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Tag: Mahmood Yakubu

  • APC Presidential candidate may emerge September 19

    Party accuses INEC of leaking official correspondences

    Barely any last minute changes, the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will be known on 19th September after the presidential primary to elect the candidate either through direct or indirect primary.

    But the APC is accusing the Independent National Electoral Commission of leaking it’s official correspondence to the media, pointing out that the dates on the letter to INEC were not tentative as they will have to be approved by the party NEC first.

    In a letter to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission dated 17th August and received at the commission on the same day, National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole informed the commission that the governorship primaries of the party will be conducted on Monday, 24th September.

    Similarly, the primaries to elect candidates for the House of Representatives will hold September 19, while the primaries for the Senatorial and state Assembly will hold on the 20th and 29th September respectively.

    Oshiomhole said “this serves as a forma, notification pursuant to the provisions of section 85 of the Electoral Acts 2010 as amended.Kindly arrange for your officials to monitor the exercise accordingly”.

    Acting National Publicity Secretary of the party, Yekini Nabena said in a statement that INEC should look into its internal handling of official correspondence and out a stop to the leakages.

    Read Also: APC disowns timetable for primaries

    Nabena said the National Executive Committee of the party need to approve the time table for it became authentic and asked Nigerians and the Media to wait for an official announcement from the party as the leaked dates are subject to changes if necessary.

    Nabena said “our attention has been drawn to a leaked letter the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole wrote to the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu informing the Commission of the schedule of the Congresses and Primaries to elect Party candidates for the 2019 General Elections.

    “These leaks of our sensitive and confidential correspondence to INEC is becoming commonplace and totally unacceptable. We strongly request that INEC looks into its internal handling of official correspondence and put a stop to these leaks.

    “While the leaked formal notification to INEC has been done by the APC pursuant to the provisions of Section 85 of the 2010 Electoral Act (as amended), we advise the general public particularly the media to wait for an official announcement from the Party as the leaked dates are subject to changes, if necessary.”

    It was learnt that the party is planning to hold its NEC meeting on Wednesday, 29th August to approve the party Programme for the 2019 general elections, including whether to use direct or indirect primaries for the selection of it’s candidates as well as fresh membership registration.

     

  • APC accuses INEC of leaking its official correspondences

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of leaking its official correspondences to the public and asked the commission to look into its internal mechanism for handling sensitive meals.

    The Party is not happy with the commission for leaking its letter notifying it of its proposed dates for party primaries in compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act.

    A time table for the primaries was published in a national daily, forcing the party to issue a denial, but a letter signed by the National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole addressed to the INEC Chairman and received in August 17 by the commission surfaced media.

    Reacting to the development, Acting National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena said the National Executive Committee of the party need to approve the time table for it became authentic.

    Read Also: 2019: Group asks NASS to pass INEC budget

    Nabena said “our attention has been drawn to a leaked letter the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole wrote to the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu informing the Commission of the schedule of the Congresses and Primaries to elect Party candidates for the 2019 General Elections.

    “These leaks of our sensitive and confidential correspondence to INEC is becoming commonplace and totally unacceptable. We strongly request that INEC looks into its internal handling of official correspondence and put a stop to these leaks.

    “While the leaked formal notification to INEC has been done by the APC pursuant to the provisions of Section 85 of the 2010 Electoral Act (as amended), we advise the general public particularly the media to wait for an official announcement from the Party as the leaked dates are subject to changes, if necessary.”

  • Furore over INEC’s N198bn election budget proposal

    …As N/A joint committee puts off consideration

    There seems to be no respite yet for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) regarding its N 189.2 billion budget proposal for the 2019 general elections.

    The joint committee of the National Assembly on Friday put on hold further consideration on the proposal as the legislators failed to resolve some grey areas in the proposal.

    At issue was the differences in modalities between the estimates sent to the legislature by President Muhammadu Buhari and the version submitted to the lawmakers by INEC, even though the figures were the same.

    In his letter to the National Assembly, the President had requested that N143 billion be processed for now, while the remaining N45 billion should processed with the 2019 annual budget.

    But in its own proposal, the INEC requested that the N189.2 billion be processed in one fell swoop, a request that raised dissenting voices among the lawmakers.

    Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma who made a presentation to the committee, aligned with the position of INEC.

    Apparently mindful of the delay in the passage of the yearly national budget, Udoma argued that shifting the processing of the N45 billion to the 2019 budget might put INEC in a tight corner.

