2019: INEC commends parties over issue based campaign

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commended political parties for embarking on issue based campaign rather than personalities.

Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu passed the commendation yesterday while meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners in furtherance of their regular meetings at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja.

Following Sunday commencement of campaign for 2019 Presidential election as provided for by the Electoral Act and in line with INEC Timetable and Schedule of Activities,

he said the Commission is committed to closely monitoring the campaigns pursuant to its statutory mandate and to ensure compliance with the extant laws and regulations.

“We are pleased that the focus in the last few days since the commencement of the campaigns has been on policies rather than personalities. We sincerely hope it remains this way”, he said.

Speaking on the recent displayed voters register in all polling units nationwide for claims and objections by citizens, he said the objective “was for citizens to help the Commission to identify any ineligible registrants

such as persons below the statutory age of eighteen (18) years and non-Nigerians who may have registered as well as deceased persons and multiple registrants”.

The chairman gave an insight into the Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to be held on 2nd March 2019 along with the Governorship and State Assembly elections.

He said party primaries for the Area Council elections ended on 27th October 2018 while last day for the submission of nomination forms was 4th November 2018.

“The list of candidates for the elections will be published in our FCT Office as well as the six (6) Area Councils today Wednesday 21 November 2018.

Just like the National and State elections, the Commission appeals to citizens to check the personal details of the Chairmanship and Councillorship candidates that seek to represent them for each of the 68 constituencies as a matter of civic responsibility”, he added.

Discussed at Wednesday meeting, include progress made on the collection of outstanding Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) by citizens as well as new modalities for a more efficient administration of the collection process.

Other issues discussed include “the recruitment and training of election duty staff, the ongoing review of the framework for voting by Internally Displaced Persons (lDPs), to explore additional assistive measures in support of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in the electoral process,

examine additional ways to safeguard the sanctity of the ballot against the menace of vote-buying at polling units, appraise issues relating to electoral logistics and generally assess facilities and preparations for the General Election”

Prof Yakubu, however, sadly noted that the Commission lost four members of staff in Kogi State and one in Edo State to road accidents last week, while two staff survived road accidents in Katsina State during the bye-election last weekend

He added that “and one election duty staff suffered a head injury following attack by hoodlums who destroyed election materials at a polling unit in Kwara State. We are deeply saddened by these incidents.

While we pray for the repose of the souls of those who lost their lives and wish the injured a speedy recovery, we will work with the security agencies to ensure the arrest and prosecution of those involved in the attack on our staff and vandalisation of election materials”.