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Tag: Inec

  • INEC warns parties against premature campaign

    INEC warns parties against premature campaign

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has threatened to deal with any political parties, groups or individuals engaging in campaigns for elective political positions before the stipulated time by law.
    The Oyo State Resident Electoral Commission (REC), Alhaji Nasir Ayilara gave this warning yesterday at the monthly meeting of the National Forum of Heads of Federal Establishments (NAFOHEADS), Oyo State Chapter, held at federal secretariat, Ibadan.
    Ayilara who was represented by the Administration Secretary of the commission, Alhaji Rafiu Adegbola stated that the next date for the next general elections is still far away, warning that the commission will not hesitate to prosecute against those breaching the Electoral Act which stipulates time for campaigns for general polls.
    “Most political parties are flaunting campaign law under disguise of one association or the other and we find it highly disturbing and diversionary that  some Nigerians rather than concentrate on activities that would contribute to the expansion of the frontiers of the present political dispensation, have chosen to  engage heating up the polity.
    “We do not see the necessity for an early campaign because the time for election is yet to be fixed, anybody or party caught will be dealth with” he said
    Ahead of the upcoming general elections in 2015, Ayilara reiterated the commission’s commitment to conduct free, fair and credible elections in all states in the country.
    He attributed the success of the 2011 general elections to functional partnership with the media, security agencies, civil society organizations, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), political class among others.
    The Oyo State REC promised Nigerians to expect an improvement in 2015, as different strategies has been put in place to ensure free, fair and credible elections.
    He said: “All steps has been put in place towards 2015 elections, the activities include several retreats in which the previous elections were thoroughly re-examined, resulting in restructuring and re-organisation of the Commission.
    ”Preparation, deliberation and presentation of a strategic plan running between 2012 and 2016 designed to provide a clear cut road map for the 2015 general elections. We are also working and preparing for the take-off of continous voter registration of young Nigerians who have turned 18 years. We are also perfecting plans for the creation of additional polling units most especially for new settlements”
    He also disclosed that the commission has started reshaping and restructuring to make it more efficient and effective election management body.
    According to him, the commission has commenced voter and civic education immediately after the 2011 general elections on the mass media.

  • INEC, IPAC partner to monitor Anambra election

    The Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) said on Thursday that the council would partner with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to monitor the Anambra elections.

    National Chairman of the council Alhaji Yinusa Tanko told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the measure was to ensure that the election was transparent, free and fair.

    According to him, the election monitors will write a comprehensive report on their observations and submit to the appropriate authorities for remedies.

    “Our team will be on ground to see how the election is being conducted and look at the preparations of INEC and synergies and to make amends if there are shortcomings.

    “What we intend to do is to set up call contact in Awka in case of event of irregularities,’’ Tanko said.

    He said IPAC would collaborate with INEC and the police to ensure that irregularities were curtailed during the exercise.

    Tanko added that the team would also work with INEC during the election to ensure proper authentication of voters’ cards.

    He said each political party would have volunteers representing it on the monitoring team during the election to ensure that the people’s choice emerged.

     

     

  • INEC and its corrupted voters register

    INEC and its corrupted voters register

    Recently, the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC] Prof Attahiru Jega, admitted that the voters register for the 2013 gubernatorial election in Anambra State contained over 94,000 names that were not supposed to be in the register and therefore ordered their deletion or removal.

     He also declared that the additional names arose as a result of multiple registrations and that the issue of corruption of the voters’ registers was a widespread one that occurred all over the country. According to him, over four million names had been so injected into voters registers nationwide.

    These are frightening and worrisome revelations.

     Way back in 2007, strange names were found in the voters register all over the country with particular reference on Ondo State where the register was found to have contained the names of celebrities like Mike Tyson and Wole Soyinka. In the October 2012 gubernatorial election in the state, additional names were found to have been unlawfully injected into the register and this became a serious issue at the subsequent election petitions tribunal.

    Indeed the appeal court that reviewed the judgment of the tribunal confirmed that over 100,000 names were capriciously and arbitrarily injected into the register by the INEC.  The Electoral Act requires the INEC to display the register at every polling unit for public scrutiny at least 30 days before the election. But in many cases, the INEC had failed to fulfil this vital requirement faithfully.

