News

We Can Conduct LG Elections If Given Responsibility – INEC Boss

Published

2 months ago

July 25, 2024

Gloria Ikibah

…reiterate readiness of commission for Edo, Ondo Gubernatorial elections

By Gloria Ikibah

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has disclosed that it can comfortably conduct local government elections if given the responsibility.

Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, stated this when he appeared before the Joint Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters on preparations for the upcoming governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States on Thursday in Abuja.

He explained that INEC has the capacity to handle the local government elections but that would only be possible pending when the law is amended to permit it to do so.

He highlighted that the Commission had been conducting area council elections in the Federal Capital Territory which has been devoid of the problems associated with the conduct of local government elections.

Prof. Yakubu noted that some advantages of INEC handling elections includes the conduct of elections as and when due, stability of tenure, and also that there has never been a caretaker committee in the FCT.

The INEC chairman also noted that there has never been a time one political party has won all the seats at the elections as is common in the states.

He said if INEC handles the election, it would be better for democracy.

But however this he said can only happen if the constitution is amended to take the responsibility from State Electoral Commissions.

Yakubu also said it was more challenging to conduct off-cycle elections than general elections.

He also raised security concerns in the Edo State election with the likely deployment of the Edo State Security Network for the polls.

The INEC boss said the flood that affected the Edo office soaked their BVAS machines but that they recover most of them.

He also pointed out that the power of incumbency was a major challenge against the conduct of elections.

He said, “You wanted to know the position of the Commission on issues surrounding the Supreme Court judgement and local government elections, the position of the Commission. So far we have had three broad positions canvassed. One, the transfer of responsibility for the conduct of local government elections to INEC. The question is if that is done, can INEC cope? The second proposition we have had is that there should be a new federal electoral commission for local government elections and thirdly there is another argument that says leave the state electoral commission to conduct local government elections in the spirit of federalism but find a way of ensuring that they improve on the conduct of local government elections.

“Right now the law has not been amended. The same Constitution that creates INEC also creates the States Electoral Commissions. So it is up to the National Assembly to amend the law to transfer that responsibility to the INEC. If the responsibility for the conduct of local government election is transferred to INEC, can INEC cope? The answer is yes! INEC can cope.

“What are we? By definition, INEC is the Independent National Electoral Commission but right now we do national elections, we do state elections, we do local government elections. A national electoral commission may be expected to handle only the Presidential and National Assembly elections but we also do governorship elections, we do State Assembly elections and do the Area Councils Elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the only part of the country where INEC conducts local government elections.

“So, if we are asked to do these elections, yes we can and actually our track record actually proves that we can do it. Check the case of FCT and I would like to say one or two things about the FCT local government elections. There are six Area Councils in the FCT. Like I said there are six chairmen in the FCT, there are 62 wards in the FCT. Each Ward is a councillorship Constituency for the election of Councilors and this is one part of the country that INEC has conducted local government elections and it has resulted in the following:

“Number one, it is perhaps only part of the country where local government elections are held regularly as at when due, elections are held in the FCT. Number two, there has never been a Caretaker Committee for any Area Council in the FCT, INEC has been conducting the election regularly. Number three, there is stability of tenure, it used to be three years but in 2022, the National Assembly amended the Electoral Act to provide for a four year tenure for Area Councils in the FCT. Number four, no single political party has ever won elections in all the constituencies in the FCT. In fact, what is interesting now is that out of the six chairmen of the FCT; APC had three Area Councils, PDP has three Area Councils. So there is no election where one party has dominated.

“Perhaps this is what has been encouraging many Nigerians to say that if INEC is saddled with the responsibility of conducting local government elections the same thing will be replicated and it is good for our democracy. But as I said, the same section of the Constitution that creates INEC also creates the SIECs so until the Constitution is amended and it transfers the responsibility to the commission, this is what our position is.

“In any case, if you transfer local government elections to INEC what it means is that you are going to transfer almost 10,000 Constituencies to INEC. We have 8,809 wards, each ward is a councillorship constituency. We have 774 local government areas and each local government has a chairman. So if you add this to the existing 1, 591 constituencies where INEC conducts elections is well over 11,000 constituencies but the election may not be held all in one day.

“So, in terms of capacity to do it, INEC can do it. We have been doing it in the Federal Capital Territory, we have no issues. But if the decision of the National Assembly is to amend the Constitution to saddle INEC with that responsibility, then we need an engagement with the National Assembly. There are certain consequential amendments that have to be done for us to handle those additional responsibilities. For instance, who is going to fund the 10,000 new Constituencies that INEC will be saddled with? There is a need for a discussion to determine who is going to fund it. Or will the Federal government continue to fund for the states?

You have to do something about the bye-elections. If INEC is saddled with additional 10,000 Constituencies we will probably be doing bye-elections every week.

