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Tag: Jega

  • APC: INEC has not registered new party –Jega

    APC: INEC has not registered new party –Jega

    • Says commission will follow the rules
    • Dismisses electronic voting for 2015

     

    The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega said yesterday that the commission will adhere strictly to the rules in processing the applications for the registration of the All Progressive Congress and the African Peoples Congress.

    Both parties are keen on having the acronym APC.

    The All Progressive Congress is a fusion of the ACN, CPC and ANPP. It has accused the other APC of working for the ruling PDP with a view to thwarting the merger of the three parties.

    Professor Jega, speaking on a Radio Nigeria, Kaduna, Hausa programme Hanu Dayawa yesterday said “we have not even got to that stage (registration) now.”

    He said: “This issue has generated a lot of controversy in the last few weeks, but the truth is that no political party wrote to notify us that it was planning to merge with some other political parties until about five days or so ago.

    “Therefore, it is not true that we were notified. The issue became serious when one group came out to seek registration and I guess that was what made them to write and notify us. But that is not the issue. The main issue is that there are guidelines for registered political parties which want to merge to become a new party. There are also guidelines for individuals or groups who want to form a political party for registration.

    “The guidelines for registering a new political party are different from those for registered political parties wishing to merge. For registered political parties that want to merge, they must have agreed to merge and each of the political parties in the merger must hold a convention and agree to withdraw its registration as a political party to become part of the new party to be formed through the merger.

    “After their conventions, they are expected to write and request INEC to withdraw their former registration and say they want to join a new party. In spite of all the controversy, none of these political parties wishing to merge has held its convention.

    “We only read in the newspapers that they have the intention of merging and nobody wrote us until about five or six days ago. If anybody wants to register a political party, you are expected to tell INEC of your intention by saying that you want to register a party with so and so name and you want to know the procedure for doing so.

    “Only one group came. The group asked one lawyer to write INEC saying they want to form a political party with a particular name and they want to know the rules and procedures for registration as a political party.

    “If the other group had done so, we would have replied and told them the rules and the procedure they are supposed to follow to be registered. So, the issue of whether we have collected the name of this other group and whether we have agreed to register it does not even arise because we just replied to their letter by telling them the procedure.

    “While this was going on, some people started making noise saying that they wanted to merge with so, so name. Some of them were even saying that we have registered the other group with that name. It is not done like that.

    “People are just making noise over the name which is in the market while we have not even got to that stage. While all these noise was going on, another group came up seeking registration with the same acronym.

    “We have rules and guidelines for all this and we are determined to follow the rules to avoid any confusion. But we have not reached the stage where we can say a group has been registered with so, so name. So all this noise is just part of our politics in Nigeria.

    “After we explained this to them, they wrote back insisting that they should follow the guidelines. But we have not screened them yet because the procedure is step by step. Except INEC comes out to announce that it has registered so and so party, all this bickering is unnecessary.

    “If you want to register a company, before the company is registered, you will have to apply for a name which the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) will take some time to search. We don’t operate like this in INEC, but because of this controversy, we have learnt a lesson. I think at the end of the day, we will also adopt the same system to avoid this problem.”

    Prof. Jega also dismissed the possibility of using electronic voting system for the 2015 general election saying “the constitution has prohibited electronic voting. We have never said we will conduct electronic voting. What we said we will do is to use technology to improve on the registration of voters and improve on the electoral process”.

    He added that the commission is doing its best to ensure that the 2015 elections will be more credible than that of 2011, adding that “we have been working hard towards this. We have reviewed the past and we are looking at what we can do to improve on our performances.

    “Our challenges are an accumulation of problems over the years and we came within eight months and there was no how we could have overcome the rot that happened for over 20 years back. But we did our best without fear or favour. We have been transparent.

    “I can swear that I have been transparent and truthful. I have never tolerated unholy attitude that came to my knowledge. If there too much destruction, it takes time to repair and make things work and for people to appreciate the repairs. We have been tying.”

  • INEC undergoing re-organisation – Jega

    INEC undergoing re-organisation – Jega

    The Independent National Electoral Commission is undergoing re-organisation, re-structuring and widening the scope of its electoral institute, its chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, has said.

