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Tag: Inec

  • Breaking: PDP shuns INEC parley with political parties

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) shunned Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) organised parley with political parties.

    There were about 60 political parties l in attendance.

    The parley is meant to review the Conduct of the 2019 general elections.

    Read Also: APC challenges PDP to offer quality opposition

    Otunba Niyi Adebayo represented the All Progressive Congress (APC).

    INEC had announced that it will commence a National dialogue on the last general elections with the aim of improving on the shortcomings identified in the last Feburary and March 2019 polls.

    Details shortly…

  • INEC to review MoU with NYSC 

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday revealed that it is planning to review its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) on the rules regarding the engagement of corps members as electoral ad hoc staff.

    The Director General, The Electoral Institute, Dr. Sa’ad Umar Idris, made this known in Abuja at the Policy Dialogue on “Dynamics of Delegation: Reforms in the Recruitment of Ad-hoc Election Personnel.”

    He said that “we (INEC) are going to review the MoU with the NYSC to ensure that the members on election duties are loyal and can be held accountable and punished for their actions.”

    According to him, the NYSC staff put the reputation of the commission at stake whenever they are on election duty, stressing that obedience to INEC core values, code and conduct is very important.

    He said that the commission has its core value that anybody working for it being him an ad-hoc or permanent worker has to comply with.

    He said that the need to train the ad-hoc staff and expose them to the core value of the commission has become expedient for “them to do things the way INEC does its own things.”

    Read Also:  Ill-treatment of corps members on electoral duty

    Continuing, he said that “when they (youth corps members) are on the field, they are INEC. Are they loyal to the commission? We need to interrogate that.”

    The commission, according to him, is also mulling administrative measures of dealing with malfeasance, especially a mechanism for punishment such as denial of discharge certificate and a repeat of the service year.

    He insisted on the need for reforms of the electoral policies for the improvement of the conduct of elections.

    The Lead Speaker, Prof. Shola Omotola, had observed that the allowances for the ad-hoc staff were grossly inadequate.

    The don mentioned the challenges of insecurity, late mobilization and training of staff as part of the characteristics of the 2019 general elections.

  • INEC to review MoU with NYSC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday revealed it is planning to review its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) on the rules regarding the engagement of corps members as electoral adhoc staff.

    The Director General, The Electoral Institute, Dr. Sa’ad Umar Idris made this known in Abuja at the Policy Dialogue on “Dynamics of Delegation: Reforms In the Recruitment of Ad-hoc Election Personnel.”

    He said: “We (INEC) are going to review the MoU with the NYSC to ensure that the members on election duties are loyal and can be held accountable and punished for their actions.”

    According to him, the NYSC staff put the reputation of the commission at stake whenever they are on election duty, stressing that obedience to INEC core values, code and conduct is very important.

    He said the commission has its core value that anybody working for it being him an ad hoc or permanent staff has to comply with.

    Read Also: 2019 Elections: INEC promises automatic employment to ad-hoc NYSC members

    He said that the need to train the ad hoc staff and expose them to the core value of the commission has come expedient, for “them to do things the way INEC does its own things.”

    Continuing, he said: “When they (corpers) are on the field they are INEC. Whatever the ad hoc staff does it is INEC. Are they loyal to the commission?

    “We need to interrogate that. We really need to look into the MoU and see are there any mechanism where we can establish the issue of loyalty.

    “Can we make them accountable for their actions? Is there any way we can to something in the MoU where we can ensure that they are loyal and when they go wrong the commission can punish them.

    “There has to be something where we can hold them accountable to their own actions.”

    The commission, according to him, is also mulling administrative measures of dealing with malfeasance, especially a mechanism for punishment such as denial of discharge certificate and a repeat of the service year.

    Saa’d asked the panel: “Is there any way we can get NYSC to sanction them? Maybe in the MoU of getting the NYSC to extend the service year of that corper, that is a deterrent, for instance.

    “We can find a way of getting NYSC to say you repeat your service year or consider you not to have served for that year because you are disgrace to NYSC and disgrace to Nigeria.”

    He insisted on the need for reforms of the electoral policies for the improvement of the conduct of elections.

    The Lead Speaker, Prof. Shola Omotola, had observed that the allowances for the ad hoc staff were grossly inadequate.

    The don also cited the challenges of insecurity, late mobilization and training of staff as part of the characteristics of the 2019 general elections.

