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  • Court vacates contempt order against INEC boss Yakubu, ex-APGA Chair Ike-Oye

    Court vacates contempt order against INEC boss Yakubu, ex-APGA Chair Ike-Oye

    A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Bwari, Abuja, has vacated its earlier order convicting the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, and the immediate past Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Victor Ike-Oye, for contempt.

    Justice Mohammed Madugu’s decision to vacate the order followed an application filed by Michael Ajara, the lawyer to the applicants – Otunba Camaru Ogidan and Alhaji Rabiu Mustapha – seeking the termination of the contempt proceedings against Yakubu and Ike-Oye.

    Justice Madugu had, on November 9, 2023, issued an order convicting Yakubu and Ike-Oye for contempt of court after finding that they failed to comply with the court’s order of May 10, 2023 directing them to recognise Chief Edozie Njoku as APGA’s National Chairman.

    On July 11, 2024, Yakubu’s lawyer, Ahmed Mohammed, told the court that his client had complied with the order and recognised Njoku as APGA’s National Chairman.

    But Ike-Oye failed to comply with the order. He instead appealed and applied for a stay of the lower court’s order, thereby stalling his planned sentencing, which the court later rescheduled for January 22.

    However, on November 27, 2024, the Supreme Court gave a judgment recognising another person, Sly Ezeokenwa, as APGA’s National Chairman.

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    At the mention of the case yesterday before Justice Madugu, Ajara told that court that based on the November 27, 2024 judgment of the Supreme Court on the issue, his clients had decided to discontinue the case.

    Following Ajara’s application, Justice Madugu discharged the earlier committal order and struck out the case.

    Explaining his clients’ position, Ajara said: “Our clients, being law-abiding, have since expressed their willingness to abide by the Supreme Court judgment on the issue.

    “So, they saw no reason to further pursue this case and instructed us to withdraw it, which we just did. The judge saw reasons in the steps we took and agreed with us.”

    Njoku, who was also in court along with some senior members of his new party – the National Rescue Movement (NRM) – hailed Justice Madugu for the manner he handled the case.

    Njoku, who formally assumed office on Tuesday as the National Chairman of the NRM, said: “The judge here showed rare courage under the current circumstances of Nigeria.

    “We are praying to God to be with him. If he did not show that courage, I could have been in jail.

    “We thank God that our case came before a judge who has conscience, integrity and can also show courage when necessary.”

  • INEC fixes date for FCT area council elections

    INEC fixes date for FCT area council elections

    Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu on Wednesday announced February 21, 2026 as the tentative date for the conduct of the chairmanship and councillorship elections into the six Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory. 

    Speaking at the first meeting of the commission with leaders of the registered political parties, Prof. Yakubu also asked political parties to begin preparation for the conduct of party primaries for the Anambra governorship election. 

    Prof. Yakubu said the notice of elections for the Area Council polls will be published on February 26, 2025 in line with the provisions of the 2022 Electoral Act. 

    He said: “Even as we prepare for the Anambra State Governorship election, we are always mindful of our responsibilities for other elections and electoral activities. 

    “For instance, Section 28(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 requires the Commission to issue the notice for elections not later than 360 days before the date of the election. This applies to the General as well as off-cycle elections. 

    “As you are aware, the commission is responsible for the Area Council election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the only part of the country where INEC conducts local government election. The last Area Council election in the FCT was held on 12 February 2022. By the effluxion of time, the tenure of the current Chairmen and Councillors ends next year. 

    “Consequently, the Commission has approved that the 2026 Area Council election in FCT will hold on Saturday 21st February 2026. Voting will take place in all the designated Polling Units across the 68 constituencies to elect the six Area Council Chairmen and 62 Councilors.

    “In compliance with the mandatory legal requirements, the notice for the election will be published next month i.e. 26th February 2025. Party primaries will be held from 9th – 30th June 2025. The candidate nomination portal will open from 9.00am on 21st July 2025 to 6.00pm on 11th August 2025. 

    “The final list of candidates will be published on 22nd September 2025. Campaign in public by political parties will commence on 24th September 2025 and end at midnight of Thursday 19th February 2026”. 

