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INEC

Court Compels INEC To Register Political Party

By: Bhodemarz on November 29, 2017 / comment : 0 , , ,

The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court has directed the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to register Socialist Party of Nigeria as a new party.
Justice Gabriel Kolawole gave the order in a judgement on Tuesday, following an application by members of the party.
He said the SPN had fulfilled necessary requirements for registration and directed INEC to issue it a certificate of registration within 30 days from the date of his judgement.
Representatives of the SPN had approached the court after INEC terminated its registration process in August 2014 for alleged failure to comply with verification procedures.
The plaintiffs: Segun Sango, Chinedu Bosah, Mikaliu Mohammed, Emmanuel Adikwu, Agbebire Marcellus and Nuhu Zira, asked the court to nullify the termination of their registration, stressing that they had complied with necessary registration procedure including the payment of N1 million, establishment of a headquarter in Abuja and the creation of a National Executive Committee comprising at least 24 representatives from across the country and Abuja.
They asked the court to stop INEC from further collecting a mandatory N1 million from parties seeking to be registered for political activities.
The plaintiffs also demanded a refund of the N1 million they had paid to INEC, as well as N1 million to serve as the cost of instituting the suit.
The judge agreed with some of the requests made by the plaintiff, namely that the registration of SPN as a political party be restored by INEC.
Mr. Kolawole ruled that INEC was bound by sections 78, (2) (3) and (4) to proceed with necessary steps for the registration of a political party within the stipulated time, adding that the electoral umpire had no right to.

Source: Lawyard

Jega: Names of trees were on INEC register when I took over

By: Bhodemarz on October 29, 2017 / comment : 0 , , ,

Attahiru Jega, former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says many fictitious names were on the register of the electoral body when he assumed office.
In an interview with Jamie Hitchen, a policy researcher at Africa Research Institute, a not-for-profit group that was founded in 2007, Jega spoke on the steps he took to sanitise the commission.
He said staff morale was so low and that politicians infiltrated INEC with their loyalists when he came on board.
The professor of political science also spoke on the two general elections (2011 and 2015) INEC conducted under him.
“When I was appointed to chair INEC in July 2010, I joined an organisation that was perceived to be fraudulent and corrupt,” he said.
“It was also inefficient in executing its mandate. At the same time I was entering a moving vehicle, with no time to reflect and reform effectively. An unorthodox methodology was needed. I was able to bring in a team of INEC outsiders, paid for by the United Nations Development Programme.
“These were people I could trust and who – independent of INEC’s bureaucracy – could help map a blueprint for institutional reform. For example, Professor Okechukuwu Ibeanu became my chief technical adviser, Professor M J Kuna my special assistant and Dr Magaji Mahmoud my chief of staff.8
“One of the first issues that had to be addressed was the register of voters. It lacked integrity. There was a lot of data missing for people who were registered and there was clear evidence of fictitious names. We had names of trees, of rivers, and international figures like Mike Tyson and Queen Elizabeth II!
“There was a debate between those who thought the register could be cleaned up and those who thought it should be jettisoned and replaced. Internal discussions with key personnel in the technical departments revealed the scale of the problem: a complete overhaul was needed, but the general election was scheduled for January 2011, just seven months away.
“To compile a new register of voters, INEC needed a constitutional amendment to shift the election date and significant resources to carry out a good, credible registration. Engagement with the government was very positive. The constitutional amendment was quickly secured and elections were pushed back to April 2011.”
He said the experiences of the Anambra election of 2013 and Osun, Ekiti in 2014, helped the commission to prepare well for the 2015 general election, which was a landmark, as an opposition party defeated an incumbent for the first time in the nation’s history.
He also commended former President Goodluck Jonathan whom he said meant well for “our democracy”.
Jega said Jonathan granted all the financial requests of INEC and did not try to personally interfere with the commission’s work.
“The administration of Goodluck Jonathan, president from 2010 to 2015, never gave any reason to suspect that there was a deliberate and wilful attempt to emasculate the funding of INEC” he said.
For this they should be applauded. No situation arose where we had to go cap-in-hand to the executive looking for funding and I must add that when supplementary funding was needed it was nearly always forthcoming.
“For most of the time during our tenure, President Jonathan tried not to personally interfere with the Commission’s work. Only in the run-up to the 2015 election did his government and ruling political party seek to interfere with the decision of INEC to use electronic card readers. We were able to remind them that they had supported the idea and funded it. Overall I think that President Jonathan meant well for democracy in our country, a view strengthened by the gracious way he conceded electoral defeat in 2015.”

