The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has expressed concern over the delay in printing sensitive materials for the upcoming governorship elections in Kogi, Imo, and Bayelsa states.
The election management body attributed the situation to pre-election legal cases and court orders affecting the nomination processes by political parties.
INEC chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this yesterday in Abuja when he addressed political parties as part of preparations for the off-cycle elections.
Yakubu pointed out the challenges of reprinting materials to comply with court orders in a short timeframe, adding that it is costly and complex.
Despite INEC’s prior publication of the final list of candidates for these states, he said, recent court rulings have necessitated revisions of the candidates’ list.
He said these updates had been reflected on the Commission’s website, adding that four recent court orders had compelled the Commission to review the list.
“The Commission is concerned about the spate of recent judgements and orders of the court in respect of the nomination, substitution or disqualification of candidates after all the sensitive materials have been printed.
“The reprinting of the materials in compliance with court orders within a short period of time is not only expensive but the management of the process is very challenging. Although the Commission has already published the final list of candidates for the three states, four recent court orders have compelled us to review the list.
“These changes have been reflected in the updated list of parties and candidates on our website. However, this decision is without prejudice to any pending appeal by the affected candidates or their political parties.”
He said with just a little over two weeks to the election, the commission is at the concluding stages of its preparations,
“This is the first time that the Commission will be conducting three off-cycle governorship elections simultaneously across different geo-political zones.
“This is made possible by the coincidence of the end of the tenures of the current holders of the offices which fall within the constitutional timeframe of not earlier than 150 days or later than 30 days before the expiration of their terms of office as enshrined in Section 178(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended),” he said
He further revealed that the Commission had delivered all non-sensitive materials for the elections in the three states, adding that the training of various categories of ad hoc staff is currently ongoing.
“We have made the soft copies of the complete register of voters available to all political parties participating in the elections. We conducted the mock accreditation of voters and the upload of results to our IReV portal using the BVAS. Stakeholder engagements are ongoing.
“Our state offices have concluded the readiness assessment of our facilities as well as the movement of critical facilities to our 56 local government offices across the three states.”
The INEC boss, however, noted that not all the political parties had nominated agents for all the polling units and even the collation centres in the three states.
“In the next few days, the commission will publish the detailed distribution of agents uploaded by all political parties for public information. I urge you to consider the submission of names of agents as important as the nomination of candidates for election,” he said.
Restore Public Trust In Electoral System – IPAC
Meanwhile, the Inter Party Consultative Assembly (IPAC) has urged the INEC to take urgent steps to restore the confidence of the Nigerian people in the nation’s electoral process.
IPAC is the umbrella body of all registered political parties in Nigeria.
IPAC national chairman, Yabagi Sani, made the call while speaking at a meeting between political parties and the commission as part of preparations for the three off-cycle elections in Kogi, Imo, and Bayelsa yesterday in Abuja.
Sani said as custodians of the electoral process in the country, the commission must address the confidence issue comprehensively.
According to him, the commission must continue to demonstrate impartiality, transparency, and a commitment to conducting free, fair, and credible elections.
He said, “As we gather in preparation for the off-season elections in Imo, Kogi, and Bayelsa States scheduled for November 11, 2023, I would like to on behalf of all political parties in Nigeria request INEC to seize the opportunity of these elections to deal with the issue of confidence deficit among the citizenry following the outcome of the 2023 national elections.
“To reaffirm citizens’ confidence, INEC must continue to demonstrate impartiality, transparency, and a commitment to conducting free, fair, and credible elections. This is not only a moral imperative, but a necessary step towards preserving the integrity of our democratic system.”
He said there is no doubt that INEC is showing its best efforts in its preparations in spite of obvious encumbrances.
He, however, said a lot more needs to be done to ensure that elections in Nigeria are hitch-free, credible, and substantially comply with the provisions of the controversial 2022 electoral act.
He also urged security agencies involved in the electoral process to show professionalism, neutrality and a commitment to the defence of democracy, rather than show partisan interests.
CDS Warns Stakeholders Against Violence
Also yesterday, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Musa Christopher, warned political thugs and criminals to steer clear of Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo elections set to hold on November 11, 2023 or face the consequences.
He said the military will work to ensure free and fair elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi States, adding that it does nobody any good if anyone is killed in the process of election.
The CDS gave the warning when he received the minister of defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, and the minister of state for defence, Bello Mohammed Matawale, during a familiarisation visit.
LEADERSHIP reports that the electioneering period in the three states has been marred by violence and claims of attempted assassination of political opponents
“We’re also prepared for the coming elections in the three states of Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa. We don’t want any violence. We’ll make sure that the elections are free. Fair and peaceful so that the results can also bring out what people actually wanted.
“We will continue to defend the Constitution of Nigeria. Nobody, nobody will threaten us and go free. We’ll ensure that we’ll restore total peace in Nigeria,” he said.
General Musa restated the commitment of the Nigerian Military to defend democracy in the country.
“I want to assure you that the Armed Forces are fully ready, fully prepared, fully committed to the task ahead. We know there have been a series of challenges within the sub region where we have a number of coups all over. We want to assure Mr. President and to you all, Sir, that the Armed Forces of Nigeria is fully committed to democracy. We will do whatever it takes to ensure that we protect our nascent democracy and for it to thrive and to also extend the same to the sub region because we know we have the capacity and we’re happy,” he said.
Badaru commended the CDS for reducing the strength of terror groups across the country and urged him to completely wipe them out of the country.
Also, Matawale advocated citizens’ support to the military to tame insecurity.
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