points of PVCs collection in some councils, while attention forms were inadequate in most polling units. There was tension at some registration units as people scrambled for the few available forms.

    “We expected INEC and other stakeholders to sensitise the people on the importance of the exercise. Most people came to the venue without knowing what they were there to do.

    “The names of deceased persons were on the register. For example, at Igbehin in Atikankan Registration Area, PU 002, Fakorede’s House, the name of the former Deputy Governor, the late Mrs Funmilayo Olayinka, among others, was on the list.

    “Party agents interfered with the registration process under the guise that one youth corps member assigned to a unit cannot singlehandedly attend to the hundreds of people on the queue and this is not good for our democracy, considering the experiences of the past.”

    The civil society groups urged INEC to “fine tune electoral procedures and clean up the voter register”, so that Ekiti could have a credible election on June 21.

    Director-General of the Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation Bimbo Daramola said the exercise showed that INEC did not overcome past errors.

    Daramola said: “While some would say it is normal to expect criticisms from the Fayemi camp, it is obvious that there were lapses in the exercise, which make one wonder if INEC was prepared for it.

    “I attended INEC stakeholders’ session, which was presided over by the commission’s Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, and one of the things he said actually came into play. For example, the impression I came off with at the meeting was that the number of cards that would be available would reflect the number of people posted on the voter register. But, it turned out not to be so.

    “I imagined that everyone whose name makes it into the register would have a complementary PVC, but that was not so. I cannot help asking if Jega was aware of steps to be taken before the date to avoid mistakes as have been noticed?”

     

  • Firm sues INEC over unpaid N7.5m publicity fee

    Firm sues INEC over unpaid N7.5m publicity fee

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been before an Abuja High Court for reneging on a N7.5 million pre-2011 general election publicity contract.

    In a suit filed on February 27, the firm, Godson and Godman accused INEC of refusing to pay the contract sum after the plaintiff had delivered the required services-public enlightenment on INEC’s preparedness to conduct a hitch-free 2011 general elections.

    Through its counsel, Agwu Agwu, the media consultancy firm is urging the court to enter judgment against INEC for refusing to abide by terms of a contract dated January 19, 2010, which was awarded under the former chairman, Prof. Maurice Iwu and lasted five months.

    The company is demanding N7.5 million being the cost of the services rendered as well as 10 per cent interest on judgment debt from the date of judgment till the sum is liquidated.

    In an affidavit made pursuant to order 21 Rule 1 of the Civil Procedure Rules, the firm’s Chief Executive, Ken Ugbechie averred that INEC had in 2010, hired the services of the plaintiff.

    He said on January 19, 2010, INEC awarded a contract to the plaintiff to inspire/generate expository news materials to sufficiently enlighten the electorate on the commission’s activities to ensure a hitch-free 2011 General Election.

    Ugbechie said they diligently executed the contract worth N7.5 million, which was verified by officers of INEC but the commission was yet to pay the media outfit.

     

  • Court grants APGA’s application to join suit against Obiano

    Court grants APGA’s application to join suit against Obiano

    A Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday granted an application by the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) seeking to be joined in a suit against Anambra Gov-elect, Willie Obiano.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the plaintiffs, Ugochukwu Ikegwuonu and Kenneth Moneke, had instituted the suit alleging that Obiano registered twice as a voter prior to his election.

    Their counsel, Mr. Joe Gadzama, SAN, had in an originating summons, prayed the court to declare Obiano’s election null and void, and prosecute him for double registration.

    Gadzama argued that by the double registration, Obiano contravened the Electoral Act and was unqualified to contest, ab initio.

    He contended that the voter’s card which the governor-elect tendered before his party for the election was different from the one he submitted to INEC.

    Initially joined in the suit were Obiano as the first defendant and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as second defendant.

    At the resumed sitting on Monday, APGA’s counsel, Mr. Pius Ikwueto, moved an application seeking for a leave of the court to join the party in the suit.

    Gadzama did not oppose the application, saying that “the party seeking to be joined is the political platform of the first defendant’’.

    Obiano’s lawyer, Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, and INEC counsel, Mrs. Joan Arabs, did not oppose the application as well.

    Ruling, Justice Ahmed Mohammed granted APGA’s prayers and ordered the plaintiff’s counsel to serve the party’s counsel the originating summons within 48 hours.

    The judge also ordered the counsel to the defendants to serve and file their replies to the plaintiff counsel’s amended process within 14 days of the ruling.

