2015: INEC Begins Cleaning Up Of Voters Register, Data Consolidation

FROM LEFT: SECRETARY, INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION (INEC), MRS AUGUSTA OGAKWU; DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND PROTOCOL, MR OLUWOLE UZZI AND CHAIRMAN, INEC, PROF. ATTAHIRU JEGA, AT THE EXPERIENCE-SHARING AND CONFIDENCE BUILDING CONFERENCE ON THE VOTER REGISTER AND CONTINUOUS VOTER REGISTRATION IN ABUJA

Dr Ishmael Igbani, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, National Commissioner, (Election Monitoring), said on Monday in Abuja that the commission has commenced cleaning up of voter’s register and data consolidation.

He told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the exercise was part of the activities lined up by INEC to ensure a hitch-free 2015 general elections.

Igbani expressed optimism that the exercise would eliminate duplication or multiple registrations.

The National Commissioner added that detection and elimination of multiple registrations was made possible by the newly technology deployed by the commission.

“Through the exercise the commission had detected 93,526 multiple registration cases in Anambra ahead of the Nov.16 governorship election.

“This represents five per cent of the registered voters in Anambra and they have been removed from the voter’s register”.

Igbani said to ensure the best ever conducted election in the country chip-based permanent voter cards would soon be issued to all voters.

He said that the card was designed to prevent multiple voting and to achieve “more credible and transparent polls”.

He said the commission had mapped out strategies for adequate sensitisation and enlightenment of the general public. (NAN)

Pick Buhari As Presidential Candidate And See PDP Win 2015 Race – Presidency Tells APC

APC SPOKESMAN, ALH. LAI MOHAMMED (L) & PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER ON POLITICAL MATTERS, DR. AHMED GULAK

The Presidency has observed the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in the build up to 2015 and declared that if the party picks a former Head of State, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) as its presidential candidate, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would coast to an easy victory.

The Presidency was apparently replying a comment attributed to spokesman of the newly registered party – Alhaji Lai Mohammed – that it would be political suicide for any party to field President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 election.

The Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Dr. Ahmed Gulak, stated this in a telephone interview with a PUNCH correspondent in Abuja on Thursday.

The presidential aide also commented on other APC leaders, including Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Malam Nasir El-Rufa’i.

He said, “As far as that merger is concerned, the calculation of the Congress for Progressive Change elements is that Buhari will stand for the election. If he stands for the election, it is a walkover for the PDP; so, we are praying that they field Buhari.”

Sounding very confident on who would or would not run for the presidential race under the banner of APC, Gulak stated, “Tinubu is not interested in the presidential race. I have it on good authority that Tinubu is not interested.

“El-Rufa’i is not a politician. When we are talking about politicians who are likely candidates, we don’t talk about people like El-Rufa’i. We are talking about political politicians.

“But in all, the President has yet to declare his intention whether he will re-contest or not. When the time comes in 2014, we will know whether he will offer himself for a second term or not. As of now, we are here to work for Nigerians.”

Gulak berated the APC for attempting to decide the fate of the President if the PDP fielded him for the 2015 presidential election, saying since the party had just been registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), its leaders should mind their own business and focus on the challenges ahead of them.

He said, “The APC that was just born yesterday should not have the mouth to talk.

“They should mind their own business and face the struggle ahead of them. They should stop focusing on what PDP will do or will not do, that is none of their business.”

The presidential aide added that so far, the APC has not shown that it possesses the presidential material to cause President Jonathan sleepless nights if he decides to re-contest in 2015.

Donald Duke: INEC Right To De-Register Mushroom Political Parties

A former governor of Cross River, Donald Duke, on Friday threw his weight behind the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the de-registration of political parties.

He told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos that it did not make sense for parties which had no followers to remain registered.

Mr. Duke was reacting to the ruling of a Federal High Court, Abuja Division, on July 30, which held that INEC had no constitutional powers to de-register political parties.

“If a political party does not have followership, just as companies are de-registered, such parties should be de-registered.

“There are situations where people use such parties to contest for election because they lost primaries in their party,” he said.

According to him, 80 per cent of the political parties listed on the ballot papers during elections are not active.

He argued that it was normal for INEC to de-register such parties as they only constitute a nuisance to the polity.

However, a Senator representing Ekiti-Central Senatorial District, Babafemi Ojudu, urged INEC to abide by the decision of the court and reverse its earlier action.

“Nobody is more powerful than the law; if the court rules that INEC has no power to de-register political parties, it should go back and undo what it has done,” he said.

Also commenting, a former Lagos State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Rotimi Agunsoye, urged Nigerians not to entirely blame the commission for its action.

“Some parties were de-registered because they did not meet the necessary requirements needed for a party to be registered.

“However, the country needs as many political parties as possible, so that people can come out and make their choices during elections,” he said.

Ayodele Adewale, Chairman, Amuwo Odofin Local Government, also said that if a law was created to register political parties, until that law was proscribed, INEC had no power to de-register parties.

“If indeed a law was created to register political parties, until that law is proscribed, INEC can’t de-register parties.

“We must understand that we are governed by the rule of law,” he added.

(NAN)