    At the opening of a three-day workshop on “Managing the Media for Successful Electoral Process,’’ organised by the News Agency of Nigeria, in Makurdi on Wednesday, he explained that the exercise was meant to elicit maximum performance from staff.

    Jega, who was represented by the Administrative Secretary of INEC in Benue, Mr. Bamidele Oladipo, said: “The exercise is informed by the need to get the best out of the staff and it is not a witch hunt, nor is it intended to stultify morale.’’

    On the Electoral Institute, he said: “Our desire is that the institute should research into electoral matters and serve the commission and State Independent Electoral Commissions in West African region.’’

    “In furtherance of this effort, the position of Director-General and Directors have been advertised,’’ NAN quoted the INEC chairman as saying at the forum.

    He explained that promotion of staff to directorate cadre would be released as soon as the restructuring was completed.

    In her remarks, the Managing Director of NAN, Mrs. Oluremi Oyo, explained that the agency had continuously collaborated with INEC in capacity building and wished that the relationship would be sustained.

    Oyo, who was represented by the Executive Director (Marketing), Mr. Jide Adebayo, said NAN and INEC play pivotal role in the transformation process in the country.

    She explained that NAN would remain committed to the “philosophy of improving capacity’’, especially in the media and public relations and would continue to strive to impact positively on the nation.

     

  • Staggered elections not ideal for Nigeria – Jega

    Staggered elections not ideal for Nigeria – Jega

    The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, on Wednesday maintained that staggered elections are not the best for Nigeria, saying that the series of staggered elections in the country resulted from court judgments which affected tenures of some governors.

    Speaking in Abuja at a one day Workshop for Accredited Observer Groups organized by Election Monitoring and Observation Unit of INEC, Jega said that the best option is to have elections in all the states the same day as it is done globally.

    Jega said: “Under normal circumstances, elections should not be staggered. The normal way it is done globally is to have elections the same day. There is staggering of elections in Nigeria because of necessity resulting from court judgments.

    “We should work towards ensuring that our elections are conducted in a free, fair and credible manner.”

    On the plan to flush out bad eggs in INEC, he said: “It is the same set of staff that assisted in the conduct of the 2011 General Election even with all the accusation about INEC Staff before we came on board. It is just the perception. Most of the workers are putting in their best.

    “Of course, there are some bad eggs that would be kicked out as soon as they are found. We have to ensure that nobody does anything wrong and whoever does anything wrong will answer for himself or herself. We have been cleaning the system, but total clean up will take some time,” he added.

     

  • 2015: Jega rules out ballot papers for physically-challenged

    The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof. Attahiru Jega yesterday ruled out the printing of ballot papers with brailles for physically-challenged Nigerians in the 2015 general elections.

    Speaking at the Validation Conference for INEC’s 2012-2016 Strategic Plan in Abuja, Jega, who reiterated his desire to create an enabling environment for stakeholders to partake in the country’s electoral process, said it is no longer possible to produce ballot papers with brailles for physically-challenged persons in the 2015 election.

    But he promised that despite the constraints, INEC would ensure that persons with disabilities participate in the poll.

    He said: “We will strive to meet the need of all stakeholders to make the election environment friendly for stakeholders and participants, especially those with disabilities. There are systemic challenges that are beyond our powers to deal with.

    “We will do everything possible within our limits to improve the electoral environment so that it is friendly to people with disabilities. In the guideline that we issued for the elections since 2011, we have ensured that our workers are well trained to provide assistance to anybody with disability in the polling units.

    “We are aware that most of our polling units are in public places and schools that do not have ramps that can enable the physically-challenged access these polling units. We are constrained in proving ramps in schools and we don’t even have the funding to provide ramps. These are some of the systemic issues.

    “There has to be a national policy so that all public places must have ramps to enable physically-challenged people access facilities. Otherwise, if we expect INEC to provide ramps, it is impossible to do so. We don’t have the resources. We cannot even go to such places to start with. It is also impossible to produce ballot papers with brails in our polling units.