    For instance, the 2018 budget was passed in May, just as it was in the two preceding years. On the other hand, INEC would have concluded all elections by March 2019.

    The Minister clarified that the N189 billion request, as presented by the President, was to be vired from funds already appropriated for some projects in the 2018 budget.

    He was however, quick to clarify that the such virement would not affect the N100 billion already allocated to constituency projects of National Assembly members.

    But the lawmakers were divided on whether to isolate the N143 billion meant for INEC from the N45 billion meant for the various security agencies for election duties.

    Read Als0: Sowore’s party gets INEC nod

    The affected security agencies include the office of the National Security Adviser, the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Police, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Immigration Service.

    Some of the legislators argued that the processing of the budget proposal for the security agencies was outside the committee’s mandate, opting to refer that aspect to the Security Committee of the two chambers of the legislature.

    But some others canvassed that it should be accommodated in the ongoing process because the N45 billion budget for security was part of election expenses.

    Another area of disagreement was the source of funding for the N189.2 billion with the lawmakers sharply divided over where over the matter.

    In the course of deliberations, some of the committee members said the source of funding should be left to the Appropriation Committee of the National Assembly to decide.

    In his letter to the National Assembly, President Buhari had raised issues about source of funding for the entire election budget, reason why he requested that only N143 billion be processed for now.

    Relying on the President’s position, the lawmakers pointed out that processing the N189 billion at this point would overshoot the 2018 national budget, as passed by the legislature and assented to by the President.

    At every point the chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu was given the opportunity to make his contribution; he kept reeling out the deadline for the first round of elections in the commission’s timetable by counting the days, hours, minutes and seconds.

    At a point, some of the committee members jocularly said they were being intimidated by the INEC chairman’s time count.

    Eventually, the meeting concluded that the committee would limit its consideration to the N143 billion the President tabled before the legislature for immediate action.

    They resolved to commence deliberation on the N45 billion for the security agencies as promptly as the President presents that request to them, even before the end of the year.

    On this note, the chairman of the Senate Committee on INEC, Senator Suleiman Nazif adjourned the session indefinitely.

  • Work begins on N189bn election budget

    As Senate, Reps committees meet INEC boss

    At last, work has begun on the budget of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2019 general elections.

    The chairman of the INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu on Wednesday defended the commission’s N189.2 billion budget at separate sessions with the Senate and House of Representatives committees on INEC.

    Yakubu, who gave a breakdown of the various components of the budget, told the lawmakers that preparations for the poll ought to have started in earnest by August 15 (on Wednesday).

    Documents submitted to the lawmakers by INEC indicated that election operational cost will gulp N134.4bn; election technology -N27.5bn; administrative cost -N22.6bn; and miscellaneous -N4.6bn.

    The INEC chair explained that there were significant increase in the variables and logistics for the 2019 election, compared to the 2019 poll that gulped N120 billion.

    According to him, the commission will be conducting elections with about 91 political parties on the ballot with over 82 million registered voters.

    The voter population in 2015 was about 70 million with about 40 political parties on the ballot.

    Prof Yakubu said the figures could rise in the months ahead, as the commission still had 140 applications for party registration still pending; while the voter registration exercise had been extended by two weeks, to end August 30.

    INEC will conduct the presidential and National Assembly elections in February. It will be followed by the governorship elections in 29 states across the federation, alongside state assembly election in the 36 states.

    Also included in the budget was the cost of conducting elections into the six area councils in the Federal Capital Territory as the expiration of the tenure of the elected officials coincides with the general elections.

    Also captured in the INEC budget is the Osun State governorship election coming up on September 22. The INEC chair said 48 political parties will participate in the Osun election.

    Read Also: INEC Budget: NASS cannot reconvene now -Saraki, Dogara

    The chairman of the Senate committee, Suleiman Nazif, assured the INEC of the legislature’s desire to expedite action of the budget, considering the time constraint.

    Nazif said the committee members will meet again on Thursday through Friday to fast track the process and refer the documents to the Appropriation committee of the Senate.

    On her part, the chairperson of the House of Representatives committee on INEC, Mrs. Aisha Dukku stressed the need for the parliament to approach the budget proposal from both process and content perspectives

    Addressing the INEC chairman, Dukku said, “It is only by so doing that one can begin to unravel the intricacies of the entire range of issues involved and their interconnectedness.

    “You will agree with me that for a government that promised change for its people, the foundation of this change ought to be evident in the way we plan our elections and electoral processes.

    “The estimates should represent a true picture of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA)”.

