The Nation Newspaper

Tag: SIEC

  • Appeal Court dismisses suit against Fayemi’s SIEC, others

    The Court of Appeal sitting in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, yesterday dismissed an appeal filed by the state government against the judgment of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN).

    The court verdict recognised the statutory bodies dissolved by former Governor Ayo Fayose.

    The Akure Division of the NICN, in October, last year, nullified Fayose’s dissolution of the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC), Local Government Service Commission (LGSC), Civil Service Commission (CSC), State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) inaugurated by the first administration of Dr. Kayode Fayemi.

    The Industrial Court also ordered Fayose to pay the chairmen and board members of the commissions their salaries and allowances, which accrued to them from the date of their dissolution to the end of their tenure.

    The Fayose administration filed an appeal before the Court of Appeal to upturn the verdict of the National Industrial Court.

    The chairman of SIEC, which Fayemi set up, Mrs. Cecilia Bosede Adelusi, alongside other chairmen of the commissions, challenged their dissolution at the National Industrial Court.

    The plaintiffs averred that at the time Fayose dissolved their commissions, there was no vacancy, as they were entitled to a five-year tenure, which had not ended at the time of the dissolution.

    Justice Ahmad Belgore, who led a three-member panel, dismissed the appeal after it was withdrawn by the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Olawale Fapohunda, who appeared for the governor.

    SIEC and other commissions were represented by Mr. Ibrahim Olarewaju, Mr. Tajudeen Akingbolu and Mr. Adeoye Aribasoye.

    The Ministry of Justice, upon assumption of office by the new Attorney General, reviewed all case files and resolved that the appeals were not meritorious.

    The attorney general filed a notice of withdrawal of the appeal and the Appeal Court, in accordance with Order 11, Rule 5 of the court, dismissed the appeal.

    With the withdrawal of the appeal and striking out of same by the Appeal Court, the judgment of the National Industrial Court, which validated Fayemi’s SIEC and other statutory bodies still subsists.

    Fayose set up his own SIEC, led by former Chief Judge, Justice Kayode Bamisile.

    It conducted two local government elections, including the one that brought the present crop of council chairmen and councillors to office.

    The current local government chairmen had approached a State High Court on October 12 with a motion seeking to stop Fayemi from dissolving their councils.

    But Justice Abiodun Adesodun dismissed the application on grounds that there was no compelling fact on ground to grant same.

  • APC faults Ondo SIEC on council poll

    APC faults Ondo SIEC on council poll

    he All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State has described the just-concluded local government election as a fraud perpetrated by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The Chairman, Isaac Kekemeke, said if forensic investigation is conducted on the ballot papers used, it will reveal they were thumbprinted by just a few people.

    Speaking during the reception for PDP members who joined the APC, Kekemeke said the figure of over 600,000 released by the State Independent Electoral Commission (ODIEC) as the total number of voters in an election reported as having widespread voters apathy is far from being credible.

    He wondered why the PDP decided to rig an election in which it was the only contesting party.

    The chairman said in the last governorship election with large voters turnout, the total number of votes amassed by the then leading Labour Party(LP)under which Governor Olusegun Mimiko contested was a little above 200,000 votes.

    He said the combined votes of the LP, the PDP and that of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) was just 400,000.

    Kekemeke wondered how the PDP-led government came about 600,000 in an election with very low turn-out of voters.

    The APC chairman said: “The polling unit where Mimiko was reported to have voted had only 21 voters, and this number of voters multiplied by the total polling units across the state would give you about 45,000 votes. How do you explain the difference?”

    “What we have now in Ondo State is a union of people who can no longer endure the pain and hardship caused by this PDP government.

    “Today is a manifestation of the willingness of Ondo  people to change the PDP.

    “I want to assure members that there shall be no imposition of candidate.”

    He cautioned some party members, who are abusing party aspirants on social media to desist.

  • SIEC postpones LG polls in Sokoto

    SIEC postpones LG polls in Sokoto

    The Sokoto State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) on Wednesday announced the postponement of the local government council’s election it had earlier planned for January 9, 2016.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Chairman of the commission, Alhaji Usman Abubakar announced the postponement at a news briefing in Sokoto.