  • Much ado about a server

    DID the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) store the results of the February 23 presidential election in a central server? This is the biggest political question in the land today. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, claim that the results were processed through a server. INEC denies the claim. A server is a computer device for storing information, data and related documents.

    The electoral umpire admitted toying with the idea of a server  in order to have a transparent election. But, it added that it could not realise that dream because of President Muhammadu Buhariu’s refusal to sign the Electoral Act, as amended,  by the National Assembly. The All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, President Buhari, have keyed into INEC’s denial in their bid to kill PDP and Atiku’s petition before the election tribunal.

    On Monday, the tribunal refused PDP and Atiku’s request to access the ‘INEC server’. According to the tribunal, it could not allow Atiku to access a server which INEC says does not exist. That, political watchers thought, should have ended  the matter. No, it did not. The matter is growing by the day. Barely 24 hours after the ruling, against which Atiku has served a notice of appeal, others not involved in the legal battle have joined the fray.

    Though they did not bring an application to be joined as necessary parties, they are waging their own war in the court of public opinion. At a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday, 60 of the 73 parties that took part in the election claimed that INEC told them before the poll that results would not be electronically transmitted, meaning, according to them that  no server would be used. How did the server issue come about? Long before the presidential poll, INEC, in its desire to ensure free and fair elections, experimented with a server in Anambra, Ondo, Ekiti and Osun states.

    The National Assembly had not amended the electoral law when governorship elections took place in those states. So, it was safe to use a server in those places then without any one raising any legal issue after the elections. The commission planned to do same with the presidential election, but the President declined to sign the Electoral Act. This is the genesis of the server story. If indeed INEC told the parties that it would not use a server for the presidential poll, why then are some of its officials claiming that it did?

    Are these officials acting a script? Where did Atiku get the information that a server was used? How did INEC process results nationwide, if it did not use a server? Could it have concluded the election at the time it did If the results were manually processed? Or would INEC have finished the exercise earlier if the results were electronically collated? Why are the 60 parties joining the fray at this point? What informed their stand? To spoil the chances of one of the parties at the tribunal or what?

    Atiku is not taking things lying low. Even though he has gone on appeal, he is fighting on all fronts. In a statement on Tuesday, he threw more light on the tribunal’s ruling, explaining that it did not reject his request to access ‘INEC server’. The tribunal, he said, merely noted that the matter was still at its preliminary stage where such a request could not be looked into. That is neither here nor there. The tribunal rejected the request at this stage to enable it take a closer look at the opposing parties’ positions on the matter when the main hearing begins.

    The parties have joined issues. PDP and Atiku say there is a server, INEC, APC and Buhari contend that there is no server. It is now left for the tribunal to do justice by looking at their pleadings during the hearing of the substantive matter. How will it go? What will the Supreme Court say on the PDP, Atiku appeal? Will it agree with Atiku that the tribunal’s ruling amounts to ‘’tying your hands behind your back and expecting you to fight’’.

    Or will it concur with the President that granting Atiku’s request “would have amounted to the determination that the server indeed existed even when its existence is being contested”. Whichever way it goes, the existence or otherwise of this server will go a long way in determining the outcome of the PDP, Atiku petition.

     

    Buratai’s cracker

    THE statement made headline news. It is rare for generals to run down their men. But when they do, the damage is unquantifiable. Most times, they do not know this until they see it in print.

    Army chief Lt Gen Tukur Buratai was said to have touched on vital military matters, especially the conduct of troops in the ongoing war against insurgency, at the opening of a training workshop for middle cadre officers and soldiers on June 18.

    On Monday, he denied ever saying soldiers lacked commitment in the war against Boko Haram. Then, what did he say? Will he do the media the favour of availing us the unedited text of his speech on that occasion? Somewhere in that speech is the truth and that is what will clear the air on whether or not he was quoted out of context.