“But broadly speaking, if you ask us if we can handle local government elections, yes we can handle the local government elections. When is it going to happen? When you amend the law and empower the commission to do so”, Yakubu stated.

He said so far out of 13 activities outlined and leading to the election as required by law from publication of notice for elections to conduct of election, eight has been implemented.

He stated: “We are on the ninth activity and not one activity has been shifted by one day. We have implemented those activities in Edo and Ondo seamlessly. The ninth activity is the submission of names of polling agents by political parties. For Edo, by the end of this month 30th July but for Ondo would be 30th of September.

“The Commission is prepared for the election. We are prepared. In terms of preparation we don’t anticipate much problems in spite of the unfortunate case of flooding in our Edo office. Not for the first time. In 2020 we actually operated from a rented facility but this time around thank God the act of God came early so we have enough time to respond and to conduct the election in our facilities.

“What is our concern for the Edo State governorship election is security.

When we were there one of the political parties raised an issue in Edo about the likely deployment of the ESSN. The Edo State Security Network. But immediately we received the complaint, we headed to the office of the Commissioner of Police and summoned a meeting with all security agencies in Edo state. We agreed to meet with all political parties and at that meeting we agreed to meet with all the political parties which we did the following day and the Commissioner of Police told us and the party leaders that he would take up the matter with the state government.

“The issue at that time was the ongoing continuous voter registration and since then I am not aware of any official complaints from any party or candidate on the role of the ESSN. I believe that the Commissioner of Police must have spoken to the leadership of the ESSN so far so good.

“We have conducted the continuous voter registration. A few of the registered voters require validation. We have 82 in Edo and 164 in Ondo. We started validation for these voters on Monday. As at yesterday we achieved 72 percent success for the validation.

“We are doing so because after the registration we are required by law to display the registers for claims and objections by citizens and also to do the Automated Biometrics Identification System.

“We are not happy with the quality of the biometrics for this 246 registered voters in the states out of over 260, 000 voters. So the number is actually 0.03 percent. It is the right of every registered Nigerian to be able to vote seamlessly during the election and it is our responsibility to ensure that every citizen is given the opportunity. By next week we would publish for Edo State, the final outcome of the continuous voter registration.

“The second concern is what we often grapple with. For the Commission it is more difficult to conduct off-cycle governorship elections than it is to conduct general elections. These off-cycle elections are very difficult and very challenging for us. For the simple reason that you have one stage conducting governorship elections and all the political parties would form their campaign councils and would deploy all the governors, all the honourable members in support of their colleagues.

“It becomes very challenging for us. But in the Nigerian election, all of you would be in your various constituencies fighting your own battles. But this one you would descend on a small constituency which makes the management of the process extremely difficult. Even accommodation becomes very difficult. In Osun for instance I was stranded because the politicians actually took over all the hotels when we went for the signing of the peace accord. I managed to get one room. The following day I had to rush to Akure to get back to Abuja. So it is more difficult because there is pressure on all facilities.

“Thirdly, the power of incumbency is used to the advantage or disadvantage of parties and candidates and this is a clear violation of the provision of the electoral act that prohibits the use of the power of incumbency to the advantage or disadvantage of any political party or candidate whether it is outdoor advertisement or campaign in the state media or the use of state facilities like stadia and public spaces.

“It has been an issue in previous elections. So far so good but it is now the campaign is heating up and this matter is likely to come up. Outside these concerns we have been doing well. For Edo there are 17 political parties fielding candidates. Only one female candidate. Others are male. There is no person with a disability in Edo State.

“In Ondo State we have 17 candidates. No female candidate. There is one person with disability in Ondo and that is the governorship candidate of the ADC. In Edo we have approved the names of 134 observers to cover the election. 124 are domestic observers and 10 are international observers. We’ll soon start printing the voter register for the two states.

“In Edo in terms of election technology we had a challenge when our office was flooded. The BVAS machines deployed were substantially soaked in water. The good thing is that we were able to recover well over 3500 of a little over 4000 BVAS machines in Edo State. They are all in working order. We are lucky that this is an odd cycle election so we can rely on resources from neighbouring states. So we have called for additional machines from Abia and they arrived in Edo yesterday, 58 days before the election. So we are very good to go on that score,” he added.

News

PHOTOS Of Prisoners Who Escaped Borno Prison And Those Recaptured

Published

8 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Naijablitznews

By Mario Deepromoter

Nigerian Correctional Service on Sunday disclosed that about 281 inmates escaped from Maiduguri Medium Security Custodial Centre following severe flooding in the capital city.

NCoS spokesperson, Umar Abubakar, said the agency had alerted the Nigerian Immigration Service, and Nigeria Police Force among other security agencies to help recapture the fleeing inmates.