    Prof Yakubu said the Commission conducted 51 re-run elections, bye-elections and off-cycle elections in 2024, adding that “In February, the Commission conducted re-run elections in 39 constituencies combined with nine bye-elections arising from vacancies in the national and State Assemblies nationwide. We also conducted two Governorship elections, the last one held in November 2024 in Ondo State.”

    He said that in 2024, the Commission “had several electoral activities, including the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) ahead of the Edo and Ondo State Governorship elections, the publication of our 2023 General Election Report and the release of the Review Report containing 142 recommendations arising from our in-house and external engagements with stakeholders.

     “Similarly, we sustained our engagements with stakeholders. During the year, we had a total of 16 regular quarterly consultative meetings with political parties, civil society organisations, the media and security agencies in addition to extraordinary meetings as the need arose”. 

    He said further that “In terms of elections and electoral activities, the year 2025 is going to be busier than 2024. You may recall that at our fourth regular consultative meeting held on Thursday 17th October last year, the Commission released the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the Anambra State Governorship election holding on Saturday 8th November 2025. 

    “Already, the Notice of Election has been published over two months ago as provided in the Timetable. The next activity is the conduct of primaries by political parties. May I remind leaders of political parties that primaries for the nomination of candidates for the Anambra State Governorship election begins in the next two months i.e. 20th March to 10th April 2025.

    “You may similarly recall that at our last regular meeting, we agreed that you will forward your schedule of activities for the election to the Commission to enable us work together and plan better for the deployment of personnel and resources for the monitoring of your party primaries and campaign activities in order to avoid the last minute rush with the attendant inability to meet deadlines and unnecessarily dissipate our energy and lean resources. 

    “So far, only a few parties are in compliance. I urge those that have not done so to submit the details by the end of this week”.

    He expressed sadness over damages caused to the commission property in Benin, Edo state, Sankara in Benue state and Owa Oyino in Benue state. 

    He said “sadly, in 2024 our State office in Benin City was flooded but we were able to recover ahead of the election. Elsewhere, two of our Local Government offices were attacked in incidents unrelated to elections or electoral activities. 

    “In Sankara, the headquarters of Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State, our office, along with other public buildings and private institutions in the area, was attacked during a local protest against insecurity. In Owa Oyibu, the headquarters of Ika North East Local Government Area of Delta State, our office was destroyed in a fire incident.

    “The Commission is glad that our staff were safe in the two locations. However, many electoral assets were lost and the buildings substantially damaged.

    Yakubu said the Commission will come up with plans for other routine activities such as the resumption of nationwide Continuous Voter registration (CVR) and the conduct of outstanding bye-elections. 

    He said also said that “Over the last one and a half years since the inauguration of the current National and State Assemblies in June 2023, vacancies have occurred in 23 constituencies as a result of death of serving members or their voluntary resignation for executive positions at Federal, State and even Local Government levels as Ministers, Commissioners, Chairman of a Local Government and even board appointment. While the Commission has conducted nine bye-elections early last year, 14 more vacancies have occurred since then. 

    Read Also: JUST IN: Court vacates contempt order against INEC boss Yakubu, ex-APGA chair 

    “They are unpredictable, unbudgeted and difficult to plan in advance. Worse, some bye-elections lead to more bye-elections. There were situations where a bye-election in one Senatorial District was won by a serving member of the House of Representatives from the same District thereby creating another vacancy. 

    “In turn, a member of the State Assembly won the bye-election to the House of Representatives thereby creating a vacancy in the State Assembly. Consequently, one bye-election led to three bye-elections. Not only are these bye-elections costly, they also divert the Commission’s attention from its other extensive electoral responsibilities. 

    “Over the last nine years since 2016, the present Commission has been advocating for a more cost-effective alternative means of filling vacancies as is the case in many jurisdictions around the world. 

    “We have similarly been appealing to stakeholders, including political parties, to join the advocacy and for the National Assembly to amend the law accordingly. 

    “Just three weeks ago, we canvassed this position once again during the defence of our 2025 budget before the joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives at the National Assembly. We are glad that more Nigerians are now joining the advocacy. We hope that working together, we will continue to reform and improve on our electoral process.”

  • JUST IN: Court vacates contempt order against INEC boss Yakubu, ex-APGA chair 

    JUST IN: Court vacates contempt order against INEC boss Yakubu, ex-APGA chair 

    A HIgh Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Bwari has vacated its earlier order committing the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu and the immediate past Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Victor Ike-Oye for contempt.