     

    A big boy’s roadshow

    IN these days of social media, events are reported at the speed of light. God save the traditional media from the shenanigan of their more daring Internet counterpart. For the social media, there is nothing like playing by the rules. They do not have the time to crosscheck a story before running it. Once they see it, they rush to post it on their platforms. With the social media, bringing everything to the open first and fast, whether true or not, is the byword. There are no secrets; what you want to keep secret you do behind close doors where you make sure there are no cameras or any other hidden gadgets that can be used to capture whatever you are doing. On Monday, the social media was abuzz with the story of a man that caused a stir on Benin – Ore Road. He was said to be in a gridlock that stretched the length of the road. Traffic was at a standstill. And what did our guy do? He reportedly sent for a chopper! Other motorists were awestruck as they saw the helicopter hovering above them looking for where to land.
    In no time, his men were all over the place, clearing the gridlock to create space for the chopper to land. As soon as the chopper landed, it picked the money man and off it went, with the crowd of onlookers cheering and snapping pictures with their phones. Did that incident really happen? Did the billionaire call for the chopper to lift him out of that traffic mess? Or was it the medical evacuation of his loved one as another post said? Who is this man that has kept many trolling on the social media for days? There is the picture of one Osula trending along with the story on the social media. Is that really the guy?

  • INEC has powers to deal with proliferation of parties, says Ekweremadu

    Former Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu on Tuesday said the constitution amendments carried out by the Eighth National Assembly addressed the problem of proliferation of political parties in the country.

    Ekweremadu, who chaired the Senate Committee on Constitution review for 12 years, expressed surprise at a statement credited to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Commissioner in charge of Nasarawa, Kogi, and Kwara states, Muhammed Haruna, that the electoral umpire lacked the powers to de-register political parties without further constitution amendments.

    The Enugu West lawmaker said all INEC needed to do was to look at the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Fourth Alteration, No. 9) Act published in Official Gazette No. 77 Vol. 105 to be well guided.

    Writing on his Facebook handle @iamekweremadu, he said: “INEC has a germane point because the size of our political parties constitute logistical challenge to the election management body. More electorate now find it difficult to identify the logos of their preferred political parties. The ballots and result sheets are getting too long and unwieldy.  It also has cost and time implications on elections.

    Read Also: Presidency, PDP differ on parties’ position on INEC server

    “However, I believe INEC’s concern has already been substantially addressed by the 1999 Constitution as amended by the Eighth National Assembly and assented by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    “We inserted a new Section 225A, which provides that the INEC shall have power to de-register political parties for breach of any of the requirements for registration and failure to win at least 25 percent of votes cast in one state of the federation in a presidential election or 25 per cent of votes cast in at least one local government in a governorship election.

    “It further empowers INEC to de-register any party that fails to win at least one ward in the chairmanship election or one seat in the National Assembly or State House of Assembly election or one seat in the councillorship election.

    “What it means is that a political party may continue to exist. But once it appears on the ballot, it becomes compulsory for it to meet certain benchmarks to continue to exist.

    “So, it is incumbent on INEC to filter out and de-register those political parties that appeared on the presidential election ballot, but did not garner at least 25 per cent of votes in at least one state of the federation. It should also look at parties that contested election in the states and de-register those political parties that did not poll up to 25 per cent of votes in at least one local government area in those states they contested election.’’

  • Ogun governorship: Tribunal dismisses Labour Party’s petition

    The Ogun State Governorship Election Tribunal sitting in Abeokuta, on Friday, struck out the petition by the Labour Party (LP) challenging the victory of Governor Dapo Abiodun.

    The Labour party had gone to the tribunal to challenge the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for alleged unlawful exclusion of the party’s candidate from contesting during the last governorship election in the state.

    The tribunal also awarded a N500,000 compensatory fine against the Labour Party, to be paid to Governor Abiodun. The tribunal predicated its judgement on the absence of the petitioner in court and neither was it represented by any counsel.

    Reacting to the news, Governor Abiodun, declared: ”The people spoke with their votes on March 9 and today the tribunal confirmed it. That is democracy at work. So, I believe that puts an end to the petition and we pray that the petition will rest in perfect peace. Now, we expect all political parties and other purpose-driven stakeholders to join hands with us to build our future together.”

    Speaking with newsmen after the judgement, Prof. Taiwo Osipitan (SAN), the lead counsel to Governor Abiodun, said the petitioner had based “their argument for nonappearance on a letter written to the Court of Appeal asking for the case to be transferred, which was rejected by the Tribunal.”

    Osipitan had prayed the court to dismiss the petition due to the absence of the petitioner as enshrined in the nation’s law, that, when a petitioner and his counsel fail to appear in court, such a petition should be dismissed, which was later agreed upon by the tribunal.