“Every security agency in the country has been notified and they are on alert to help track down the fleeing inmates wherever they may be. With their help, we will capture them and return them to our custodial centre,” Umar said.

In a statement on Sunday, he said of the 281 fleeing inmates, seven had already been recaptured and returned to the facility.

“The Nigerian Correctional Service has observed the flooding currently being experienced in Maiduguri, Borno State, and its environment.

The unfortunate incident has left scars, bringing down the walls of the correctional facilities, including the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Maiduguri as well as the staff quarters in the city.

“Upon the evacuation of inmates by officers of the service, with support from sister security agencies to a safe and secure facility, 281 inmates were observed to be missing.

Presently, a total of seven inmates have been recaptured and returned to custody, while efforts are on the ground to track down the rest and bring them back to safe custody,” the statement read in part.

Abubakar further stated that details of the fleeing inmates had been made available to the public while noting that efforts were underway to track them.

“However, it is important to note that the service is in the custody of their details, including their biometrics, which are being made available to the public. The service is working in synergy with other security agencies as both covert and overt deployments have been activated to locate them. While this effort is ongoing, the public is assured that the incident does not impede or affect public safety,” the statement added.

Recall that the flood affected many parts of Maiduguri, leading to the displacement of over 300,000 residents and the deaths of over 30 people, including children.

Meanwhile, Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, on Saturday said he was “seriously worried” that jailed Boko Haram terrorists might have escaped from the prison facility.

See Pictures Below;

Prisoners

News

SEE new price of petrol across all 36 states

Published

8 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Naijablitznews

By Mario Deepromoter

Despite the counter accusations by both Dangote Refinery and NNPCL over prices, the price list of petrol has emerged online.

According to reports, this is because NNPCL bought petrol at a higher price from Dangote Refinery on Sunday.

NNPCL also mentioned that Dangote Refinery sold the petrol in US Dollars, not naira, against the federal government’s directive.

However, Dangote Refinery will sell its petrol in naira starting in October.

According to a breakdown from NNPCL, Dangote Refinery sold petrol to NNPCL at N898.78 per litre.

NNPCL paid Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) fee of N8.99, inspection fee of N0.97, a distribution cost in Lagos of N15, margin N26.48.

NNPCL’s statement added that the estimated pump price in:
Lagos will be N950.22
Sokoto State N999.22
Kano State N999.22
Borno State N1,019.22
Kaduna N999.22
FCT N992.22
Oyo State N960.22
Lagos State N950.22
Rivers State N980.00
Imo State N980.22

An analysis of the chart showed that except from Lagos State, other states of the federation will be paying higher because of distribution costs.

The distance from Dangote Refinery and NNPCL‘s depot in Lagos State to other states of the country majorly would determine the price differences.

The report also showed that the six geo-political zones would be paying differently.

The North East states would be paying the highest per liter from N1,019.22, followed by North West states from N999.22, followed by North Central states from N992.22, followed by South East states from N980.22, South South states from N980.22 and South West states paying the least from N960.22, except Lagos State paying from N950.22.

At the time of filing this report, the presidency is yet to speak on the latest development.

News

Rivers 2027: Ogoni powerful men snub Fubara, throw weight behind Wike

Published

8 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Naijablitznews

By Mario Deepromoter

Political heavyweights from the Ogoni and Oyigbo zones have formally withdrawn their support for Rivers Governor Siminalayi Fubara ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The leaders have dumped Fubara and lace their boots with the action packed Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.

The leaders gathered on Saturday in Nonwa, Tai Local Government Area, at an event tagged “Ogoni, Oyigbo People’s Assembly.”

The assembly, which focused on fostering unity between the two ethnic zones, was heavily attended by politicians loyal to Wike, who remains locked in a bitter political feud with Fubara, his estranged protégé.

Prominent personalities, including Senators Barinada Mpigi and Magnus Abe, Ambassador Desmond Akawor, and Chief Victor Giadom, attended the meeting.

The group emphasized that after years of marginalization, it was time for Ogoni and Oyigbo to produce the next governor of Rivers State.

Speaking on behalf of the assembly, Senator Mpigi declared, “The Ogoni and Oyigbo Peoples Assembly, a multi-political convergence of five Local Government Areas within the Rivers South-East Senatorial District, met today to reaffirm their support for the President Bola Tinubu-led administration and pledged total loyalty to the former Governor of Rivers State and current Minister of FCT, Chief Nyesom Wike.

“We also reiterate the obvious fact that the senatorial district’s upland is due for a governor and should produce the next governor of Rivers State come 2027.”

Tensions between Wike and Governor Fubara have been mounting, with Wike publicly withdrawing his support for his former ally.

Wike, who was instrumental in Fubara’s rise to power, has accused the governor of straying from their shared vision for the state.