    Justice Mohammed Madugu’s decision to vacate the order was informed by an application by Michael Ajara, lawyer to the applicants – Otunba Camaru Ogidan and Alhaji Rabiu Mustapha –  seeking the termination of the contempt proceedings against Yakubu and Ike-Oye. 

    Justice Madugu had, on 9 November 2023, issued an order convicting Yakubu and Oye for contempt of court after finding that they failed to comply with the court’s earlier order of  May 10, 2023 directing them to recognise Chief Edozie Njoku as the National  Chairman of APGA.

    On July 11, 2024, Yakubu’s lawyer, 

    Ahmed Mohammed told the court that his client has complied with the order and recognised Njoku as APGA’s National Chairman. 

    On his part, Oye failed to comply with the order. He instead, appealed and applied for a stay of the lower court’s order, thereby stalling his planned sentencing, which the court later rescheduled for January 22.

    However, on November 27, 2024, the Supreme Court gave a judgment, recognising a other person, Sly Ezeokenwa as the National Chairman of APGA.

    At the mention of the case before Justice Madugu on Wednesday,  Ajara told that court that in view of the November 27, 2024 judgment of the Superior Court on the issue, his clients have decided to discontinue the case.

    Following Ajara’s application, Justice Madugu discharged the earlier committal order and struck out the case.

    Explaining his clients’ position, Ajara said: “Our clients, being law abiding, have since expressed their willingness to abide by the Supreme Court judgment on the issue. 

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    “So, they saw no reason to further pursue this case and instructed us to withdraw it, which we just did.  

    The judge saw reasons in the steps we took and agreed with us.”

    Chief Njoku, who was also in court along with some senior members of his new party – the National Rescue Movement (NRM) – commended Justice Madugu in the manner he handled the case.

    He described the judge as a diligence and courageous man, who exhibited courage when it mattered most.

    Chief Njoku, who formally assumed office on Tuesday as the National Chairman of the NRM, said: “The judge here showed rare courage under the current circumstances of Nigeria.

    “We are praying that May God be with him. If he did not show that courage, I could have been in jail. 

    “We thank God that our case came before a judge, who has conscience, integrity and can also show courage when necessary,” he said.

  • INEC’s reform proposals

    INEC’s reform proposals

    More work needed to boost public trust and reinvent political culture

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recently presented a review report on the 2023 general election to the National Assembly (NASS) by which it proposed changes in the legal framework that would permit voting by Nigerians in the diaspora and inmates of correctional centres. If the proposals get adopted, persons engaged in essential services on election days like security operatives, journalists and electoral officials would also have the opportunity to cast their ballot during elections.

    Section 47(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 stipulates that: “A person intending to vote in an election shall present himself with his voter’s card to a presiding officer for accreditation at the polling unit in the constituency in which his name is registered.” By virtue of this provision, Nigerians abroad who are registered at home as voters must be physically present at polling units where they are registered if they hope to cast their vote, otherwise they’re precluded. Since there are no polling units in correctional centres, inmates do not get the opportunity to vote. As for essential workers, they are typically on duty at far-removed locations on election day and do not get the chance to exercise their franchise even when they’re registered as voters.

    INEC is seeking reforms in the legal framework to relax rules inhibiting diaspora residents and prison inmates from voting and allow essential workers to cast their ballots ahead of election day through early voting. The electoral body also requested NASS to hasten action on passing laws to enable it to cede some duties it routinely handles currently to specialised bodies – specifically an electoral offences commission and a political party registration and regulatory commission. It argues that a separate body to handle investigation and prosecution of electoral offenders as well as another saddled with registration and regulation of political parties would allow it focus on the core tasks of managing elections.

    These recommendations are contained in a 75-page INEC Report on the 2023 General Election prepared by a review committee and presented to the joint Senate and House of Representatives committee on electoral matters by the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu. According to the electoral commission, some observations made during the review involving stakeholders – among them political party leaders, civil society organisations, the media, security agencies and INEC officials – pertained to interference in the electoral process by political actors, attitude of polling agents and conduct of election observers, deployment of technology for election, low voter turnout, and increased involvement of the political class in electoral violence.