    Read Also: Ogun: Tribunal directs INEC to grant Akinlade, APM access to election materials

    He said: “We joined issues with them, that, they have no candidates, so to say, or that the nominations of the candidate were not lawful and, therefore, INEC was right in not listing their candidates for the election. But after we had filed all our papers, today (Friday) was fixed for the hearing, for the case to commence. Neither the petitioner, that is, the candidate of the party, nor their counsel was in court.

    ”They predicated their absence on a letter they wrote to the president of the court of appeal, asking for the case to be transferred. We felt that is not a reason why they should not be in court at all, that even if they have any issues, they should come to court and say it out loud and clear.

    ”At any rate, we looked at the provisions of the law that say that when a case is fixed for hearing and the petitioner is not in court, then we as respondents are entitled to judgement dismissing the case and once it is dismissed, there is no room for it to be re-listed.

    ”So we invoked that provision and applied to the tribunal that the petition be dismissed for want of diligent persecution because they were absent in court.”

    Meanwhile, the Ogun State Chapter of the APC has described the decision of the state’s Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, dismissing the petition filed by the Labour Party as a welcome development.

    The party’s caretaker committee’s Publicity Secretary, Tunde Oladunjoye, in a press statement, released in Abeokuta, on Friday, described the decision of the tribunal as a “welcome development,” stressing that LP’s inability to prosecute its petition is “not unexpected.”

    ”It is expected because the rag-tag party who could not even fill candidates for half of the elective positions at the last elections, deliberately waited till after the elections to resort to blackmail, arm twisting and other undemocratic tactics. We all know in Ogun State that LP is a shaky platform that springs up in each election year to extort gullible politicians and rabble-rouse.

    ”We commend the courageous decision of the tribunal, which was in tandem with Section 46 (3) of the First Schedule to the provision of Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), which entitled the respondent to final judgement for failure of the petitioner to attend the tribunal for the hearing of the petition,” the party said.

  • INEC didn’t conduct guber poll In many parts of Kaduna North – witnesses tell tribunal

    Twelve witnesses on Wednesday told the Kaduna State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Kaduna that the March 9 governorship elections did not hold in many polling units of Kaduna North Local Government Area of the state.
    The witnesses, who testified on behalf of the petitioners, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Hon. Isa Ashiru, also said phantom votes were added to the declared winner of the governorship elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Polling units where elections were held.
    They also added that elections were disrupted and marred by irregularities in some polling units where the polls were held.
    Recalled that Mr. Zakari Muhammed, the Collation officer for Kaduna North local government in the March 9th, 2019 governorship elections had declared that the Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Malam Nasir el-Rufai polled a total of 97, 243 while his PDP counterpart scored 27, 665.
    But witnesses at the resumed hearing said INEC officials did not show up at many polling units in the local government on March 9th.
    A witness, Mr. Benjamin Augustine who served as an agent of the PDP at Hayin Banki Ward collation centre, said phantom votes were added for the APC based on the purported INEC certified result sheet which was different from the pink copy given to him at the end of the collation exercise.
    He tendered the pink copy given to him by collation officer to the court and it was adopted by the court as an exhibit.
    Another witness, Aliyu Mohammad who served as PDP agent, in polling units 006,  told the Tribunal that “election did not take place in my polling unit, but surprisingly, I was later shown the result of the election purported to have emanated  from INEC without the official stamp.”
    Dan-Auta Mohammed, a witness told the court that elections did not take place at polling Unit 003, adding “I was surprised that INEC announced the result of an election that never took place.”
    Witness Simon Kester, also said, “election did not hold in my polling unit 018, but INEC released a result from that same polling unit which had no stamp or signature  on it.”
    Also, Sani Musa Danburan of polling unit 009 said “as an agent of my party, I can confirm elections did not hold in my polling Unit on March 9.
    “Even the result from INEC didn’t have a stamp of the presiding officer,” he said.
    All the 11 witnesses who served agents of the petitioners In Kaduna North told the tribunal that INEC officials never showed up at their polling units on the March 9th, 2019 governorship elections.
    Meanwhile, the Ibrahim Bako-led Tribunal adjourned to June 20th for continuation of hearing after taken 12 witnesses.
    So far, about 30 witnesses from Zaria and Kaduna North Local Government Areas have testified against the Independent National Electoral Commission.