     During the 2012 election in Ondo State, the commission only loaded the registers into CDs which it then released to the political parties exactly 30 days to the election.

     Remarkably, there were no printed copies and hence none was displayed for public scrutiny. The appeal court declared this to have offended Section19 of the electoral act which requires the register to be displayed and Section 20 which requires it to be published.

    Predictably, the unlawfully injected names went undetected until the day of the election when party agents began to identify the names at the polling units.

     Corruption of voters’ registers is a serious matter that portends a grave danger to the nation’s nascent democracy. This could not have been lost on the INEC chairman Prof. Jega who demonstrated rare courage by coming out to publicly admit that the works of his own hands are bad and needed to be remedied.

    This issue should not be seen as Ondo and Anambra matters alone. Rather, it must be seen as a challenge and a call to all well meaning Nigerians and all political parties to be vigilant and as such, demand as of right, a credible register as a sine qua num for a credible election in the country particularly as the journey towards 2015 advances.

    Unlawful injections are made by people or persons that stand to benefit from the act and hence are almost invariably deliberate.

    To permit such people to get away with such an act is to send signals to other people to do same in future elections. This would then mean that in the future, many versions of the voters register will surface during elections and nobody needs to be told the consequences should this happen.

    In these days of information technology, INEC should have no excuse at all for producing a corrupted register. For it is very easy and practicable to program the computer to detect multiple registrations, unlawful injection of names, and the like.

    That corrupted registers were released at all to the public, is a sad commentary on INEC’s ability to act with due diligence. In the future, the commission should take advantage of technology to produce registers that are free from corruption of any form.

    It also must be noted that unlawful injections are made by human beings and not ghosts and that it is practically impossible for the insertions to be made without the involvement of INEC officials. Prof. Attahiru Jega should therefore cause the unlawful injections to be investigated and the culprits brought to book.

    Finally, it is needless to emphasize that the entire machinery of the INEC needs serious overhauling. The entire body politic is flatulent with fumes of corruption and decadence oozing out of the commission. It is extremely worrisome that no INEC staff has been caught let alone prosecuted for committing an electoral offence. Yet the evidence is all over the place that the commission is far from being an angel. Who then will bell the cat?

    This country has another date with destiny in 2015. That date is already around the corner but before negotiating this corner, the INEC has enough time to put its acts together. It must set out immediately to rise up to this challenge. The voters register is too important to be toyed with. The nation cannot afford to fail in 2015 and INEC must make sure that it does not, by any act of omission or commission, bring nightmares into the bedrooms of Nigerians in that year.

    • Ogunmoyela, a Public Affairs Analyst writes from Akure,Ondo State..

  • INEC opens citizens’ contact centre

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has opened its Citizens’ Contact Centre (CCC).

    The centre is a facility that will allow the public constant access to the commission with enquiries and exchange of information.

    The centre is designed to enhance transparency and public participation in the electoral process.

    Mr. Kayode Idowu, the Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman of the electoral body, Prof. Attahiru Jega, in a statement in Abuja yesterday, said: “The CCC is a Situation Room that operates daily.”

    He, however, noted that “at this early stage, it will open between 9am and 5pm on weekdays. Later, the centre will scale up to round-the-clock (i.e. 24-hour) service every day.”

    As a daily Situation Room, the centre offers the public an opportunity for getting real time responses to enquiries, incident-reports, complaints and queries about any aspect of the electoral process. In the immediate instance, the centre is available for use by the public during the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) that began in Anambra State yesterday.

    The centre can be accessed through telephone lines, Facebook, Twitter and INEC’s website.

    Phone numbers are: 07098115257, 07098117563 and 07098110916 Website address: inecnigeria.org

    Facebook page: www.facebook.com/inecnigeria (INEC Nigeria) Twitter handle: @inecnigeria

     

  • Anambra: INEC to prosecute 72 voters for multiple registrations

    •To conduct fresh voters’ registration 

    AHEAD of the Anambra gubernatorial election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared that it will prosecute 72 out of 93, 000 electoral fraudsters apprehended.

