David Lawani, Abuja
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu has called on the National Assembly to give priority attention to the electoral amendment bill.
Yakubu made this appeal during the 1st Quarterly consultative meeting with political parties held at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
He stressed that as soon as it is signed into law, the timetable of all Schedule of Activities will be released for parties and stakeholders in preparation for the elections.
He disclosed that party primaries for the Ekiti State Governorship election are scheduled for 4th – 29th January 2022 while that of the Osun State Governorship election, primaries will hold from 16th February to 12th March 2022
“The Electoral Amendment Bill currently before the National Assembly, the Commission is encouraged by the Senate President’s assurance to give priority attention to the Bill when the National Assembly reconvenes from its recess today, and the commitment by the President to assent to the Bill as soon as the issue of mode of primaries by political parties is resolved.
“We look forward to a speedy passage of the Bill, which is crucial to our preparations for future elections. As soon as it is signed into law, the Commission will quickly release the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 General Election based on the new law.
“Turning to the major end-of-tenure and off-cycle elections, party primaries for the Ekiti State Governorship election are scheduled for 4th – 29th January 2022. For the Osun State Governorship election, primaries will hold from 16th February to 12th March 2022. In the case of Ekiti State, all the 18 political parties have served the mandatory notices for the primaries.
“Let me seize this opportunity to draw the attention of parties to the necessity for transparent and rancour-free primaries. Parties should also respect their chosen dates for the primaries based on the Commission’s Timetable and Schedule of Activities. Already, many parties have rescheduled their primaries several times.
“While the Commission has earmarked a period of three weeks and 4 days (i.e. 25 days) for the conduct of the Ekiti State Governorship primaries, virtually all political parties have decided to hold their primaries in the last 4 days i.e. 26th – 29th January 2022. In fact, seven political parties have chosen the last day for their primaries.
“Similarly, no party has so far submitted its list of aspirants, the composition of its electoral panel, or the register of members or list of delegates depending on the chosen mode for electing its candidates. As of yesterday, only one party has indicated the venue for its primaries.
“I urge you all to do so immediately to enable us to work out the detailed plans for monitoring the primaries. All primaries for electing candidates must take place in the constituency where the election will hold as required by law.
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“In the cases of Ekiti and Osun State Governorship elections, any primaries conducted outside the two States will not be monitored by the Commission and their outcomes will not be accepted. This also applies to primaries for bye-elections conducted outside the constituencies.
The INEC Boss also congratulated the Chairman of Action Democratic Party (ADP), Engineer Yabagi Sani, on his election as Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC).
“I similarly congratulate other members of the executive committee of IPAC. The Commission has worked closely with the immediate past leadership of IPAC chaired by Dr Leonard Nzenwa. I congratulate him and his team on their successful leadership of IPAC.
“As I welcome the new leadership under Engineer Sani, I wish to reassure IPAC of the Commission’s continued cooperation and support for the umbrella body of political parties in Nigeria. We look forward to working together with IPAC in line with the guiding principles enshrined in its Code of Conduct.
“Undoubtedly, the year 2022 is going to be a very busy year for the Commission and the political parties. The 2023 General Election is just 396 days away. All the critical preparations must be concluded this year. The Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) which commenced in June last year has entered the third quarter.
“As at yesterday Monday 17th January 2022, a total of 8,260,076 eligible Nigerians commenced the online pre-registration, completed the registration physically or applied for a transfer to new voting locations, replacement of their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) or updated their voter information records as required by law. The Commission has been publishing weekly progress reports of the exercise. We are aware that Nigerians want to know when their PVCs will be available for collection.
“At the moment, the Commission is undertaking the most comprehensive cleaning up of the data to ensure that only eligible citizens are added to the voters’ register for the 2023 General Election and will share our findings with Nigerians and the actual dates for the collection of the PVCs nationwide will be announced very soon.
“I want to request that you continue to encourage eligible voters who have not registered to do so, bearing in mind that those who had registered at any time previously need not register again. Also, encourage voters who wish to transfer from their present Polling Units to new ones created as part of the Commission’s expansion of voter access polling units to do so immediately”, he said.
The Commission stated that it will be deploying BVAS accreditation for use in the FCT Area Council elections as part of improving and increasing the use for 2023 General elections it was last used in the Anambra Governorship election with some success.
“For emphasis, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) will be deployed in the FCT elections which is the second major election after the Anambra Governorship election held in November last year. The 68 constituencies in the FCT (six Chairmen and 62 Councillors) covering extensive urban and rural locations sharing a border with five States in the North Central and North Western parts of the country is another opportunity to pilot the efficacy of the BVAS in a different geographical, geopolitical and electoral context.
“The same technology will be deployed in all forthcoming bye-elections across the country. For all elections going forward, Polling Unit results will be uploaded in real-time to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal”.