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    Among other things, INEC in its recommendations proposed replacement of the permanent voter card (PVC) with temporary voter cards and e-cards to allow wider access to voting by Nigerians. It said Section 47(1) of the electoral act needed amendment to modify PVC use and introduce electronically downloadable cards.

    During his appearance before the NASS joint panel, Yakubu also lamented the high cost of elections, noting that Nigeria no longer has an electoral cycle as elections are now conducted all-year-round. He said the time had come to formulate a way to cut election costs, including streamlining schedules for conducting polls.

    INEC’s proposals obviously are aimed at expanding the democratic space, boost voter participation in elections and deepen citizen engagement with the process. These are noble and desirable objectives, provided the electoral culture on which the objectives would be rooted is also upgraded. Existing limitations in the electoral space and the high cost of elections are largely a function of low public trust in Nigerian elections, and the desperation of political actors indexing negative political culture.

    Much of the costs incurred on electoral logistics, for instance, owe to peculiarly negative political culture in our clime. Ballot papers are printed at currency quality and warehoused at the Central Bank at huge costs ahead of elections because of the low trust factor and desperation of political actors. Same explains the quantum deployment of security operatives, not to mention other electoral personnel – all at monstrous costs. Even the difficulty with diaspora voting is largely a function of trust deficit in the system by which it can be operationalised.

    Ultimately, it falls on INEC that is making proposals for reforms to work harder at deepening public trust in its processes, while holding desperate political actors firmly to account until other bodies get created to relieve it of that role.

  • ‘Why upload of 2023 presidential poll result failed’

    ‘Why upload of 2023 presidential poll result failed’

    Unanticipated system error was responsible for the glitch that affected upload of the Presidential election result on the INEC Result Viewing (IREV) during the 2023 general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission has explained.

    The Commission said a review of the system during the upload process showed that the system was encountering an unexpected configuration problem in mapping the presidential election results uploaded into the system to the participating Polling Units.

    The INEC explanation is contained in the report of the commission’s stakeholder engagements and retreats carried out by the commission between July 11 and August 5, 2023 to review the conduct of the general elections.

    Those at in the stakeholders’ engagements include: leaders of the registered political parties, civil society organisations, Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) and Administrative Secretaries, security agencies under the Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security and media executives.

    The report said: “During this review, many stakeholders repeatedly sought explanation for the technical glitch that affected the upload of the 2023 Presidential election results. During the review, details of the problem were provided by INEC’s technical experts.

    “In a nutshell, the challenge of uploading the PU presidential election results on the IReV after the presidential and National Assembly elections on February 25 of 2023 was unique.”

    Giving an insight into the problem which appeared to have cast some doubt on the credibility of the election, the report said: “As voting ended across the country and POs began the process of uploading the images of the PU result sheets of the elections for the various constituencies around 4pm, the commission began to receive reports that the upload of presidential election result sheets was failing.

    “Following these reports, the commission immediately engaged with its field officials for details to understand and trace the origin, source, scale and magnitude of the problem across the result management ecosystem to devise appropriate solutions.

    “In the troubleshooting process, it was established that there was no issue in uploading the PU result sheets of the Senate and House of Representatives elections through the Election Result Modules. However, there was a problem with uploading the presidential election results to the system.

    “Attempts to upload the results were generating internal server errors, which refer to a significant impairment that usually originate from within an application due to problems relating to configuration, permissions, or failure to create or access application resources correctly.

    “Further interrogation of the Election Result Modules indicated that the system is encountering an unexpected configuration problem in mapping the presidential election results uploaded into the system to the participating PUs.

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    “Due to the complex, sensitive and critical nature of the systems and the real potential for malicious cyber-attacks, the commission immediately put in place several strict security and audit control measures to prevent any unfettered or elevated access to the Result Upload System.”

    The report, copies of which have been made available to the Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters, also revealed that “in the process of resolving the challenge, it was discovered that the backend system of the IReV was able to query and detect the base States for uploading the PU result sheets based on the mapping of all senatorial district and federal constituency elections to the respective 36 states of the Federation and the FCT as established in the database structure deployed within the system.

    “In configuring and mapping the election results for the presidential and National Assembly elections, the commission created 470 election types consisting of one presidential constituency covering the entire country, 109 senatorial districts and 360 federal constituencies.