    Making this known yesterday was the State Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Prof Chukwuemeka Eze Onukaogu who disclosed that the fraudsters used different dress codes to do multiple registrations during the voters’ card registration in 2011.

    The INEC boss who said commission has since commenced revalidation of voters register for those who were not up to 18 years in 2011, warned against multiple registrations.

    “What happened was that people were registering with different dresses and when the data was consolidated we discovered those with multiple registration and by Wednesday we are going to arrest and prosecute the first batch of 72 people out of 93,000 multiple registrations we had. We are gradually going to get all of them and arrest them to deter others. There were so many anomalies in the past but it won’t happen again this time. I have already submitted their names to the police commissioner and by Wednesday we will start arresting them,” he declared.

    Onukaogu also announced that the commission will start a fresh registration process for 53 polling units in Awka South having delineated 34 centres across the entire state.

    He further appealed to those whose names were in the voters’ register already not to come for fresh registration even as he craved the cooperation of those with useful information about names of dead people on the register to come so that such names could be wiped off the register.

    “But if not registered at all come to us we will capture you at ward level because this exercise is not for those who have registered before. Then if your card is lost, kindly go to court and swear an affidavit that will state what happened and how it happened as well as where you registered, before going to the police for an extract. Then go to your Electoral Officer in your area where you registered and submit a letter of application for a duplicate copy of your voter’s card which will be forwarded to me for an approval of a duplicate. I have to warn that it is no longer business as usual because our machines are very sensitive and it would indicate any manipulation. No politician will manipulate the system now as they did in 2011″, he stressed.

  • 2015: INEC takes delivery of 20m voters’ cards

    2015: INEC takes delivery of 20m voters’ cards

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Thursday said it has taken delivery of 20 million permanent voters’ cards for 2015 general elections in the country.

    The Resident Electoral Commission (REC), in charge of Akwa Ibom, Mr. Gabriel Ada, disclosed this in Uyo at a stakeholders meeting organised by the commission.

    He said the voters’ cards would help to phase out the temporary voters cards in the system.

    The REC said the permanent card has a micro-chip with bio-data of every voter.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that other features  include a readable card which every registered voter would present at the polling unit before being allowed to vote.

    Ada said the equipment was designed to record the total number of people that are accredited and the total votes cast at each polling unit during elections.

    He said the initiative would help to fashion out irregularities in the system and also check unhealthy activities of desperate politicians during election.

    The REC said the commission has been restructured to enhance its operations.

    Ada said over 6,000 field officers have been employed to help institutionalise core values in the organisation.

     

  • INEC de-recognises Anambra PDP chairman

    INEC de-recognises Anambra PDP chairman

    Barely two weeks to the primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in Anambra State, the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) yesterday said it does not recognise Chief Ken Emeakayi as state chairman of the party.

    The primaries, scheduled to hold on August 24, began with a unity rally on Friday which was presided over by Emeakayi.

    The commission however said by its records, Mr. Ejike Ogbuebego is the authentic chairman of PDP in Anambra State.

    The electoral commission made its position known in letter written to the Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Dmocratic Party( PDP) by the Office of the Secretary to INEC.

    The letter, dated August 11, 2013, was signed by U.F. Usman on behalf of the Secretary.

    INEC said it did not know how Emeakayi emerged as the state chairman of PDP.

    By implications, INEC may reject the list of PDP candidates from Emeakayi-led State Executive Committee.

    A source said: “We are back to the usual crisis trailing conduct of primaries in Anambra State. There are two chairmen leading PDP in Anambra State.

    “Going by relevant laws, which INEC is sticking to, the authentic chairman of PDP in the state is Ejike Ogbuebego.

    “But the PDP at the National level has recognised Emeakayi. Unless the party puts its house in order, any aggrieved member could take advantage of the crisis to seek a court order to nullify the outcome of the PDP governorship primaries in the state.

    “Technically speaking, PDP is on the edge in Anambra but INEC is being tactical.”