    ” The postponement was due to the non receipt of the card readers we wanted to borrow from our sister agency, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    ” This was also due to bye-election which the commission would conduct in Bayelsa on Jan. 9, 2016.

    ”’ Apart from the card readers, INEC would also train the ad hoc staff we want to use for the LG polls in the state,” he added.

    Abubakar further said that the commission had fully arranged for the polls and had even acquired the non-sensitive materials required for the conduct of the polls.

    According to the chairman, the commission may likely conduct the postponed polls in the first quarter of 2016.

    ” Nine political parties are participating in the elections and we intend to conduct free, credible, transparent and acceptable polls,” Abubakar promised.

  • CNPP condemns exclusion of parties in Ekiti council poll

    With barely twenty four hours to the conduct of the Saturday’s local government election in Ekiti State, the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has claimed that the results of the poll are already predetermined.

    Reacting to the revelation of the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) Chairman Justice Kayode Bamisile’s revelation that five political parties would field candidates, the CNPP said the electoral agency cannot be relied upon to deliver a credible, free and fair council poll.

    In a joint statement on Thursday signed by the CNPP Chairman, Tunji Ogunlola and Publicity Secretary, Kunle Omotayo, the body accused Bamisile of “speaking from both sides of the mouth” having allegedly claimed initially that only Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidates obtained nomination forms.

    According to the statement released shortly after the group’s end-of-the-year meeting in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, the CNPP “totally condemned the shoddy preparation of the state electoral empire on its inability to carry all other political parties along till date”.

    The CNPP claimed that many political parties were deliberately excluded by SIEC from participating at the election urging the aggrieved parties to remain calm as the body has resolved to seek redress in the court.

    The statement reads: “The conference expressed doubt about the impartiality of EKSIEC whose Chairman has been speaking from both sides of the mouth.

    “Prince Ogunlola took the EKSIEC Chairman, Justice Kayode Bamisile up on the contradictory statement he made that only PDP Candidates obtained nomination forms only for him to say a day after that five other political parties also obtained nomination forms.

    “This is a sign that the result of the local government polls had already been pre-determined.

    “The conference recalled that a total number of twenty one political parties collected and submitted their nomination forms while SIEC only selected five political parties to participate in the coming election without following due process.

    “The conference noted with dismay that the body language of the Commission from inception and their refusal to call all other political parties shows that the election have been concluded before the real election.

    “The conference therefore calls on security agencies to investigate the activities of the commission which has confirmed our earlier observation that EKSIEC cannot conduct a free and fair election.”

  • Ekiti government denies appointing PDP members into SIEC

    Ekiti State government has denied appointing card-carrying members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) into the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) for the purpose of conducting the local government election.

    The state’s Commissioner for Local Government, Community Development and Chieftaincy Affairs, Kolapo Kolade, said the allegation is false and unfounded, insisting that SIEC members are non-partisan and credible individuals whose integrity cannot be questioned by anybody.

    Kolade, who spoke on Tuesday at a briefing on the activities of his ministry in the last one year, said the SIEC, as presently constituted, is an impartial and unbiased umpire to conduct a credible council poll on December 19.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state has filed a suit challenging the composition of SIEC, claiming that the electoral agency is composed of card-carrying PDP members.

    Kolade said the conduct of the local government poll would offer what he called “a clear break from the present caretaker committee arrangement which has been in place since 2010.”

    He disclosed that the ministry had in the last one year settled chieftaincy matters in some communities as well as some boundary disputes to ensure peace in the state.

    The commissioner revealed that the Ayo Fayose administration had peacefully resolved kingship tussles in nine communities which had been without monarchs owing to interests from certain quarters.

     

  • Ekiti holds referendum on new LCDAs

    Ekiti holds referendum on new LCDAs

    The Ekiti State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC)  yesterday held a referendum on the creation of new 18 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs).

    Controversy had trailed the creation of the new LCDAs and the referendum, with the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) kicking against the creation, while also calling on the people to shun the referendum.