    She expressed concerns over INEC’s previous budgets, saying they were neither productive nor effective because of poor planning.

    “It is my prayer and hope that the present administration would address the issues with budgeting, especially as regards funding; unlike the previous budgets that were not productive in the entire planning of elections”, Dukku added.

  • Why National Assembly put of resumption

    More facts emerged on Monday about why the National Assembly will no longer reconvene this week as formerly planned.

    It was gathered that senators and House of Representatives members concluded that it was practicality impossible for the planned emergency session to hold and approve the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) budget in a single sitting.

    The leadership of the National Assembly had said after a meeting with the INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu last week that the two chambers would reconvene today to consider and approve INEC budget and the revilement requested by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Yakubu also told reporters that he was assured that the budget for the 2019 election would be approved this week.

    A competent source however confirmed on Monday that the lawmakers will no longer reconvene in view of latest developments and the practicability of the resumption date.

    He noted that the thinking of many lawmakers was it to consider and approve Buhari’s request would take the National Assembly close to a month at the least.

    He said, “The request by President Muhammadu Buhari is not just a single line item that would just require a one day sitting.

    “The request has variety of committees that would be involved, including the Appropriations, Finance, INEC and other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

    Read Also: ‘Invasion of National Assembly bad’

    “It is different from a situation whereby the President is asking for an increase in the size of the budget through a change of benchmark.

    “The request by Mr. President is not something that can be done in one day. Even those who are pushing the agenda know it.”

    He insisted that the National Assembly cannot achieve anything even if it was reconvened in for one sitting “because the request has to be passed to the necessary committees and the committees have to meet with relevant MDAs for their input.

    He added, “Besides, there is another issue that has to do with the Constituency projects. The letter is requesting the lawmakers to remove funds from their constituency projects and use the same to fund INEC.

    “Remember that the Constituency projects are not one line items in the budget.

    “You can’t imagine how long it would take the Appropriations committees to sort out that issue with the MDAs.

    Another source noted that “Reconvening the National Assembly will not really work. It would mean that you want to keep the lawmakers around for the next one month, which defeats the idea of the annual recess.

    “The letter by the President is not just requesting for an increase in benchmark, which can be handledin one day through Senate or House resolution. Treating the letter by the President will take two to three weeks or even more weeks.”

    He said that that the logistics of securing a quorum of either the senate or the House was becoming more and more difficult as members are getting deep into their recess.

    He said, “Many of our colleagues have travelled for Hajj. Many are in their constituencies battling the challenges of re-election. If you check even with the APC right now, they can’t get up to 30 Senators and next week is Sallah, Arafat is on Monday and you will have holidays. A number of people have travelled. It is not practicable to reconvene now.”

  • NCC, INEC parley over e-collation, transmission of election result

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday met to review the outcome of the report of the joint committee set up early this year to explore electronic collation and transmission of the results of elections slated for next year.

    The Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Professor Umar Dambatta who spoke after the meeting, which had INEC chief, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, Executive Commissioner Technical Services (EC-TS) at the NCC, Engr Ubale Maska, national commissioners of INEC and top echelon staff of both the two agencies in attendance, described the parley as a huge step toward entrenching free, fair and credible elections in the country.

    “Remember this joint committee was set up seven months ago. They’ve worked hard, and the whole idea was to produce a document on the basis of which elections can be conducted in a manner that’s conducive, credible, and of course, transparent. This can only be done by leveraging the power of ICT;  so this is to bring to bear global best practices in the way and manner elections are conducted all over the world,” Dambatta said .

    Read Also: 9Mobile: No cause for alarm on acquisition – NCC

    Earlier, Yakubu had expressed delight with the way the NCC rose up to the challenge of INEC as well as the efforts of the joint committee of the two organizations.

    Prof Yakubu said: “When we started, we were clear in our minds that we must challenge every national institution to contribute towards free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria. We are happy that the NCC has risen to this challenge.

    “And we look forward to implementing these recommendations. If there are other areas we need your collaborations we hope you will remain open to us to do so. But we are very happy that one major national institution has been challenged and has risen to the challenge,”

    It would be recalled that in January this year, the NCC and INEC, in a deal acclaimed to have the potential of playing a major role in the outcome of future elections in the country, reached an agreement on the electronic transmission of results in the general election scheduled for next year,

  • Ekiti 2018: Uproar as party supporters disrupt INEC stakeholders’ meeting

    IGP, INEC boss, monarchs watch show of shame

    A stakeholders’ meeting convened by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ahead of the governorship election in Ekiti State ended abruptly as it was disrupted by party supporters.

    INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu; Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, traditional rulers, diplomats and other dignitaries watched the show of shame in disbelief.

    Governorship candidates, party leaders, traditional rulers and other dignitaries left the venue amidst a charged atmosphere as party faithful, mainly People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC) members shouted at one another.

    The parley which was held at Great Eagle Hall, Ikere Road, Ajebamidele, Ado-Ekiti, went on smoothly until organizers invited comments and questions from party representatives.

    The row was sparked by comments made by the PDP representative, Dr. Samuel Omotoso, who raised concerns over alleged attacks and arrest of members of his party in some communities in Oye Local Government Area.

    Omotoso, member of the House of Assembly, accused the APC candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, of boasting that he would be declared winner the Saturday’s poll “whether he loses or not.”

    He also accused security agencies of partisanship in the build-up to the election which he said would not provide an atmosphere for a free and fair election.

    The lawmaker’s refusal to adhere to the two minutes allotted angered supporters of other parties, especially the APC faithful who became restive with the constant mentioning their candidate’s name by Omotoso.

    The audience, who wanted representatives of other parties and other stakeholders to be given the chance to address the gathering, urged organizers to stop Omotoso for using more than the time allocated.

    Read Also: INEC registers 10m new voters

    Apparently uncomfortable with the allegation against Fayemi, the APC members raised their voices to shout Omotoso down but the PDP members responded by chanting their party slogan.

    The PDP members who appeared to outnumber their APC counterparts inside the hall surged forward and started shouting “Eleka Ibo,” “Eleka Ibo” hailing their candidate who is also the Deputy Governor, Prof. Kolapo Olusola.

    As the PDP members surged forward, policemen and other security operatives inside the hall formed a ring around the high table where Yakubu, Idris and other dignitaries sat.

    As the party members’ unruly behavior continued, the Chairman of Ekiti State Council of Obas who is also the Oloye of Oye-Ekiti, Oba Oluwole Ademolaju took over the microphone and urged party members to be orderly.

    They defied the monarch and continued the row but the candidates led by left the hall one after the other leaving only PDP members who continued their shouting.

    First to leave was the Mega Party of Nigeria (MPN) candidate, Chief Adebisi Omoyeni who was followed by Accord candidate, Chief Abiodun Aluko, Labour Party (LP) candidate, Dr. Sikiru Lawal, Fayemi, Olusola and others.

    Earlier, the IGP Idris disclosed that a total number of 4, 390 combined forces of soldiers and other paramilitary will be deployed to complement the 30,000 policemen that have been drafted to Ekiti to monitor the election.

    Idris added that Deputy Inspector General of Police (Operations), an Assistant Inspector General of Police and five Commissioners of police will be in charge to give directive and ensure that the election is conducted under conducive atmosphere.

    The nation’s police chief warned political leaders and their supporters to refrain from arming thugs, saying whoever arrested will be prosecuted in line with the rule of law and laws guiding the conduct of elections.

    Idris said: “We want all party supporters to refrain from all acts that can precipitate violence at the polling booths such as canvassing for votes, wearing of party insignias, dissuading voters from voting for candidates of their choices, loitering and blaring of siren on the day of election.

    “We will also not tolerate ignoring of restriction of movement orders by the police. Don’t see election as a matter of life and death.

    “Let me state that police will not hesitate to deal with anybody no matter how highly placed found flouting electoral laws.

    “Let me call for the collaboration and support of the entire sister agencies and the INEC officials. Police officers have been warned to be of good conduct during and after the election.

    “If you notice any misconduct on the part of any police, do not hesitate to report to the senior officers on the ground or contact me directly.”

    INEC boss Yakubu said the commission decided to distribute the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to the ward level to motivate the electorate to collect to be able to exercise their franchise rights.

    He said: “For transparency, all uncollected PVCs will be brought to INEC office in Ado Ekiti and warehoused for safe keeping until a new date is fixed to resume the PVC collection.

    “However, since the Anambra State Governorship election held in November 2017, we have introduced an additional measure of transparency.

    “I wish to reassure that our officials are under strict instruction to remain neutral. We have also accredited credible foreign and local observers to monitor this election.

    “We are confident that with the arrangements we have put in place, Ekiti State Governorship election will be another good example of free, fair, credible and peaceful election and a further affirmation of the maturity of our democracy.”