  • NCAA begins demolition of 8,805 telecom masts

    Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Tuesday said it will commence the immediate demolition of 8,805 telecommunication masts belonging to Globacom Nigeria Limited, banks and other financial institutions.

    Its spokesman, Sam Adurogboye disclosed this in a statement.

    According to the NCAA spokesman, the demolition exercise will also affect some banks and other financial institutions who have discountenanced the Authority’s regulatory requirements on the clearance to erect any high structure within the navigable airspace in Nigeria.

    He said the Regulatory Authority is left with no choice as the 30 – day ultimatum given to those telecommunication service providers has expired.

    He said Prior to the expiration of the ultimatum, letters of reminder were written to all affected organisations to obtain Aviation Height Clearance (AHC) for their masts.

    NCAA, Adurogboye said had earlier warned all Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) providers and telecom operators against violation of safety regulations.

    Read Also: Expert slams NCAA for failure to name sanctioned pilot, airline

    He said a 30-day ultimatum was handed down for compliance.

    Adurogboye said: “This is derived from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (NigCARS) Part 12.1.7.1.3.1 which stipulates that No person or organisation shall put up a structure (permanent or temporary) within the navigable airspace of Nigeria unless such a person or organisation is a holder of Aviation Height Clearance Certificate granted under this regulation.

    He further said:” In line with this, the Regulatory Authority requires an Aviation Height Clearance (AHC) approval for every tower installation in the country irrespective of the height and location.

    It should, therefore, be noted that under the Civil Aviation Act. 2006, section 30(3) (1), the NCAA is empowered to prohibit and regulate the installation of any structure which by virtue of its height or position is considered to endanger the safety of air navigation.

    While some of the providers and operators have since commenced regularisation of their masts, others have failed to do same.”

    The NCAA spokesman listed telecommunication operators which have not regularised their masts to include : Globacom Nigeria 7,012 masts, United Bank of Africa 439 masts, Guaranty Trust Bank 295 masts, Unity Bank 217 masts and Sterling Bank 159 masts.

    Others are Union Bank 92 masts, First City Monument Bank 205 masts, Fidelity Bank 83 masts and Access Bank 303 masts.

  • Osun poll: Oyetola, APC, INEC ask Supreme Court to dismiss Adeleke’s appeals

    Osun State Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have urged the Supreme Court to dismiss the four appeals filed by the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the last governorship election, Senator Ademola Adeleke.

    Adeleke’s four appeals are challenging the May 9, 2019 judgments of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, which affirmed Oyetola’s election as the governor.

    The Court of Appeal also set aside the majority judgment of the election tribunal, which had allowed Adeleke’s petition and declared him the winner of the election.

    On Monday, a seven-man panel of the court, led by the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Muhammad, heard the appeals and chose July 5, 2015, for judgment.

    On Monday, by agreement of lawyers in the appeals, the court took submissions from Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) for the appellant and Wole Olanipekun (SAN) for the 1st respondent (Oyetola) in respect of appeal marked: SC/553/2019.

    The court said its judgment in the main appeal – SC/553/2019 – will be applied to two other similar cases, filed by Adeleke against the Court of Appeal’s decision in relation to the appeals filed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the APC, marked: SC/554/2019 and SC/555/2019.

    The court also took arguments from Ikpeazu (for the appellant), Yusuf Ali (SAN) for INEC; Bode Olanipekun (SAN) for Oyetola and Olumide Olujinmi, for APC in relation to the fourth appeal, marked: SC/556/2019.

    In their arguments, lawyers to the respondents – INEC, Oyetola and the APC – faulted the appeals and prayed the court to dismiss them for lacking in merit.

    The respondents prayed the court to uphold the judgments as given on May 9, 2019, by the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which affirmed Oyetola of the APC as the winner of the governorship election held in September 2018.

    In relation to the first set of appeals – SC/553/2019; SC554/2019 and SC/555/2019, Ikpeazu urged the court to set aside the judgments of the Court of Appeal and restore the majority judgment given in his client’s favour by the election tribunal.

    In a counter-argument, Olanipekun, Ali and Olunijmi faulted the competence of the appeals and urged the court to dismiss them for lacking in merit.

    They prayed the court to uphold the May 9 judgments given in favour of the respondents by the Court of Appeal.