    The exercise, which held at designated primary schools in the 137 wards across the 12 affected local government areas, commenced at about 8 am with the registration of interested voters and ended at 4pm.

    Describing the exercise as a huge success, Chairman of SIEC, Mrs. Cecilia Adelusi, noted that the turnout of the people for the exercise was an indication that the state government took the right decision to conduct the referendum.

    She disclosed that there was a massive turnout in Iyin, Ogotun, Ikole, Iloro, Ifaki and other areas where the referendum took place, as people trooped out in large number, to vote.

    The SIEC boss added, “However, there were areas where election did not take place. In places like Osi and Igbole, there was total blockage of the road, because the people there were protesting the choice of the headquarters.

    “It is not our duty to look into such agitations, because we will still compute our results and send to the House of Assembly for ratification.”

    Speaking with journalists in Ikere Ekiti, the Commissioner for Integration and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Funminiyi Afuye, said the people of the town were enthusiastic about the creation of an LCDA in the town, adding, “This must have informed the mammoth crowd that participated in this exercise (referendum).”

    Journalists who monitored the exercise in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, noticed a fairly large turnout of people in all the designated centres in the 13 wards of the council.

    At Ward 5, St. Michael’s Primary School, Ajilosun opposite Mobil Petrol Station, the turnout was quite impressive.

    Despite the relative success of the exercise, opposition parties allegedly boycotted the exercise, with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) describing the creation of the new LCDAs as placing hurdles on the path of the incoming government of governor-elect, Mr. Ayodele Fayose.

    A few weeks ago, the PDP had gone to court seeking an injunction to restrain the state governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, the State House of Assembly and SIEC from going ahead with the exercise.

    Defending its boycott of the referendum, the Publicity Secretary of the PDP in the State, Pastor Kola Oluwawole, hinged its stance on what he described as “insincerity of the outgoing government in its approach to the creation of the councils.”

    The PDP spokesperson noted that out of the 177 wards in the state, people in about 130 wards allegedly boycotted the exercise, while those who participated did so under duress and coercion from members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

     

  • Yobe SIEC releases council poll timetable

    Yobe State Independent National Electoral Commission (SIEC) yesterday released the timetable for local government election.

    The commission’s Chairman, Mohammed Abdul Jauro, said the poll is scheduled for June 22.

    He said in a forum with the registered political parties and other stakeholders that the election would be conducted after three months’ notice as provided in the electoral law- that is from March 18 to July 7.

    Jauro said the commission would deal with political parties instead of individual candidates, stressing that “they have to go through their political parties and purchase the nomination forms for the election within six days.”

    But the political parties demanded three days’ extension that was later approved- April 1 to April 9.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Opposition parties kick against new Bauchi SIEC

    Opposition parties kick against new Bauchi SIEC

    Opposition parties in Bauchi state have kicked against the newly appointed members of the State Electoral Independent Commission (SIEC), claiming they are card-carrying members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The Bauchi chapters of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) last Friday unanimously rejected the reconstitution and composition of the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC).

    Spokesman of the opposition, Alhaji Nasiru Darazo of the ACN told newsmen in Bauchi that the appointment of only card- carrying members of the PDP into the electoral body clearly exposes the intention of the government to rig and manipulate the forthcoming local government elections.

    He said the recent approval of the reconstitution of the state SIEC by the Bauchi State House of Assembly (BAHA) as requested by the executive arm of government in the state was fraudulent.

    The BAHA approved the appointment of Alhaji Abdulmumini Kundak as chairman of SIEC.

    Other members include Alhaji Yerima Misau, Alhaji Shu’aibu Galadima, Alhaji Maikano Baraya, Mr. Idris Madaki, Alhaji Idris Zakarai, Alhaji Ahmed Mu’azu and Alhaji Danlami Iaa Siyi.

    The opposition parties appealed to the state government to appoint neutral persons to the commission in the interest of fairness and fair play to create level- playing field for all.

    Darazo said: “For now, we have lost confidence in the ability of the state government to be fair to all of us.

    “We have no confidence in the present electoral body and we will soon meet to take a common position before the preparation for the election, but we lost confidence in the present SIEC in the state.”