    He adjourned the case to April 16 for definite hearing

  • PDP chieftains launch re-election campaign for Jonathan

    PDP chieftains launch re-election campaign for Jonathan

    •National chair mounts pressure on Amaechi, Kwankwaso, others to return

    Chieftains of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday in Minna expressed support for President Goodluck Jonathan in his re-election bid ,in what appeared to be a flagrant violation of the ban on campaign by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    Speakers after speakers at the North Central Solidarity and Unity rally of the PDP led by the Senate President David Mark and the party’s national vice chairman, Yusuf Ayetogun, assured the President, of maximum support in the 2015 election.

    The national Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, made a fresh appeal to Governors Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Ahmed Abdulfatah (Kwara) and Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), who dumped the party for the All Progressives Congress (APC) to return to the ruling party.

    “We are willing to welcome them back home and I can assure them that they will be treated equally. Please come back home,” the PDP chairman said.

    He saddled the Chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum and Niger State governor, Dr. Babangida Aliyu with the responsibility of bringing back the ex-PDP governors.

    He said: “if the Niger State governor, as the leader of the G7 and Jigawa State governor, can remain in the party, I call on Gov. Aliyu to ensure the return of the other five PDP governors who went to APC.

    “Gov. Aliyu saw the light at the end of the tunnel and stayed. Your job has not finished: go back and make sure your people (G5) see the light and get them to come back home to PDP.”

    But President Goodluck Jonathan saw the defectors as retrogressive politicians.

    He described the PDP as the only stable and democratic political party in Africa. He said: “PDP is the only party that has not changed its name, logos, slogan or colour. Some parties change colours at will, they are chameleons and cannot be trusted. PDP can be trusted, we have vision and mission. If you have a vision, you will not be changing slogans, logos and colour everyday. PDP is still the dominant party in Nigeria.

    “We still remain PDP, not like some parties that today, they are red party, tomorrow, they are green party, next time, they are blue party, they are chameleons and they cannot be trusted. PDP has its vision and mission, if you have a vision, you will not be changing name, slogan, logo and colour everyday.”

    He said that those who defected from the PDP were a problem when they were in the party.

    “Some people were founding members of PDP; they were in PDP for 14 years. They had been Ministers, Commissioners, Speakers, Governors and held various positions under the party, now they say they are decamping (sic) to another party because they say they need progress, that PDP is not good enough.

    “This means that when they were in PDP, they were retrogressive elements, it means they were a problem to us in the party. Now that they have left, we will progress more, now, PDP will move faster and bigger. It is a party that will take Nigeria to development.”

    Though the president said he was not in Minna to campaign, he predicted that come 2015, “PDP will regain, recover and reconstruct the states it had lost in 2011. For us in PDP, there is no shaking, in the North Central, there is no shaking; we will recover Kwara and Nasarawa States. We will regain, recover and reconstruct these states that we have lost in 2015.”

  • PDP rally: INEC faults early campaign

    PDP rally: INEC faults early campaign

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), said yesterday that campaign by any political party or group of politicians ahead of the lifting of the ban oN campaigns is a violation of the rules governing elections in the country.

    Reacting to complaints trailing the several rallies across the country by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the latest being the North Central zonal rally held yesterday in Minna, the electoral commission maintained that it was illegal for anyone to begin campaign outside INEC guidelines.

    Speaking in a telephone interview, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, said the Commission views all forms of early campaign by political parties as contraventions of the Electoral Act.

    The INEC spokesperson said the position of the constitution on when campaigns should start is very clear.

    He said:”INEC will not respond to allegations against individual political parties but our position on early campaigns like this remain the same. For us, it is a contravention of Section 99, sub section 1 of the Electoral Act which stipulates that campaign can only start 90 days to the election and end 24 hours to the election. Any political party or group that does anything aside this is going against the Constitution.

    “We have said that before. We issued a press release on this recently. Our position remains the same irrespective of which political party you are talking about. If we respond to your question about party A, another person will be quick to point out things done by party B which appears to him or her as some form of campaign. That is why we will not respond to allegations against individuals.

    “And let me tell you that it is not for INEC to take an action against such contraventions because there are institutional structures meant to address all forms of constitutional breaches. This is not an exemption. INEC is not a security agency. We can only call on the relevant security agencies to do the needful in this situation.”

    Idowu warned that early campaigns would only heat up the polity.

    “There is no doubt that the tendency by political parties towards pre-emptive electioneering is of concern to us at INEC. Like i said, it is a violation of statutory provisions and this will only heat up the polity,” he warned.

    Before yesterday’s rally in Minna, President Jonathan had addressed rallies in Sokoto, Owerri and Ilorin.