    “Each senatorial district and federal constituency election on the database was mapped to their respective states. However, the presidential election result is a single, countrywide constituency and therefore, does not belong to any one state.

    “Consequently, while the uploads for the National Assembly elections succeeded as the application was able to identify the respective state and build the folder hierarchy for the results organisation process for the election, attempts to upload the presidential election results sheets, which does not belong to or mapped to any State on the database, failed.

    “Instead, it returned a HTTP server error response. This failure is attributable to the inability of the application to create and build a folder structure to organise the uploaded images of the result sheets of the presidential election.

    “Having identified and established the source of the problem, the commission quickly created and deployed “Hotfixes” which are software updates for fixing a bug or any vulnerability in a system. The deployed hotfixes eventually resolved the HTTP error on the system and the first presidential election result sheet was successfully uploaded at 8.55pm on the 25th February 2023.

    The report also said even after the problem was resolved, the results could not immediately be uploaded due to the large volume of result that has been sent from the polling units and awaiting to be uploaded and also partly because the polling officers had left their station and the BVAS switched off.

    It said: “After the problem with the upload was resolved, the Commission noticed a high volume of uploads on the queue. All results that were scanned but could not be uploaded due to the error were queued waiting to be automatically processed.

    “Due to the large volume and high traffic from the queue, the system was running slower, even though it tried to scale up automatically to handle the unanticipated heavy traffic.

    “While the density of the traffic that slowed the upload was one issue, the requirement that the BVAS devices to be switched on and connected to the internet for the upload of results in the offline queue was another.

    “However, some of the POs had at the time left their PUs, and the devices had either been switched-off, or were out of internet coverage. Switched off devices could not connect and upload the results sheets.

    “It would be recalled that on 4th February 2023, about three weeks to the General Election, the commission conducted a mock exercise to test the transmission of election results from PUs to the IReV. This was a general test that was not specific to any given election.

    “Perhaps had this mock exercise been tailored to specific elections, the hitch that was experienced in uploading Presidential election results would have been detected on time.

    “Consequently, a major lesson for the Commission is that in addition to other technical and administrative preconditions, time is critical to the deployment of election technology. Adequate time to develop, test, embed and publicise the technology is essential to its success”.

    On the management of election results, the report said:  “The scanning of the Polling Unit results for display on the IReV drastically curtailed opportunities to manipulate results between the PUs and the collation centres. This is because the public already had records of the results before collation.

    “Furthermore, the use of the Collation Support and Result Verification System (CSRVS), which supports and expedites collation, making for the improved management of election results.

  • INEC plans Diaspora, inmate voting

    INEC plans Diaspora, inmate voting

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is pushing for reforms that would permit voting by Nigerians in the Diaspora and inmates at the correctional centres.

    Also, if the proposals receive the National Assembly’s approval, persons engaged in essential services during elections, including security agents and journalists, would also have opportunities to cast their votes during the general election.

    The Commission also requested the National Assembly to expedite action on passing the law for establishing the Electoral Offences Commission and the Political Party Registration and Regulatory Commission.

    It stated that a separate electoral offences tribunal would lift the burden of investigating and prosecuting electoral offenders from the agency.

    These recommendations are contained in the 75- paged INEC Report on the 2023 General Election prepared by the review committee headed by a National Commissioner, Prof. Rhoda Gumus.

    The report was presented to the Senate and House Committees on Electoral Matters at the weekend by the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.

    According to the report, 75 observations were made during the review with stakeholders, including leaders of political parties, civil society organisations, the media, security agencies and officials of the commission.

    Some of the observations include interference in the electoral process by the political class, the attitude of polling agents and election observers at polling units, the deployment of technology for election, low turn out of voters, and increased involvement of the political class in violence.

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    The report stated: “About 142 actionable recommendations were harvested. Of these, 86 require action solely by INEC, 44 by INEC in collaboration with other entities, three by the security agencies, eight by the National Assembly and one by both the federal and state governments”.

    The report said INEC should collaborate with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), the National Population Commission (NPC) and other agencies of government to identify deceased persons in the voter register and remove them.

    To remove the deceased persons from the register, the report said technology and other administrative procedures would required.

    INEC also stated that the National Assembly should provide clear legal provisions that would foster greater participation by under-represented groups in elective positions, particularly women and people with disability.