    The INEC letter reads in part: “The commission further considered the ruling of the Federal High Court, Awka in Suit No. FHC/AWK/CS/174/2012-Ken Emeakayi vs. PDP and Ors in which the court granted an order to maintain status quo in all matters pending before the Federal High Court as they stood on the 31st day of May 2013, the date of the order.

    “The commission has taken due consideration of all the cases above referred and the following:

    “That the commission not being a party to the suit in the High Court of the FCT which nullified the congress at which Ejike Ogbuebego was elected is not bound by the judgment.

    “That the commission did not monitor the process that brought in Ken Emeakayi as the Anambra State Chairman of PDP.

    “The order of the Federal High Court which ordered a return to the stays quo and the recent order of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt which restrained the commission from recognizing or dealing with Ken Emeakayi as the chairman of the PDP in Anambra State.

    “ The commission has resolved that it will not withdraw its letter reference No: INEC/EPM/PDP/ 24/1/ 153 of 26th July 2013 by which the commission recognized Ejike Ogbuebego as the chairman of the PDP in Anambra State and shall be bound by the recent order of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt.”

    INEC gave the details of the legal intricacies trailing the constitution of State Executive Committee of PDP in Anambra State.

    It added: “Further to your letter of 31st July, 2013, that of the Acting National Secretary of the PDP, Dr. Charles Aderemi Akinyoye, of 6th August 2013 and the meeting between some members of the NEC of the PDP and the Commission on the above subject matter, the Commission caused detailed review of relevant facts of the subject matter to be made.

    “The Commission found that whereas it monitored the State Congress of the PDP in Anambra State in 2010 at which Chief Emma Nweze emerged as the Anambra State Chairman of the party, it has no record of how Ken Emeakayi suddenly became the chairman of the party in Anambra state.

    “In March 2012, the PDP conducted another congress in Anambra State at which Ejike Ogbuebego was elected as the State Chairman of the party. Both the PDP and the Commission continued to accord recognition to Ejike Ogbuebego as State Chairman of the party in Anambra state until the Commission received the letter of the Acting National Chairman on 31st July, 2013.

    “The Commission notes with abhorrence the deliberate concealment of the judgement of the FCT High Court delivered on 5th July, 2012 in Suit No. FCT/HC/CV/2631/2012 between Emma Mbamalu vs. PDP by which the court declared the Ward, Local Government and State Congresses held in March 2012 in Anambra State at which Ejike Ogbuebego emerged as State Chairman of the PDP, Anambra State as null and void and ordered the PDP to conduct other congresses in Anambra State though the Commission was not a party in the suit.

    “The revelation of the existence of the judgement by the PDP only on 31st July 2013 has imposed serious constraints on both the Commission and the party.

    “The Commission has considered the two ex-parte orders issued in favour of Ken Emeakayi in Suit No. FHC/AWK/CS/309/2012 between Ken Emeakayi Vs. INEC and 6 others, the certified true copy of the consent judgement of the High Court of Anambra State of 21st March 2012 on Suit No. a/171/2011 between Hon. Uche Ogbonna and 2 others Vs PDP and 4 others in which the court entered consent judgement between Uche Ogbonna and Ken Emeakayi in favour of Ken Emeakayi but which the court specifically stated that it is not binding on the PDP and its national officers.

    “The Commission further considered the judgement of the FCT High Court above referred and the ex-parte order of the Federal High Court, Port Harourt made on 6 th August 2013 in Suit No. FHC/PH/CS/213/2013 between Ejike Ogbuebego and 2 others Vs. PDP and INEC in which the Commission was restrained from accepting, dealing with, recognizing or doing anything with Ken Dmeakayi as the PDP Chairman in Anambra State pending the hearing of the Motion on Notice which is adjourned to 20 th August 2013.”

  • APC: The real hurdles

    APC: The real hurdles

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has finally applied to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for registration. This marks the attainment of a high degree of preparation for contesting the 2015 election. Hopefully, with that move and the consequent INEC decision, the controversy over which is the real APC would be resolved and a higher gear engaged by the political association.

