The Impartial Nationwide Electoral Fee (INEC) has declared that the period of pre-recorded election outcomes, as witnessed over the past off-cycle governorship election in Kogi State, is over.
The fee warned towards makes an attempt to forge election consequence sheets, noting that such makes an attempt can be detected.
It additionally acknowledged that the current gas value hike wouldn’t have an effect on the conduct of the Edo State governorship election scheduled for September 21.
Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, made these statements at a press briefing on the upcoming Edo and Ondo states governorship elections on Friday in Abuja.
In the course of the November 11 Kogi governorship election, some INEC officers have been allegedly caught with pre-recorded consequence sheets, resulting in the suspension of elections in 9 wards.
Responding to a query from The Guardian about mechanisms to stop such incidents within the Edo and Ondo governorship polls, Oyekanmi stated what occurred in Kogi was “fully new in current instances.”
He defined that the fee’s outcomes administration course of has addressed such errant behaviour, including that consequence sheets are embedded with safety features that can’t be bypassed.
He stated: “For a very long time, we have now not had the issue of pre-filled outcomes sheets. In actual fact, the opposite Kogi elections we had, we had the difficulty of violence, not pre-filled. So it is a norm that’s fully new in current instances, and I can guarantee you that the fee has taken energetic steps to stop it from occurring once more.
“Our consequence sheets can’t be cast as a result of they’ve safety features, and no person is aware of what these options are. INEC has perfected that side to make sure that if you happen to print consequence sheets, you’ll not have entry to what we have now and gained’t have the ability to use it.
“Once more, our outcomes administration course of addresses errant behaviour like that. If folks take such actions, we have now inside mechanisms, though we don’t all the time speak about them, however they’re identified to political events. I don’t assume we could have any problems with pre-filled ends in the upcoming Edo election.”
Relating to whether or not the gas value hike will influence logistics for the ballot, Oyekanmi stated the fee has met with the management of the Nationwide Union of Highway Transport Employees (NURTW) to make sure easy operations.
“I’m conscious that the fee has lately met with officers of the NURTW to debate this matter, and I’m positive a decision was reached. After all, when planning an election, you might have contingencies since you don’t know what’s going to occur, so there might be adjustments.
“We don’t count on transporters to function at a loss. If gas has gone up and so they need an increment, this might be mentioned. I wasn’t a part of the assembly, however I’m positive some settlement was reached. Now we have to conduct the election, so I don’t assume that may trigger issues.”
Oyekanmi additionally expressed concern over growing assaults on its officers on social media by people sad with current election outcomes. He attributed the harassment to faux information circulating on social media.
Oyekanmi, whereas presenting a paper on the “Roles of the Media in Democratic Elections,” maintained that some dissatisfied people have taken to social media to harass and intimidate INEC officers.
He additional clarified the state of affairs surrounding the declaration of the 2023 presidential election consequence within the early hours of March 1, 2023. President Bola Tinubu was declared the winner of the presidential ballot after he polled 8,794,726 votes.
INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, introduced Tinubu because the winner on the Worldwide Collation Centre in Abuja round 2 AM on March 1, which fell on a Wednesday.
Some Nigerians questioned the timing of the announcement, suggesting it ought to have been made in the course of the day.
Oyekanmi defined that the nation is handled as a single constituency throughout presidential elections, requiring a meticulous technique of collating outcomes from polling items to wards, native governments, states, and the nationwide degree.
He stated the INEC Chairman needed to watch for 36 returning officers from throughout the nation, together with distant areas like Sokoto and Maiduguri, to bodily current their ends in Abuja as required by regulation.
In accordance with him, the structure or the Electoral Act doesn’t specify a selected time in the course of the day for declaring election outcomes.
He added: “In a presidential election, the nation is handled as one constituency. For those who declare outcomes at polling items, you go to the ward to collate, then transfer to the native authorities, then the state degree, after which the returning officer goes to Abuja to current the outcomes to the Chief Electoral Commissioner, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu. Some folks didn’t perceive this and stated we declared outcomes at 2 AM.
“The Chairman needed to watch for 36 returning officers, together with these coming from Sokoto and Maiduguri, to bodily current the outcomes. For those who examine the electoral act, it says they have to deliver the consequence and be interviewed. For those who have been on the collation centre, you’ll see that the Chairman was asking questions. If a returning officer cancelled outcomes, the Chairman would ask for causes, and if he wasn’t glad, the returning officer had to return.
“It is just after the Chairman has accepted all figures offered by the 36 returning officers and the FCT that we will then collate in response to what the structure says and announce outcomes.
“However as a result of it takes time, some stated we declared outcomes in the course of the evening and that we’re thieves. In the meantime, Prof. Attahiru Jega declared the 2015 outcomes round 4 AM. What’s flawed with that? The structure doesn’t specify a time of day for declaring elections.”