    It called for an amendment to the Electoral Act 2022 to make clear provisions for the withdrawal and substitution of candidates such that no party can substitute its candidate two weeks after the publication of the final list of candidates, except in the event of death.

    Also, the commission called for the amendment of the electoral legal framework to remove ambiguities and errors that conflict with Section 65, which enables INEC to review results.

    The report said the law should create a more stable funding for INEC activities in line with Section 3(1) of the Electoral Act .

    It also called for the replacement of Permanent Voters Card with Temporary Voters Card and e-cards to allow for more access to voting by Nigerians.

    The report said the review of Section 47(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 would modify the use of PVC and introduce electronically downloadable voters’ card.

  • INEC plans electoral reform to allow inmates, essential duty workers to vote

    INEC plans electoral reform to allow inmates, essential duty workers to vote

    …seeks diaspora voting, unbundling of INEC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is planning an electoral reform system that would allow individuals engaged in essential services during elections, such as security agents and journalists, as well as inmates in correctional centres, to cast their votes during general elections.

    The Commission is also planning to approach the National Assembly to amend the laws to allow Nigerians in the diaspora and other designated categories of eligible Nigerians to cast their votes during elections.

    In addition, the Commission may also ask the National Assembly to expedite action in passing the law that will unbundle the Commission by creating an Electoral Offences Commission/Tribunal and a political party registration and regulatory commission.

    These form part of the recommendations in the 75-page report on the review of the conduct of the 2023 general election, carried out by its post-election review committee in line with its post-election review policy and headed by one of the National Commissioners, Prof. Rhoda Gumus.

    Copies of the report were presented to the Senate and House Committees on Electoral Matters on Friday by the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.

    The report stated that 75 consolidated observations were made during the review meeting with stakeholders, which included leaders of political parties, civil society organisations, the media, security agencies, and officials of the Commission.

    Some of the observations included interference in the electoral process by the political class, the attitude of polling agents and election observers at polling units, sustaining the deployment of technology for election purposes, low turnout during claims and objections before the certification of the voters’ registers, and increased involvement of the political class in political violence, among others.

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    It stated: “About 142 actionable recommendations were harvested. Of these, 86 required action solely by INEC, 44 by INEC in collaboration with other entities, 3 by the security agencies, 8 by the National Assembly, and 1 by both the federal and state governments.”

    The report suggested that INEC should collaborate with the National Identity Management Commission and the National Population Commission, as well as other government agencies, to identify deceased persons in the voter register and remove them, while also deploying relevant technologies and reviewing administrative procedures and protocols for the removal of deceased persons from the voter register.

    While the Commission should continue to work with political parties for greater participation of underrepresented groups in elective positions, it stated that the only way to achieve this was for the National Assembly to make clear legal provisions that could create designated constituencies for such groups, especially women and persons with disabilities.

    The report also urged the National Assembly to expedite action in passing the law that will create an Electoral Offences Commission that will take on the burden of investigating and prosecuting electoral offenders.

    Concerned about the activities of political parties in delaying preparations for elections, the report recommends an amendment to the Electoral Act 2022 to make clear provisions for the period for withdrawal and substitution of candidates, such that no party can substitute its candidate two weeks after the publication of the final list of candidates, except in the event of death.

    Also, the report calls for an amendment to the electoral legal framework to address ambiguities and errors in sections of the law, especially those that tend to conflict with each other, while clarifying section 65 which speaks to the Commission’s powers to review results.

    It also desires the law to create a more stable funding regime in line with Section 3(1) of the Electoral Act and the replacement of the Permanent Voters Card with Temporary Voters Cards and e-cards to allow for more access to voting by Nigerians.

    In the alternative, the report stated that there is a need to review the provisions of section 47(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 to modify the requirement for the use of PVC and introduce electronically downloadable voter cards.

  • INEC seeks stakeholders’ engagement to reduce costs of election

    INEC seeks stakeholders’ engagement to reduce costs of election

    Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu has decried the high cost of conducting elections in the country, saying the time has come when the nation must have a narrative on how to reduce the cost. 

     Prof. Yakubu also said that despite the commission being a creation of the constitution just like state Independent Electoral Commissions, INEC is carrying out both national and state electoral activities funded exclusively by the federal government.

