The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Situation Room

  • Election: FRSC sets up Situation Room

    The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has set up a Situation Room for Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections.

    Public Education Officer of the corps, Mr Bisi Kazeem, made this known in a statement in Abuja on Friday.

    “In lieu of the need to ensure a smooth and safe motoring environment, during the 2019 general elections, the Federal Road Safety Corps will be operating a 24-hour daily situation room.

    “This is for updates and information from the public on safety and traffic-related issues including clearing of obstructions, recovery and prompt rescue services and enforcing traffic restrictions.

    Read also: Update: Presidential polls materials arrive Oyo state

    “The public is by this medium, admonished not to hesitate from forwarding any such information on safety, obstructions and rescue related matters noticeable during the pre-election, election and post-election period to the following emergency numbers for swift response.

    “The emergency numbers are FRSC Toll-Free number 122, 09055792372 and 09055792374,” the statement read in part. (NAN)

  • INEC involved in 419 cases – Chairman

    INEC involved in 419 cases – Chairman

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday, said that it had been involved in 419 court cases over election matters from 2016 to date.

    Chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this in an interactive session with a group of civil society organizations, under the umbrella of the Situation Room, on Tuesday, in Abuja.

    “Between 2016 and 2017, till this week, we have appeared for 419 cases in four different courts; so, I will say that in the last two years INEC has been dragged to court 419 times.

    “Conversely, 187 of them are at Federal and state high courts while 141 are at the Court of Appeal. Sixty-one of them are at the Supreme Court and two at the Industrial Court,’’ he said.

    Yakubu said that the political atmosphere in Anambra was quite peaceful as compared to recent elections, adding that “up till today, we have no case in court on the nomination of any candidate’’.

    He said that though the situation was unusual, it was rarely amazing in the context of litigation since the 2015 general elections.

    The chairman said that 37 political parties were participating in the Nov. 18 Anambra governorship election which was a record for any governorship election in the country.

    He said that INEC monitored all the political party’s primaries and that 35 of them complied with the rules except for two that changed their candidates after the primaries, which was not allowed.

    He said that Anambra had 21 local government areas, with 326 wards, 468 polling units, 724 voting points and 2,154,738 registered voters, including 203,681 new registrants.

    Yakubu said that INEC had printed Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) for all registered voters in the state, and that the cards would be delivered on Saturday to the state so that the process of collection could commence.

    He said that arrangement had been made for collection of the PVCs at the ward level so that it would be closer to the polling units.

    The chairman said that INEC had delivered all the non-sensitive materials to Anambra, down to the local government areas.

    He said that logistics were okay because the infrastructure in the state was reasonably good as there was no part of the state that could not be reached in 30 minutes.

    He said that the commission was confident with the security arrangement on ground, explaining that “we have engaged with the security agents and we want the deployment to follow the needs of the commission’’.

    Yakubu said that INEC had made provision for hand-held magnifying glasses for albinos as requested by the Albino Foundation to help them see the party logos.

    He added that all funds had been provided and remitted to the state for the conduct of the election.

    Yakubu reassured indigenes of Anambra of early commencement of election, adding that the commission had made provision for ad hoc staff to stay the night at the polling areas.

    Earlier, the Convener of Situation Room, Mr Clement Nwankwo, said the meeting was organised in order to clear the concerns of civil society organisations regarding the election.

    Nwankwo said that CSOs were concerned with the safety of the electoral materials, ad hoc staff and the people.

    He urged INEC to allow the CSOs to have access to monitor the collation centres to enhance the credibility of the final results that would be announced.

    He advised the commission to continue to monitor the ballot paper to prevent some political parties conniving with the printers to omit their names or party’s logo to cook up legal cases.

    Nwankwo also urged political parties to abide by the rules and regulations of the commission in order to have a free and fair election. (NAN)

  • Kogi: Our fears – Situation Room

    The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, a coalition of 70 civil society groups monitoring Saturday’s governorship election in Kogi State, had expressed concerns over the welfare of security personnel deployed for the election.