  • Jega needs God to succeed, says cleric

    The general overseer of Citadel of Mercy Igando, Apostle Paschal Goodnews, has called on Nigerians to pray for the Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega.

    The INEC boss, according to him, has been handed a herculean task of conducting a free and fair election across the country, adding that he will need divine intervention to deliver.

    He stated that the forthcoming elections would be tough and heated, saying that any attempt to toy with it could throw the nation into a deep crisis.

    ‘’As we speak, tension is building up in various spheres in the country. Such tension which is both political and economic in nature is like a time-bomb and requires extreme caution and proper conflict-management by those in authority.

    “Dark clouds are gathering over the nation and all Nigerians need to join hands in prayers and cry out to God for divine intervention to pull the country out of the brink of disaster,” Goodnews submitted.

  • Ekiti Poll : Election Coalition group tasks INEC on logistic problems

    The Civil Society Organisation (CSO) Election Coalition has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately address some noticeable logistics challenges as the voters’ verification and issuance of Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) enter the second day in Ekiti State.

    The CSO made the call in a preliminary statement by the Coordinator of the Coalition, Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi on Saturday.

    The Coalition comprise Women Advocate Research & Documentation Centre (WARDC), Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD), HEDA Resource Centre, New Initiative for Social Development (NISD), WANEP Nigeria,  Centre for Democracy & Development (CDD), JPDI, NCWS and International Press Centre (IPC).

    Akiyode-Afolabi said the call has become necessary following field reports from the State’s three Senatorial Districts (Ekiti North, Ekiti Central and Ekiti South) by the Coalition’s observers.

    INEC according to the reports did not seem to have conducted adequate public sensitization and awareness prior to the commencement of the exercise and does not have enough personnel in most of the registration units.

    Only one Youth Corp member were said to be  attending to hundreds of voters while in some cases, overwhelmed Corpers were recruiting friends and volunteers to assist them.

    In a number of polling units, the Coalition noted that  the total number on the register did not just exceed but double the stipulated 500 per polling unit, thus raising fears that in the concerned units not all registered voters might be issued with PVCs and therefore disenfranchised.

    Other observations are that:

    • The security personnel were clearly inadequate with a number of polling units not having any;
    • In some registration units, proxies were being used to collect PVCs;
    • Some of the registration units were relocated from the places earlier indicated by INEC and moved to private premises;
    • Some registration units reported cases of missing names with some voters unable to find their names where they originally registered;
    • Agents of political parties were unduly interfering with the verification process in some registration units.

    The Coalition however noted that INEC has done a fair job by conspicuously displaying the voters’ list, ensuring the early arrival of materials and making available attestation forms for those who have lost their temporary voter’s card.

    It also said that despite some of the lapses the exercise has so far been peaceful while the citizens have shown commendable enthusiasm to register and vote in the forthcoming Governorship election in State.

    But in order to correct the observed anomalies and ensure that all registered voters are issued with PVCs, the Coalition called on INEC to deploy more personnel to units that have more than 500 names to ensure that all those who registered are issued with PVCs.

    INEC was also urged to continue to disseminate information on the exercise through the mass media and other channels of communication and ensure that designated centres are used for the exercise.

    More security personnel according to the Coalition should be requested for and deployed to the registration units.

  • INEC chief Jega for AANI lecture

    INEC chief Jega for AANI lecture

    Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Attahiru Jega will on Tuesday, deliver a paper at the inaugural lecture of the Alumni Association of the National Institute (AANI) with the theme: Building Credible Electoral Process for Democratic Sustainability.

    The lecture, which will be chaired by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, will also host Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola as the keynote speaker and frontline constitutional lawyer, Prof Itse Sagay will be the lead speaker.

    The lecture will be held the Eko Hotel and Suites on Victoria Island, Lagos.

    The alumni body, which is the apex association of the past course participants at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), said the lecture was being organised to contribute to discourse affecting development of the country, with the view to enable government and the society tap from the knowledge of professionals trained by the Institute.

    The alumni body said its activities, since inception, had been aimed at making government to live up to its responsibility and to make it provide quality leadership through formulation and implementation of polices targeted at promoting national security democratic stability.

    “In line with our motto towards a better society, we have constructively engaged key strategic institutions and organisations on current topical issues,” the AANI said in a statement.

    Expected at the occasion are AANI National President Major-General Lawrence Onoja and his predecessors, Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye and Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi.

    NIPSS is a centre for research and dialogue where academics, policymakers and other professionals drawn from various sectors meet to reflect and exchange ideas on issues affecting the country.