     

  • Jega’s proposal on one-day elections laudable

    Jega’s proposal on one-day elections laudable

    SIR: On reading the headline titled “All elections should hold in one day – Jega” which appeared in The Punch edition of Thursday, December 13, one is bound to give kudos to Prof. Attahiru Jega, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the reason advanced for the suggestion, which is, to forestall high cost of prosecuting staggered elections in Nigeria. However, midway into the report in the newspaper, I was overwhelmed with disappointment on the aspect of the report where he opined that the proposal will not be feasible for the 2015 elections.

    The truth of the matter is that should Prof. Jega want this proposal implemented within six months, Nigerians believe it is a task that he can accomplish. If a referendum is carried out on the acceptability of this proposal, the ayes will surely carry the day judging by the people’s persistent outcry and yearning for bringing down the astronomical costs of conducting staggered elections in the country. In addition, majority, if not all, the registered political parties in Nigeria will unflinchingly support the idea and as expected, any of the political parties that refuses to be on the side of the people will be viewed as an enemy of Nigeria as a nation. The situation where Nigeria, as the giant of Africa, will be portrayed as a country that is unable to find its bearing on issues of national importance should be avoided at all costs as this will not augur well for the good image of the country.

    To bring the idea to fruition, Prof. Jega is advised to send a bill for an amendment to the relevant section of the existing electoral laws for a change in the election time-table, as a matter of urgency, to the National Assembly to pave way for its implementation before the 2015 general elections. The National Assembly in turn should organize public hearings to determine the acceptability or otherwise of the laudable idea, moreover, when the people have continued to express their disappointment over high costs in running democracy in the country.

    The professor’s prescription for pruning the number of political parties in Nigeria to two as reported in The Punch of Friday, December 14, is another good idea which will no doubt also enjoy the full support of the people. It would be recalled that the fairest and freest election so far held in the history of Nigeria was recorded under a two-party system in 1993 when the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the National Republican Convention (NRC) were the only two political parties that slugged it out in that year’s election with adoption of the Option A4 system.

    Adoption of a two-party system in Nigeria for future elections will not only lead to political and economic cohesion, but will also bring down drastically the associated costs that usually arise under a multi-party system as is the case today in our country. At the end of the day, money politics will not only be played down, but the high and rising costs of running democracy in the country will be drastically reduced.

    • Odunayo Joseph

    Iju, Lagos State

  • INEC prosecutes 200 electoral offenders — Jega

    INEC prosecutes 200 electoral offenders — Jega

    Prof. Attahiru Jega, INEC Chairman, said on Wednesday in Abuja that the commission had successfully prosecuted 200 of the 870,000 electoral offenders.

    He said at the INEC/civil society dialogue on plans and progress toward the 2015 elections, that the prosecution was over offences arising from the 2011 voter registration and general elections.

    Jega said the prosecution had been “a big problem’’ because of paucity of fund and manpower.

    “In actual fact some of those apprehended have been prosecuted and convicted but the number is just too small compared to those remaining.

    “A youth copper was also prosecuted and sentenced in Ondo for electoral manipulation.”

    He said the police was in charge of prosecuting offenders until it was handed over to INEC, adding that the task was beyond the capacity of INEC and should not be left with the commission.

    He said if INEC was saddled with the responsibility of prosecuting electoral offenders its major mandate would suffer because the quantum of offenders would be too much for the commission.

    Jega called on government to work on the “Uwais panel report, on electoral reform, that recommended that a separate body should be set up to handle electoral offences”. (NAN)

  • Name parties that offered bribes to INEC, PDP tells Jega

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has challenged the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, to name the political parties that bribed INEC officials to influence election results in their favour.

    Jega had accused political parties of bribing INEC officials to influence results at elections.

    In a statement yesterday by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, the party said INEC officials cannot afford to influence election results under President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Metuh made allusions to the governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states, which he described as transparent, free and fair.

    He said: “We heard that the INEC chairman said some political parties bribed INEC officials to help rig or influence elections. Our response is that he should be honourable enough to mention the names of the political parties.

    “Under the circumstances of transparent and fair poll, INEC officials can no longer rig or influence elections. This is evident from the free and fair elections in Edo and Ondo states. So, the INEC chairman should mention the names of the political parties that offered bribes to influence election results.”