    Also affirming that the election will be credible, the State Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ekiti, Prof AbdulGaniy Raji, said a total of 913, 334 have been registered by the commission out of which 667,064 had collected their PVCs.

    Raji said the commission still has a total of 246,270 unclaimed PVCs that were yet to be collected by owners.

  • INEC registers 10m new voters

    The Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) said it registered no fewer than 10 million Nigerians in the ongoing nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).

    Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this at the commission’s quarterly consultative meeting with security agencies under the auspices of Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) on Friday in Abuja.

    Yakubu said that the people were registered between April, 2017 when the CVR commenced and end of June, 2018.

    He said that total number of registered voters in the country would increase to 80 million when the figure from the CVR was added to existing 70 million voters.

    “As at June 22, 2018 fresh registration is 9,922,619, PVC Collection, 576,346; request for transfer, 489,354 and request for replacement of PVCs, 766,435.

    “What this means is that since the commencement of CVR on April 27, 2017, about 10 million Nigerians have been registered and this will be added to existing register of 70 million voters.

    “This means that as we approach 2019 general elections, Nigeria will have voter register of at least 80 million.’’

    Yakubu said that INEC was committed to transparency in the conduct of elections and the declaration of results.

    He said that one of the things the commission had consistently been doing was to issue copies of elections’ result sheets to agents of political parties at that level.

    He said that following stakeholders’ demand for transparency in the electoral process, INEC responded by displaying result for each polling unit immediately after counting of ballot for public information.

    “Having found this as a useful way of enhancing citizens’ mandate protection, we took it a step further by introducing the EC60E.

    “The form is a large poster reflecting the result in each polling unit as recorded on the EC8A shared with agents of political parties.

    “The poster is pasted at each polling unit immediately after the counting of ballot papers.

    “Consequently, citizens now know the outcome of voting in each polling unit and can track the processes of collation leading to the final declaration of results.

    “These posters were effectively deployed in all elections since the Anambra State Governorship election in November, 2017. We shall deploy them in all forthcoming elections,’’ the chairman said.

    He urged the security agencies to help and ensure that the Form was pasted at polling units after the declaration of election result in the units.

    He appealed to the agencies to remind the polling officers to paste the result at each polling unit “where there is an inadvertent omission to paste it’’.

    Yakubu also urged agencies to continue to provide peaceful environment for conduct of elections across the country.

    “As we approach the 2019 general elections, we also need your support, especially in securing the environment for us to conduct elections.

    “I will like to thank the security agency for the things that you have done to secure the environment.

    “I will like to appeal to the security agencies to continue to exploit the same neutrality to see that our elections are getting better.

    “We want Ekiti to surpass Anambra and I believe we can do it and I am confident in the security agencies that we can do it.’’

    In his response, National Security Adviser (NSA), Major-Gen. Mohammed Monguno (retd), pledged that necessary security support would be given to ensure success of Ekiti governorship election and 2019 general elections.

    Monguno, who was represented by Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Mrs Peace Abdallah, expressed confidence that INEC would continue to conduct credible elections.

    “It is not in doubt that INEC has always shown not just by words but action, that as we look forward to Ekiti and future elections, especially 2019 that Nigeria elections will continue to be commendable.’’

  • INEC registers 10 million new voters

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it registered no fewer than 10 million Nigerians in the ongoing nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).

    Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this at the commission’s quarterly consultative meeting with security agencies under the auspices of Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) on Friday in Abuja.

    Yakubu said that the people were registered between April, 2017 when the CVR commenced and end of June, 2018.

    He said that total number of registered voters in the country would increase to 80 million when the figure from the CVR was added to existing 70 million voters.

    “As at June 22, 2018 fresh registration is 9,922,619, PVC Collection, 576,346; request for transfer, 489,354 and request for replacement of PVCs, 766,435.

    “What this means is that since the commencement of CVR on April 27, 2017, about 10 million Nigerians have been registered and this will be added to existing register of 70 million voters.

    “This means that as we approach 2019 general elections, Nigeria will have voter register of at least 80 million.’’

    Yakubu said that INEC was committed to transparency in the conduct of elections and the declaration of results.

    Read Also: INEC to deploy 11,000 ad-hoc staff

    He said that one of the things the commission had consistently been doing was to issue copies of elections’ result sheets to agents of political parties at that level.

    He said that following stakeholders’ demand for transparency in the electoral process, INEC responded by displaying result for each polling unit immediately after counting of ballot for public information.

    “Having found this as a useful way of enhancing citizens’ mandate protection, we took it a step further by introducing the EC60E.

