RIVERS RE-RUN ELECTIONS: OVER 70 INCIDENTS OF DELIBERATE OBSTRUCTION OF ELECTORAL PROCESS RECORDED - INEC CHAIRMAN

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has disclosed that over 70 incidents of deliberate obstruction of the electoral process were recorded in the Saturday 10th December, 2016 Rivers Federal and State Constituency re-run elections.

He described as unprecedented the scale of negative utterances, hate speech and violence witnessed in the Rivers re-run elections and disclosed that the Commission was instituting an administrative inquiry as part of a comprehensive review of the re-run elections.

Professor Yakubu made the disclosure today in a statement at the opening of a two-day Capacity Development Workshop for members of the INEC Press Corps, entitled: “Repositioning The Media for Effective Coverage of Electoral Processes” at the Rockview Hotel Royale, Abuja.

THERE IS NO EXTERNAL INFLUENCE ON INEC BY PROFESSOR YAKUBU

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has assured Nigerians that the Commissions independence has not and will not be compromised by any external forces under any circumstance.

He said: “There is no influence on INEC, and there will never be any influence on INEC. The best marker for INEC is the elections that we have conducted and the outcome of those elections”.

The INEC Chairman gave the assurance Yesterday, while responding to questions from members of the INEC Press Corps during the opening ceremony of a two-two day Capacity Development Workshop at Rockview Hotel Royale, Abuja.

“I have never been approached by anybody to do anything in any way other than what is appropriate. I am not under any external pressure, neither are the members of the Commission,” he declared.

INEC CHAIRMAN REITERATES NEED FOR INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE SHARING AND CAPACITY BUILDING

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has reiterated the need for international experience sharing and capacity building for electoral officials in Africa. He said such efforts will improve the integrity of elections in the continent.

The INEC Chairman expressed delight that the team from University of South Africa (UNISA), were around to interact with, and get relevant feedback from the programme’s Alumni (INEC staff) who had previously participated in the MDEA programme in order to recalibrate, to redesign and enhance their curriculum to meet present realities and challenges on election delivery. Said he: “The feedback from the alumni would assist the organizers to tailor their programme to the realities and challenges so that we can move the integrity of elections in our continent further”.

WE MUST INTRODUCE TECHNOLOGY IN THE CONDUCT OF LOCAL ELECTIONS – INEC CHAIRMAN

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu has called for the introduction of technology in the conduct of Local Government Elections. He said technology was important in attesting to the integrity of the process and also safeguarding the will of the people.

Professor Yakubu made the call yesterday when he received a delegation from the Forum of State Independent Electoral Commissions of Nigeria (FOSIECON), at the INEC headquarters in Abuja.

Addressing members of FOSIECON, he stressed that: “The time has come for the State Electoral Commissions to take a step further. INEC has taken a pioneering decision in the last general elections to introduce technology in our elections. The time has come for the State Electoral Commissions to follow suit. We can’t continue to operate manual elections any longer”.

INEC CHAIRMAN APPOINTS THREE AIDES

To assist him in effectively executing his office, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has appointed three aides.

They are: Professor Bolade Eyinla, Chief Technical Adviser (CTA); Professor Mohammed J. Kuna, Special Assistant (SA); and Rotimi Oyekanmi, Chief Press Secretary (CPS).


Until his appointment, Bolade Eyinla was a Professor of History at the University of Ilorin. He was also National Election Expert at the UNDP-DGD.

12 MILLION PERMANENT VOTER CARDS (PVCs) UNCOLLECTED – PROFESSOR MAHMOOD YAKUBU

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu has disclosed that a total of twelve million Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) were yet to be collected. The Chairman made this known at a meeting with Editors at the Sheraton Hotel, Lagos, last week.

He said: “We have a little over seventy million registered voters in Nigeria. We have twelve million Permanent Voter Cards uncollected and we have at least Seven Hundred Thousand PVCs unprinted and then we have a large number of Nigerians who are not registered and they have come of age”.

He disclosed that the Commission would commence Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise for the Edo and Ondo governorship elections before the National Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).

BRIBERY ALLEGATION: INEC WILL COOPERATE WITH EFCC – INEC CHAIRMAN

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has assured that the Commission will cooperate with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in sanitizing the system following the recent bribery allegation against some staff of the Commission.
The Chairman gave the assurance last week during a meeting with Editors of Print and Electronic Media, at the Sheraton Hotel, Lagos.

He said: “whatever level of cooperation any of the agencies requires of the Commission, we will give that level of cooperation because it is also in a bid to sanitize the system”.

ELECTIONS IN NIGERIA ARE GETTING BETTER AND THE VOTES ARE COUNTING - PROFESSOR YAKUBU

Nigerian elections conducted under the watch of the Professor Mahmood Yakubu-led Commission are getting better and the votes are counting.


Addressing Editors of print and broadcast Media at the Sheraton Hotel, Lagos, last week, the INEC Chairman emphasized that the votes now counted unlike in the past. Argued he: “if you simply compare the outcome of previous elections with the elections we conducted recently, you can very clearly see how the elections are getting better and how the margin is becoming even smaller. Votes are also counting today more than ever before”.