    By this, I am not being simplistic. I am not unaware that issues could always crop up requiring attention and impeding movement. But, it is my contention that registration represents only one real hurdle: fulfilling the legal requirement. The party has already done what is expected of it at this stage. It has painstakingly gone through the process of agreeing on a name, a logo and flag. The issue of officers and how they are to be picked has, also, been presumably settled. The ball is now in INEC’s court to prove if it is indeed an extension of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party. Thereafter, the matter could be tackled.

    However, the registration hurdle is the lowest. The real hurdles are political. The requirements to make APC a potent political force and an alternative to the PDP are legion and more difficult to handle. It pushes the political association (that is what it is until it is formally registered) to a terrain laced with landmines.

    First, it is faced with the challenge of bonding with the people. The only concrete antidote to rigging and manipulations by the dominant ruling party is obtaining the confidence of the people. It is not a feat to be attained overnight in a country where cynicism is a religion. Many, and there is merit in the argument, believe that there is little to distinguish one set of politicians from another. After all, many of those in the APC have traversed the entire party corridor. Many were pioneer members of the ruling party and only left when handed the short end of the stick. It is an uphill task convincing the electorate that the APC is any different.

    Second, the people need assurance that the APC stands a ghost of a chance to displace the PDP. Otherwise, some of those who may be sympathetic to its cause could decide to be apathetic to the process. All that the PDP strategists have to do is drum up the message that the party controls the federal executive, the federal legislature, 23 of the state governments and more than two-thirds of the local government councils and put up a nice argument that no other party could possible stand the PDP might in the run up to 2015. Again, it is left for the APC captains to prove that the battle is not for the mighty and there have been cases when such giants fell; if not in this clime in others around us.

    Third, there is one question to be answered: is there a real difference between APC and PDP? This can only be answered in action. The campaign must be shifted to issues. Up till now, save regular rancor and acrimony, no one knows what the PDP stands for. Its governments cannot be held to anything. This is the common feature of the current party system. The APC needs to toe the line of the Action Group and Northern Elements Progressive Union in the period leading to independence. Both canvassed support based on a social ideology that located the people, the governed at the heart of policy. The AG that was reputed as the best organized in Africa had a policy paper on every issue. When it was coming up with the free education programme in 1955, Chief Adekunle Ajasin, Dr. Awosika and Professor Sanya Onabamiro and others had to work to produce a blueprint with the tiniest of details. It had similar policy frameworks on the Justice, economic, agriculture, industrial and health sectors, among others. The Unity Party of Nigeria built on that in the Second Republic with the famous four cardinal principles. This is a difficult but inescapable precedence for the APC.

    Fourth, the cost of maintaining a solid structure required by a mass party must be staggering and enormous. But it is the only road to travel. The branches, chapters and cells of the APC must be visible and working. Its federal and state organs must function and the impression must not be given that it is owned and run by one or a few oligarchs.

    One responsibility that the aspiring party can take up immediately is exposing the hollowness of the PDP government. Its men must take up the party on major issues of the day. Alhaji Lai Mohammed of the ACN has been doing a lot for the party, so has Rotimi Fashakin of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), but this is not substitute for structured responses and expert analysis. At best, the public sees Mohammed’s and Fashakin’s views as partisan responses, not detailed analysis on social issues.

    On national development, where does the APC government stand? On federalism and restructuring, would an APC government convoke a national conference- within what period? Would an APC government introduce free education or insist that qualitative education must cost parents money? How would education be funded? What about scholarship schemes? What about state police? These are issues that the people deserve to know and should know.

    The APC stands at a vantage point now. This is a unique opportunity to arrest the rudderless and inept leadership of the country. But the party needs to assure us th at it is dependable and the future of the country could be entrusted to it.

    Otherwise, the search has to continue.

     

    This article was first published in this column on June 16, 2013

     

  • Let INEC be

    Let INEC be

    •The provision that only active political parties be allowed to exist should be preserved

    THE Justice Gabriel Kolawole decision that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) lacks the power to deregister political parties that fail to make the minimum mark stipulated in section 78 (7) (ii) of the Electoral Act has legitimately raised the eyebrows of lovers of democracy in Nigeria. All those conversant with the Nigerian political history would acknowledge that mushroom parties, especially since the inception of the current dispensation, have done the country no good.