Source: The Cable

Prisoners to vote in 2019 elections – INEC

By: Bhodemarz on October 25, 2017 / comment : 0 , , ,

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, said it is making plans with the Nigeria Prisons Service to ensure prisoners can vote in the forthcoming 2019 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, said this on Tuesday in Abuja at a dialogue session tagged Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room Dialogue.
The dialogue session involved over 70 civil society organisations in Nigeria.
This development is coming three years after a Federal High Court in Benin, Edo State, ruled that prisoners in Nigeria have the right to vote in all elections conducted in the country.
Mr. Yakubu said the commission was considering creating polling units in Nigerian prisons to give some categories of prisoners the opportunity to vote.
He explained that only ”certain categories of prisoners” would be given such an opportunity depending on the nature of the crimes committed.
“We have already engaged the Comptroller-General of Prisons and we have statistics on the number of prisoners nationwide and the number of inmates registered.”
“We are looking at the possibility of creating polling units in the prisons and to enable some categories of prisoners to vote.
“Ghana does it but there are some categories of prisoners who by the nature of crimes committed lose the right to vote. Whatever we can do to open up the process to ensure that as much as possible Nigerians are given the opportunity to vote, will be done.”
Speaking on the forthcoming Anambra governorship election, he also said the commission would do everything to ensure that the election is not inconclusive or rigged.
Mr. Yakubu raised concerns on the wrong substitutions of names of governorship candidates by two political parties ahead of the governorship election but refused to disclose the names of these parties.
He however warned that if the act was challenged in court, the whole election could be voided because of that and the country will be made to bear the financial load of conducting a new election.
He said the high level of non-compliance to the Electoral Act by the political parties was threatening the electoral system.
Clement Nwankwo, the Executive Director, Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, and convener of Situation Room, said the event was organised to know the commission’s preparations for the forthcoming Anambra State governorship poll as well as other elections.

Source: PremiumTimes

INEC releases time-table for Ekiti and Osun election

By: Bhodemarz on October 06, 2017 / comment : 0 , , , ,

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed July 14, 2018 and Sept. 22, 2018 for governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun States respectively.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman Voter Education and Publicity, Prince Solomon Soyebi, disclosed this while reading the timetables and schedule of activities for the elections on Thursday in Abuja.
Soyebi said that the tenure of Ekiti incumbent governor would end on Oct 15, 2018 while that of Osun would end in November 28.
According to him, release of the dates is in line with the requirements of the Electoral Act and the Constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria.
He said that in fixing the dates for the elections, the Commission considered national festivals and public holidays, going by its experience in the conduct of Edo governorship election.
“Anybody who deviates from the Electoral guidelines by engaging in public campaign ahead of the date for commencement of campaign is committing electoral offence and will be prosecuted.
“All political parties and their candidates are hereby enjoined to cooperate with us,’’ Soyebi said.
According to timetables and schedules of activities signed by the Secretary to the Commission, Mrs Augusta Ogakwu, read by Soyebi, the notice for Ekiti election will be released by INEC on April 4, 2018.
The commission also fixed April 15, 2018 for the commencement of campaign by political parties, and April 16 for collection of forms.
The conduct of party primaries, including resolution of disputes arising from the primaries had been scheduled to hold between April 15, 2018, and May 14, 2018, while last day for submission of forms had been fixed for May 15, 2018.
“The commission will publish personal particulars and list of candidates on May 22, 2018, and the last day for withdrawal and replacement of candidates is May 30, 2018.
“The last day for the submission of nomination forms by political parties is fixed for June 13, 2018.’’
It also fixed June 14, 2018 for the publication of official register of voters and final list of nominated candidates for the election, while notice of poll would be published on June 30, 2018.
For Osun state, the notice of election would be issued on June 23, while campaign by political parties would commence on June 24 and end on Sept. 20, 2018.
According to the timetable for Osun, the collection of forms has been fixed for June 25, 2018 and last day for the submission of forms for July 24, 2018.
The Commission also scheduled conduct of primaries including resolution of disputes arising from primaries between June 24, 2018 and July 23, 2018.
It also fixed July 31, 2018 as date for the publication of personal particulars and list of candidates and August 8, 2018 as last day for withdrawal by candidates or replacement by political parties.
According to the timetable, the publication of official register of voters and final list of candidates for the election will be displayed on Aug. 23, 2018.

It added that the publication of notice of poll would be done on Sept. 8, 2018 and submission of names of party agents for Sept. 8, 2018.

Source: dailytrust.com.ng

INEC announces new time-table for Recall of Senator Dino Melaye

By: Bhodemarz on September 18, 2017 / comment : 0 , , , ,

The Independent National Electoral Commission, this afternoon announced the updated time-table for the recall of Senator Dino Melaye.





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