    He said the commission conducts the Presidential and National Assembly elections  which are strictly federal in nature in addition  to governorship and state assembly elections as well as elections in the six area councils in the FCT.

     These activities, he said, are funded by the federal government, while the states contribute nothing to the electoral process and suggested that a percentage of funds from the federations account be reserved for electoral activities so that all stakeholders would be seen to be contributing to funding the elections.

     Speaking when he appeared before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Electoral Matters, Prof Yakubu said the nation no longer has an electoral cycle as elections are now conducted all year round.

     He disclosed that before the midterm of the current government, the commission is already saddled with the conduct of 21 bye elections, nine of which have been conducted, while 12 others are still pending.

     He listed the outstanding bye elections to include Anambra South Senatorial district left vacant as a result of the death of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, Edo Central Senatorial district left vacant as a result of the resignation of the current Edo State governor, Monday Okpebholo and Ovia Federal constituency of Edo state left vacant as a result of the resignation of the current Edo state Deputy Governor, Denis Idahosa.

     Others are Ibadan North federal constituency, Oyo State, Chikun/Kajuru federal constituency of Kaduna State and Garki/Babura federal constituency of Jigawa State all left vacant as a result of the death of the members.

     The INEC boss suggested that the nation must find a way of dealing with issues of bye elections as a way of reducing the cost of conducting elections on the part of the commission.

     He suggested that stakeholders should find a way of ensuring that when a legislator dies, his political party be made to nominate his replacement probably by presenting the person that came second during the party primary.

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     He said in the United States of America, the governor of the state where such a lawmaker dies nominates a candidate to complete the tenure.

     He argued that while INEC has already conducted nine bye elections, with 12 more to follow, Ghana has conducted only three bye elections in four years.

     He, however, gave a hint that paucity of funds could be responsible for the delay in conducting the bye elections even though the tenure of lawmakers is tied to a particular assembly.

     Drawing attention to what looks like the frustration of the commission in conducting bye elections, he disclosed that in a particular state, the commission had to conduct bye election several times instead of once.

    “We went to conduct a Senatorial bye election. When we returned from that, we had to go back because a member of the House of Representatives resigned to contest that election. So, we had to go back. When we concluded that election, we discovered that a member of the state assembly resigned to contest that seat and so, we had to go back to conduct another bye election.

    “So, what we did when we had to conduct bye elections in Ebonyi and Yobe states last year was to appeal to the political parties to nominate fresh candidates and that was what they did.

     “We know there are existing vacancies in the Senate and some members of the House may already be eying those seats.”

  • INEC seeks stakeholders engagement to reduce electoral costs

    INEC seeks stakeholders engagement to reduce electoral costs

    Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has decried the high cost of conducting elections in the country, saying the time has come when the nation must have a narrative on how to reduce the cost. 

    Yakubu also said that despite the Commission being a creation of the Constitution just like state Independent Electoral Commissions, INEC is carrying out national and state electoral activities and funded exclusively by the Federal Government. 

    He said the commission conducts the Presidential and National Assembly elections  which are strictly federal in nature in addition  to governorship and State Assembly elections as well as elections in the six area councils in the FCT. 

    These activities, he said, are funded by the Federal Government, while the states contribute nothing to the electoral process. 

    He suggested that a percentage of funds from the federations account be reserved for electoral activities so that all stakeholders would been seen to be contributing to funding the elections. 

    Speaking when he appeared before the National Assembly joint Committee on Electoral Matters, Yakubu said the nation no longer has an electoral cycle. 

    He disclosed that before the mid term of the current government, the commission is already saddled with the conduct of 21 bye elections, nine of which has been conducted while 12 others are still pending. 

    He listed the outstanding bye elections to include Anambra South Senatorial district left vacant as a result of the death of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah; Edo Central Senatorial district left vacant as a result of the resignation of Edo Governor, Monday Okpebholo and Ovia Federal constituency of Edo state left vacant as a result of the resignation of Edo Deputy Governor, Denis Idahosa.

    Others are Ibadan North federal constituency of Oyo state, Chikun/Kajuru federal constituency of Kaduna state and Garki/Babura federal constituency of Jigawa state all left vacant as a result of the death of the members. 

    Also, there are two Assembly seats in Kaduna state left vacant as a result of resignation, one in Adamawa, Niger, Kano and Rivers all left vacant as a result of death. The INEC boss suggested that the nation must find a way of dealing with of issues of bye election as a way of reducing the cost of conducting elections on the part of the commission. 