    Many trooped to the scene to have a bite of the grant that the law empowers and enjoins INEC to give all registered political parties. Others rose to be counted among political parties owing to the recognition it accords them and, when they come up with candidates at elections, such candidates are accorded the same privileges as those genuinely in contention for high offices. This is one reason why there are many founders/chairmen/presidential candidates. Such parties that exist merely in names field presidential candidates and a few others to contest governorship election in the states, but hardly have people to bid for seats in state and federal legislative houses. In the last general elections, some fielded no candidates at all for any of about 1,500 legislative and executive positions in the country. This is obviously contrary to the intendment of the relevant sections of the constitution, the INEC Act and the Electoral Act.

    It is in this context that we call for restraint in the way INEC is being constrained in the exercise of its powers to monitor political parties and sanitising the landscape. In recent times, politicians have been adept at willfully and flagrantly violating the letters and spirit of the law. While sections 221-229 of the 1999 Constitution might have been very liberal, as interpreted by the Supreme Court decision in the suit filed by the National Conscience Party in 2002, the powers of INEC to regulate the system are evidently preserved.

    Section 228 expressly empowers the National Assembly to confer on the commission “other powers as may appear to be necessary or desirable for the purpose of enabling the commission more effectively to ensure that political parties observe the provisions of this Part of this Chapter”.

    It is therefore strange that Justice Kolawole of the Abuja division of the Federal High Court employed very strong language in deprecating the powers exercised by INEC and the National Assembly in pursuant of the relevant sections of the constitution and the Electoral Act. The judge obviously erred in describing the inclusion of section 78 in the Electoral Act as “a product of legislative despotism” and an “arbitrary rule of the tongue”. One major feature of the presidential system that we practice is Separation of Powers and mutual respect of the arms of government for each other.

    We find it difficult to agree with Justice Kolawole who declared section 78 (7) (ii) of the Electoral Act as “unconstitutional, invalid, null and void” on the ground that the said provision is “inconsistent with the provision of sections 40 and 221-229 of the Constitution.”

    It is the more intriguing that the said verdict is directly contrary to the position adopted by another Justice of the Federal High Court that sat in Lagos on March 6. Justice Okon Abang’s ruling on a motion presented to it by the NCP requiring an injunction restraining INEC from deregistering it said: “The National Assembly has the powers to enact laws, which includes for the regulation of political parties in the country. In my view, there is nothing unconstitutional with the provisions of section 78 (7) (ii) of the Electoral Act.”

    It is good that the INEC chairman has indicated that the Justice Kolawole verdict would be challenged on appeal. This is welcome. However, we hope that the judiciary would ensure that all matters regarding this are finally resolved in good time before the 2015 general elections in order to avoid the sad impact that a similar scenario on INEC’s power to disqualify candidates had on the outcome of the 2007 general elections.

     

     

  • Jega: why INEC registered APC

    Jega: why INEC registered APC

    •Party can ‘contest November governorship poll in Anambra’

    The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, spoke yesterday on the registration of the All Progressives Congress (APC)—the platform on which the progressives will fight the 2015 election.

    He said APC was registered as a merger party because it met all the requirements.

    He stressed that the registration was “done right under the law”, adding that the commission would appeal against a court judgment which nullified its decision to de-register Fresh Party and others.

    Jega was answering questions at a stakeholders’ conference with media professionals and civil society organisations on Voter Register Optimisation and plans for continuous voter registration.

    He said it was not yet time to release the 2015 general elections timetable.

    Jega said: “With regards to our registration of APC and what informed what we have done, it is clear to us that the parties that intend to merge have met all the legal requirements of merger and we have done all the internal processes or processing application for merger and we have taken the decision to register them and we believe we are right to do so under the law.

    “I cannot comment on other issues because those issues are subject to litigation but we are satisfied that what we have done is right under the law and that is why we did it.”

    Replying a question, the INEC chairman said APC could participate in the November governorship poll in Anambra State.