  • How parties sabotage electoral process, by Jega

    How parties sabotage electoral process, by Jega

    Political parties sabotage electoral process through their activities, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chair Prof. Attahiru Jega alleged yesterday.

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said some political parties operate without manifestos.

    The duo spoke at the workshop organised by the National Institute for Legislative Studies in Abuja.

    Senate President David Mark and Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu underscored the need for discipline in political parties.

    The former President noted that without discipline, no political party can endure.

    He stressed the need for the electorate to hold political office holders accountable to their party manifestos.

    Obasanjo regretted that political parties have reduced party manifestos to “mere instruments for political campaign”.

    He added that most political parties throw away their manifestos shortly after being voted into office.

    He said: “I want to say that there are some areas where political parties need improvement. One of them is on the issue of manifestoes. What I have come to see and understand in Nigeria is that manifestoes are prepared for campaigns and afterwards, they are thrown away.

    “How then can we hold parties and their elected leaders to their promises and manifestoes? Or if they have no manifestoes, what do we hold them to?”

    Jega, in a paper on “Party Politics and elections in Nigeria”, said: “There is exhibition of corruption and corrupt tendencies deliberately exhibited by the political parties. Electoral officials are usually blamed for declaring false electoral results but, in most cases this happen, it is because of tremendous inducement and pressure from political parties and from candidates. It’s incredible the amount of money that is budgeted. Political parties budget fund in terms of the amount to be given to security agencies, INEC or electoral officials, litigations and so on. Really, this is a very serious challenge in terms of the future deepening of democracy in our country. Of course, people can resist it and when people resist it, some other tendencies come on. We have to curb this exhibition of corrupt practices in our electoral process”.

    He added that political parties exhibit poor organisation and mobilisation very clearly and it is no longer important to go out and sweat in terms of mobilising people for party programmes and certainly little action goes into what is prepared in the manifestoes.

    According to him, intolerance and insensitivity generally characterised not only inter party relations but also intra party relations.

    “By the time we moved into the new dispensation from 1999 onward, virtually every party, no matter big or small, had a youth wing, an armed wing and many people specialised in terms of the role that they play in providing arms or whatever for aggressive engagement and competition in politics. Virtually every party wants one way or the other to cut corners when it comes to party nominations. When it comes to party nomination, for example, we have seen how parties will put aside the provisions of their own constitutions, will actually substitute names without reference to democratic procedures. Section 31 of the electoral laws has a clause which says that the names of candidates submitted for any election cannot be changed, for whatever reason. The same section also defines the procedure by which candidates can also emerge from the party.”

    Mark urged the panelists to direct their ingenuity on how to solve indiscipline, lack of cohesion, ideology drought and absence of internal democracy and transparency in political parties.

    He added that a deep reflection should as well be given to the malady of intra and inter-party squabbles.

    According to him, to effectively address the issues is to establish a definitive roadmap on how to consolidate and sustain the gains of democracy.

    The Senate President noted that intra party squabbles arise mainly because political party affiliation is rarely anchored on ideology or any uniting and defined philosophy, but rather largely on crass opportunism.

    This, he said, undermines the capacity of the political party to govern effectively, even after gaining political power.

    He said: “The internal contradictions sired by the coming together of strange bedfellows breed convulsions, strife and upheavals which hamper the machinery of governance.

    “In the most extreme of cases, as we had in the First and Second Republics , intra party squabbles combined with inter-party conflicts to scuttle the democratic experiment.

    “Two vivid examples are the events leading to both the January 15, 1966 coup, and that of December, 1983.”

    Mark insisted that modern representative democracy requires viable, ideology based political parties capable of providing clear policy options as evidence of a demonstrable capacity to govern.

    He said: “Political parties ought not to be corrupt self-centered organisations dominated by power hungry elite who serve only their own interests, and those of their cronies. Political parties must serve the interest of the ordinary citizen.

    “A political party must clearly stand for something.

    “In our fragile democracy in which destabilising demons have suddenly found their voices and have been let loose in the new air of freedom, each political party has a duty to preach restraint, caution and political moderation.”