    “The form is a large poster reflecting the result in each polling unit as recorded on the EC8A shared with agents of political parties.

    “The poster is pasted at each polling unit immediately after the counting of ballot papers.

    “Consequently, citizens now know the outcome of voting in each polling unit and can track the processes of collation leading to the final declaration of results.

    “These posters were effectively deployed in all elections since the Anambra State Governorship election in November, 2017. We shall deploy them in all forthcoming elections,’’ the chairman said.

    He urged the security agencies to help and ensure that the Form was pasted at polling units after the declaration of election result in the units.

    He appealed to the agencies to remind the polling officers to paste the result at each polling unit “where there is an inadvertent omission to paste it’’.

    Yakubu also urged agencies to continue to provide peaceful environment for conduct of elections across the country.

    “As we approach the 2019 general elections, we also need your support, especially in securing the environment for us to conduct elections.

    “I will like to thank the security agency for the things that you have done to secure the environment.

    “I will like to appeal to the security agencies to continue to exploit the same neutrality to see that our elections are getting better.

    “We want Ekiti to surpass Anambra and I believe we can do it and I am confident in the security agencies that we can do it.’’

    In his response, National Security Adviser (NSA), Major-Gen. Mohammed Monguno (retd), pledged that necessary security support would be given to ensure success of Ekiti governorship election and 2019 general elections.

    Monguno, who was represented by Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Mrs Peace Abdallah, expressed confidence that INEC would continue to conduct credible elections.

    “It is not in doubt that INEC has always shown not just by words but action, that as we look forward to Ekiti and future elections, especially 2019 that Nigeria elections will continue to be commendable.’’

    NAN

  • INEC will do its best ahead of 2019 – Yakubu

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it would continue to do its best to ensure that registered voters collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) ahead of 2019 elections.

    Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, gave the assurance in an interview with our reporters on Monday in Abuja.

    Yakubu recalled that over seven million PVCs were not collected from the 2015 general elections.

    “We have been trying our best but so far only a little over 500,000 cards have been collected nationwide.

    “We will continue to do whatever we can to ensure that the cards were collected ahead of the next general elections,” he said, adding that the commission was emphasizing on collection than distribution.

    According to Yakubu, we are emphasizing on collection because we want the true owners of the cards to collect them rather than by proxy with the possibility that the cards may end up in wrong hands.

    On whether the commission would patronize domestic printers in the printing of ballot papers for 2019 elections, he said “the first priority of INEC has been to patronize indigenous printers.

    “Since the 2015 general elections INEC has conducted elections in 180 constituencies and in none of these constituencies were the sensitive and non-sensitive materials printed out of the country.

    Read Also: INEC will not count prayer points, says Alex Ekubo

    “As a matter of course, for sometimes now the commission does not engage foreign printers directly. We engage Nigerian printers who may have partnership with printers outside the country.

    “So, our priority is to patronize Nigeria printers and Nigerian service providers; that policy remains unchanged.’’

    The chairman said that INEC was working with the security agencies charged with responsibilities to provide security for elections to ensure peaceful exercises in 2019.

    “The security agencies have assured and reassured us that they will provide security for the general elections.’’

    He also disclosed that the commission had benefited tremendously from the implementation of the recommendations from stakeholders.

    These, according to him, include recommendations from domestic election observers, media, civil society organizations and international observers, including African Union, European Union, Commonwealth and ECOWAS.

    Yakubu said that one of the implemented recommendations was simultaneous accreditation and voting on the day of election.

    “We have been implementing those recommendations, particularly those that can be implemented by the commission.

    “Remember there are three categories of those recommendations – those that can be implemented by pricking our policies, those that can be implemented through amendment of framework for conducting elections, and those that can be implemented by executive actions.

    “We have taken actions on all the three stages,’’ he said.

    On the July 14 governorship election in Ekiti, the chairman said that INEC was committed and focused on delivering credible polls in spite of all accusations.

    “I want to assure the good people of Ekiti that the election will not only be free and fair, but that only their votes will determine who becomes the next governor of the state,’’ he stated.

    He said that the commission had been preparing for the election in terms of recruitment and training of ad hoc staff and deployment of logistics.

    “We have delivered all the non-sensitive materials to Ekiti and we are tracking everything.

    “We are prepared for Ekiti the same way we are prepared for all other elections.

    “We are confident with the level of preparations that we have made for the election and we will have a good outcome,’’ Yakubu stated.

     

    NAN