    “As to whether the merged party will contest election in Anambra State, given the fact that the registration should be done before the election, again, you have forced our leaders to quickly look at the law a party must be registered 90 days before any election and I can give you the section so you can look it up.

    “If you look at the Electoral Act, Section 84(6), it is 90 days before any election and I think they have been registered 90 days before the Anambra election.”

    On the nullification of deregistration of parties by a court, Jega said INEC had asked its legal team to file an appeal against the judgment of a Federal High Court which reversed the deregistration of Fresh Party.

    He said: “With regards to party registration, obviously the laws are very clear as to under what condition we can register parties and under what conditions we can deregister political parties and we have been doing our best to register as well as to deregister.

    “I think you are talking about the court judgment about a week ago or so. But people are forgetting that we had three other court judgments that had thrown away those who have gone to contest our deregistration of political parties.

    “So, this is the first judgment which seems to now favour a deregistered party. So, really as far as we are concerned, it’s a case that we have to appeal and, in fact, our lawyers are processing the appeal.

    “So, I think it is misunderstanding and misrepresentation to say that the court has overturned our deregistration of parties because out of four judgments, three are in favour of INEC. So, really the jury is still out on this deregistration and we should not misunderstand the import of that judgment.

    On the timetable for 2015 elections, the INEC chairman said:

    “We will issue a timetable. There is a legal time frame in which we have to issue a timetable for general elections and we are still within that time and it is too early to issue the 2015 timetable now.

    “So, we will stick to the requirement of the law and issue the timetable when the law says we should issue it.”

    He, however, explained that a lot had been done to put INEC in shape for a free and fair poll in 2015.

    Jega said: “Specifically, we have undertaken some programmes to reposition INEC for greater efficiency in conducting free, fair and credible elections. Since the 2011 General Election, we have done the following, among others:

    “We have internally reviewed the conduct of the elections through retreats involving Electoral Officers, RECs and Admin Secretaries, and National Commissioners. Through this process, we have learnt from the field officers our strengths and weaknesses in the conduct of elections and we have been introducing appropriate measures to improve the process.”

    “We commissioned an independent study of the 2011 voter registration and elections by a group of distinguished and respected academics and CSO activists, and the report they produced provided us additional information and recommendations on how to keep on improving the electoral process.

    “We commissioned a reputable management-consulting firm, which studied INEC and provided us with useful input for the restructuring and reorganisation of the Commission, to make it a more efficient and effective election management body.

    “The Commission has implemented the new structure through a reorganisation that has eliminated job overlaps and makes the organisation lighter and more efficient.

    “We embarked on a broadly consultative strategic planning process, which has now yielded a Strategic Plan and Strategic Programme of Action that the Commission has adopted and which serves as a framework for our preparations and operations as an EMB for the next five years.

    “We have held a series of consultative meetings with different stakeholder groups, including CSOs and the Media, to share information and exchange ideas on how to continue to improve upon the electoral process as we move towards the 2015 general elections.

    “We have commenced our programme of action towards delimiting constituencies, which we shall strive to do before the 20 15 elections.

    “As we count down to the next cycle of General Election in 2015, we in INEC are increasingly fine-tuning our work processes to ensure that we deliver elections that are much more free, fairer and more credible than we had in 2011.

    “We have, for instance, cleaned out the National Register of Voters and fully consolidated the data.

    “We are taking delivery of the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), which we have promised to begin issuing to registered voters before the end of the year. Indeed, the process that led up to producing these PVCs ensured the elimination of all multiple registrations and sanitisation of the Voter Register, which is an essential condition for the conduct of credible elections as we all desire.

    “ In furtherance of register optimisation, we are rolling out the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise nationwide before the end of this year (2013).

    “But ensuring credible elections, as I have always observed, is not a one-way street. In other words, it is not the task of INEC alone; rather, it is a multi-stakeholder endeavour that requires the collaboration and diligent commitment of other role players.

    “In particular, the stakeholder groups represented here at this forum have a cardinal role to play in civic enlightenment, voter education and the moulding of public perception of the electoral process.”

    END