    The group said it observed that some of the policemen deployed from various states were kept waiting for hours before re-deployment, with some of them loitering aimlessly.

    Besides, it also feared that the huge security deployment could become a state-motivated instrument for voter intimidation in today’s election.

    It said nothing short of a free and fair election will be accepted to Nigerians.

    “The electoral environment is charged no doubt, and there have been various allegations across the aisle on plans to rig the election.

    “Situation Room takes note of these developments and calls on all stakeholders, especially political parties to approach this election with responsibility and utmost respect of democratic standards.  We cannot afford to fail Nigerians,” the coalition said.

    In its preliminary statement on the election on Friday, the group said it was hopeful that security operatives would conduct themselves responsibly and adhere to civil and responsible terms of engagement under the rule of law.

    Chairman, Partners for Electoral Reform, Ezenwa Nwagwu, who addressed the press on the coalition’s behalf, urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deliver a first-class election on Saturday.

     

  • Our fears, by Situation Room

    Our fears, by Situation Room

    The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, a coalition of 70 civil society groups monitoring today’s governorship election in Kogi State, yesterday expressed concerns over the welfare of security personnel deployed for the election.

    It said it observed that some of the policemen deployed from various states were kept waiting for hours before re-deployment, with some of them loitering aimlessly.

    Besides, it also feared that the huge security deployment could become a state-motivated instrument for voter intimidation in today’s election.

    It said nothing short of a free and fair election will be accepted to Nigerians.

    “The electoral environment is charged no doubt, and there have been various allegations across the aisle on plans to rig the election.

    “Situation Room takes note of these developments and calls on all stakeholders, especially political parties, to approach this election with responsibility and utmost respect of democratic standards.  We cannot afford to fail Nigerians,” the coalition said.

    In its preliminary statement on the election yesterday, the group said it was hopeful that security operatives would conduct themselves responsibly and adhere to civil and responsible terms of engagement under the rule of law.

    Chairman, Partners for Electoral Reform, Ezenwa Nwagwu, who addressed the press on the coalition’s behalf, urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deliver a first-class election today.

    He said: “Preliminary observations by the Situation Room indicate that voters across the state are highly motivated and mobilised to cast their votes. There are also security concerns during the elections.

    “We are reasonably satisfied with the deployment and conduct so far of the security personnel to the state to ensure a safe, secure and peaceful election tomorrow.

    “The Situation Room, however, hopes that, drawing from its experiences in previous elections, this deployment would not lead to state inspired voter and process intimidation and suppression.

    “However, the Situation Room is hopeful that the entire security machinery will conduct themselves responsibly and adhere to civil and responsible terms of engagement under the rule of law.”

    The Situation Room expressed concerns about the arrangements made for the welfare of the tens of thousands of armed security personnel drawn from other parts of the country.

    It also wants those with special needs, such as nursing mothers, the elderly, those with physical challenges and pregnant women to be given special attention during voting.

    “We have noted so far that like in previous elections, there seems to be scant regard for the overall wellbeing and welfare of these officers of the state.

    “The Situation Room nonetheless urges the state government to assure the electorate of their personal safety and urges voters to go out and peacefully cast their vote.

    “We call on INEC in its role as the Election Management Body to fully acknowledge and make special arrangements for people with disabilities, the elderly and nursing mothers to help them exercise their franchise. This can be effected by giving specific instructions to INEC officials at the voting units,” it said.

    It also warned against people spreading false rumours through the social media that could create unnecessary tension.

    “The Situation Room especially urges the digital public to be discerning in their reading of social media reports as experiences have shown that some of the reports may be replete with deliberate falsehood aimed at misleading the public.

    “We call on all stakeholders in the election process to live up to the expectation of Nigerians and especially call on INEC to deliver free, fair and credible elections in Kogi State.”