    In arguing the fourth appeal: SC/556/2019, Ikpeazu urged the court to set aside the two concurrent judgments of the election tribunal and the Court of Appeal, in which both courts rejected Adeleke’s request to void the supplementary election held after INEC declared the Osun governorship election inconclusive.

    Ikpeazu said his client’s contention was that INEC lacked the powers to have cancelled elections in some pooling units and order a rerun.

    He argued that the supplementary election was unnecessary because his client had won the election and met the constitutional requirement to be declared the winner.

    Read Also: Osun poll: PDP wants NJC to probe relocation of election tribunal

    Ikpeazu prayed the court to set aside the Paragraph 44 of the INEC’s Guideline on which basis the supplementary election was held, on the grounds that it conflicted with the Constitution.

    Bode Olanipekun (SAN), who argued the fourth appeal for Oyetola, urged the court to disregard Ikpeazu’s contention that the supplementary election was unnecessary.

    He argued that Paragraph 44 of INEC Guidelines was not in conflict with the constitution.

    Oyetola’s counsel noted that  Section 178(4) of the Constitution provides that the entire state is the constituency for a governorship election.

    He argued that “where elections have not held in the entire state, the appellant cannot contend that he won the election, as against the 2nd respondent (Oyetola), who won the election as conducted across the whole of the state”.

    He urged the court to dismiss the appeal for lacking in merit.

    Lawyers to INEC and the APC argued in a similar vein, with Ali (for INEC) arguing that Ikpeazu’s submission on reliefs 8 and 9 of his client (Adeleke’s) petition, overlooked the fact that election tribunals are special tribunals with limited jurisdiction to determine whether somebody was properly returned in an election.

    “The quarrel of the appellant is against concurrent findings of two lowers courts. There is no compelling reason to make this court interfere with the concurrent findings of the two lower courts,” Ali said.

    Olujinmi urged the court to be guided by its earlier decision in the case of Faleke v. INEC 2016 8 NWLR, prt 1543 pg 61, in which this court affirmed the limited scope of the jurisdiction of the election tribunal.

    He noted that even though Adeleke and his party, the PDP, are aware of this court’s decision in that case (Faleke case), but have failed to approach the court for departure on its position on that issue.

    Other members of the panel that heard the appeals are Justices Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, Kumai Aka’ahs, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, Amiru Sanusi, Paul Galunmje and Uwani Abbah-Aji.

  • Why INEC didn’t transmit election results electorincally, by Soyebi

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has explained why the results of the 2019 general elections were not transmitted electronically to its server.

    According to the electoral umpire, the late release of funds to the commission for the polls and controversies over the Electoral Act, among other reasons forced the body to jettison the idea of using the technology to transmit results to the central server.

    INEC National Commissioner Solomon Soyebi gave the explanation during a Post-election Retreat organised by the Commission for members of its staff and ad hoc workers engaged for the last general elections in Osun State.

    He said the commission only experimented the technology during some staggered elections held last year.

    According to Soyebi, the clarification was necessary because of the rising controversies on the transmission of the 2019 presidential election results from states to the INEC server.

    He further explained that many factors forced the commission to drop the idea of electronic transmission of the results to central server.

    Read Also: INEC gets NDI/IRI report on 2019 polls

    Soyebi said that the body INEC experimented the use of electronic transmission of results with Anambra, Sokoto and Osun elections, held before the February and March elections but it did not sustain the use of the technology during general elections.

    He said: “We piloted the use of transmission of election results electronically in Sokoto, in Anambra, even in Osun. What happened was that we were trying to pilot to see the desirability of such technology in our electoral process.

    “First, our budget came out very late, there was also issue of Electoral Act. For these and some other reasons, the Commission did not adopt that option. 2019 elections were conducted according to Law.

    “We used the Constitution of the Federal Republic, we used Electoral Act and our guidelines for 2019 elections. If you look at the three instruments carefully, the issue of server was not highlighted.

    “Once in a while, you will see an experiment going on but we have to pilot it before we will deploy wholesale for election. We did not use it because of the circumstances beyond the control of the Commission.”

    Speaking earlier, Resident Electoral Commissioner for Osun, Segun Agbaje, said that the elections were largely successful despite daunting challenges that characterised its conduct.

    However, he lamented the “do or die” attitude of some politicians, which according to him, involved different illicit practices, including the use of thugs to win elections at all cost, adding that the Commission, in collaboration with security agents in the state drastically reduced the phenomenon during the general elections.