    He suggested that stakeholders should find a way of ensuring that when a legislator dies, his political party be made to nominate his replacement probably by presenting the person that came second during the party primary. 

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    He said in the United States of America, the Governor of the state where such a lawmaker dies nominate a candidate to complete the tenure. 

    He argued that while INEC has already conducted nine bye elections, with 12 more to follow, Ghana has conducted only three bye elections in four years. 

    He however gave a hint that paucity of funds could be responsible for the delay in conducting the bye elections even though the tenure of lawmakers is tied to a particular assembly

    Drawing attention to what looks like the frustration of the commission in conducting bye elections, he disclosed that in a particular state, the commission had to conduct bye election several times instead of once. 

  • INEC to NASS: We need N126b for 2026 activities

    INEC to NASS: We need N126b for 2026 activities

    • Says N40 billion allocation grossly inadequate

    Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu yesterday said the Commission would require about N126 billion to finance its activities in 2025 and begin preparation for the 2027 general elections.

    Speaking while defending the 2025 budget proposal of the Commission before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Electoral Matters, Prof. Mahmood said the N40 billion being proposed for the Commission in the 2025 budget presented to the National Assembly by the President will be enough to cover its activities, including salaries and allowances for the year in view of the recent increase in minimum wage.

    He explained that in 2024, the commission was also allocated the same N40 billion which only covered salaries and some social contributions such as NHIS contributions, pension, ITF among others, saying “we complained about the allocations and you asked what we thought would be adequate. We made a proposal of N80 billion then. We are aware that you made efforts to ensure an increase, but that did not work.

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    “On our part, we made efforts and approached the Executive for more funds and we were able to get about N10.5 billion from the Executive to take care of the Edo and Ondo governorship elections. That was why we were able to conduct those elections and come out successful.”

    The INEC boss said the year 2025 is a very critical year for the Commission, saying “we have the Anambra governorship election coming up later in the year. Provision for preparation for that election is not in the budget. We must prepare for the conduct of the Area Council elections scheduled for February 2026 and the budget for that election is not in this budget. We must monitor party primaries for these elections, including the conduct of bye elections and the budget for that is not in the current budget.

    “Also, we must begin preparation for the 2027 general elections this year. We have not commenced the Continuous Voter Registration exercise because of lack of money. We have to start this year and end it in 2026. We must also begin redistribution of voters to polling units from those that are overpopulated. All these activities cost money and that has not been considered in this budget.”

    Prof. Yakubu also said that the Commission has about 11 bye elections to be conduct this year both in the National and State Houses of Assembly as a result of death and resignation, saying the Commission had been able to secure about N500 million from the government for that purpose, adding that the money will, however, not be enough to cover the cost of the elections.

    He regretted that the Commission is still being allocated N40 billion without consideration of the increase in minimum wage, saying the Commission currently has one of the largest workforce in the country with over 14,700 staff outside the political appointees in the commission.

     He said the political appointees in the commission include the Chairman and 12 National Commissioners, 37 Resident Electoral Commissioners, their aides who draw salaries and allowances from the funds of the commission.

    He also said that the Commission has over 850 buildings across the country in dire need of renovation as well as offices in the 8809 wards, 774 local government, 37 state offices as well as the national headquarters and various stores which has to be taken care of from the budget.

    The INEC Chairman also disclosed that the Commission plans to replace some of its items such as BVAS machines, voting cubicles and other materials, adding that between the conduct of the 2023 general election and now, the commission has lost about 440 BVAS machines, but was quick to add that the Commission has, however, collected insurance premium of about N205 million for the damaged BVAS.

    He said “that money was not paid directly to the Commission. It was paid directly to government coffers”.

    Reacting to the presentation by the INEC Chairman, Senator Ireti Kingible said the National Assembly must look for ways to get enough funding for the Commission if it must discharge its responsibility diligently and save the nation’s democracy.

    She said “INEC has to be independent and whatever we have to do to get funding for the commission must be done. It is not whether the commission will get the money. It has to get the money needed”.

    The budget defence later went into an executive session between the joint Committee and the INEC Chairman with about seven of his national commissioners and directors in attendance.