    The political class, as a whole, he said, has the solemn duty of ensuring that Nigerians develop sustainable confidence in the country’s electoral and justice systems.

    Mark noted that lobbying targeted at legislators is the act of attempting to influence legislation and resolutions made by the parliament.

    To him, it is unfortunate that the term, “lobbying”, has come to acquire a pejorative connotation, despite its many inherent and positive benefits.

     

  • Ondo polls: Activist urges Jega to probe INEC officials

    Ondo polls: Activist urges Jega to probe INEC officials

    Rights activist Morakinyo Ogele yesterday urged the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, to set up a committee to probe the activities of the officials who supervised the October 20 governorship election in Ondo State.

    Ogele alleged that ballot papers were found in the custody of some politicians before the election.

    He said this led to the arrest of 15 people at the home of a political leader a day before the poll.

    Speaking with The Nation in Akure, the state capital, Ogele said the election was the worst in the country’s history.

    He faulted INEC for conducting the poll, despite the pendency in court of a case filed by the candidate of Accord Party, in which INEC was a respondent.

    The activist accused the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Akin Orebiyi, of changing the date of the arrival of sensitive and non-sensitive materials.

    He said despite announcing the materials would arrive in the state two days before the election, they arrived a week to the poll.

    The lawyer said Orebiyi confirmed that there was criminal alliance between some of his workers and a particular party.

    He said: “A week to this election, the REC declared that there was criminal alliance between some of his junior workers and a certain political party to rig the election.

    “He made the declaration when an INEC staff and a Ward Chairman of the Labour Party (LP) in Ondo West Local Government Area were arrested and arraigned for allegedly being in possession of unclaimed voter cards.

    “We have said this on several occasions, that the election cannot be free and fair as a result of organic leakages at the INEC office. The ballot papers were seen all over the place with the people that were hired to thumb print them.

    “Recently, Jega openly admitted in Washington, the United States (US), that there were sundries of irregularities in the conduct of the election. While we were fighting for true democracy, INEC officials in Ondo State were promoting malpractices and rigging in the conduct of election.

    “Again, there was cruel election alliance between INEC and LP. Ikaadi Igbe Ayo were inserted in the voter register and several people could not vote. This election is worse than the one conducted by Mrs. Ayooka Adebayo during the rerun in Ekiti State.”

    Ogele said if INEC’s claim that the election was free and fair was true, five parties would not be challenging the result.

  • Jega to visit Ondo Tuesday

    Jega to visit Ondo Tuesday

    Ahead of the October 20 governorship election in Ondo State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Prof. Attihuru Jega, will arrive the state next Tuesday, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Akin Orebiyi, said yesterday.

    According to him, the INEC chairman is expected to attend a stakeholders’ meeting that will be attended by the 13 governorship candidates.

    Orebiyi, who spoke during a stakeholders’ meeting at the INEC headquarters in Akure, said Prof. Jega is expected to leave the state on Wednesday after the meeting.

    He said: “The INEC Chairman has asked me to commend the political parties that will participate in the election for displaying maturity. He urged them to continue to embrace peace. Jega said he would be in the state next week to meet stakeholders, in order to conduct a free and fair election.”

    The REC said over 1,000 students of the Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo are expected to work as assistant presiding officers during the poll.

    Orebiyi, who highlighted some of the INEC activities towards the preparation for the election, said voting materials would arrive on October 18, adding that party agents are expected to be in attendance.

    He said the electoral body would on that day begin the distribution of the materials to the two riverine local government areas.

    “The election will be a benchmark for future polls in the country. Voting on October 20 must begin at 8am. We will move the election materials to the riverine areas two days to the election so that voting will start at the appropriate time.

    “Party agents are expected to monitor the materials from the INEC office to Igbokoda, headquarters of Ilaje Local Government, where materials for the elections in the two local governments will be kept. They will be kept at the Naval Base Office till Saturday morning. Materials for election in Ese-Odo Local Government will be moved that morning to Igbekebo, the headquarters of the council, which is about 30 minutes to Ilaje.

    “The electoral body will start the distribution of the election materials on the eve of the election day. All the materials must arrive various wards that night so that before 8am on election day, materials must have been at all the units,” Orebiyi said.